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Help While Reading (back to top)
Overhead diagram of a whaleship
Rigging diagrams of whaleships
Side-view diagram of a whaleship
Free wallpaper download
For More on Melville (back to top)
Arrowhead
The Pittsfield, Massachusetts house where Melville wrote Moby-Dick, among other works. Owned and operated by the Berkshire County Historical Society.
Houghton Library, Harvard University
A large (physical, not online) collection of Melville's papers, plus early editions of his works, and books from his personal library. Website offers online catalog search.
Melville's Marginalia Online
Provides Melville's handwritten notes in the margins of books he used as source material. Includes notes in his copy of Thomas Beale's The Natural History of the Sperm Whale, a major source for Moby-Dick. This growing site was created by Boise State University professor Steven Olsen-Smith.
Melville Memorial Room,
Berkshire Athenaeum (Pittsfield, Massachusetts)
A large (physical) archive of research source material and Melville family memorabilia, housed in the public library of the town where Melville wrote Moby-Dick, among other works.
The Melville Society
A nonprofit group of scholars devoted to the study of Melville's works. Publishes Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies three times a year. The large and growing Melville Society Archive of primary sources and scholarship is housed at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts.
New York Public Library
Primary source material on Melville, including a collection of family papers.
For More on Whaling (back to top)
New Bedford Whaling Museum
Includes an online collections search of its (physical) research library in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
The Plough Boy Journals of Lewis Monto
This site, created by Tom Tyler, provides not only the journals of a Nantucket seaman on two 19th-century whaling voyages, but many contemporary books and periodicals on whaling, including the full text of some of Melville's most important sources for Moby-Dick.
Whalecraft
An illustrated guide to the history and tools of the U.S. whaling industry, by Tom Lytle. Includes a directory of whaling and maritime museums around the world.
Online Melville Works, Annotated (back to top)
Power Encantadas
Full text of Herman Melville's 1856 poem "The Encantadas or Enchanted Isles" (written under the pseudonym Salvator R. Tarnmoor), with a hypertext and sidenote annotation by Evander Price
Online Melville Works, Other (back to top)
Free audiobook of Moby-Dick from Librivox
Free audiobook of Moby-Dick from the Moby-Dick Big Read
Online Books Page
Links to full text versions of many Melville works, compiled by John Mark Ockerbloom of the University of Pennsylvania.
Facsimile of first American edition of Moby-Dick.
From the Society for Readers of Arno Schmidt (German). Large PDF file.
Pages of Melville Links (back to top)
American Literature Sites
A compendium of online Melville resources, compiled by Professor Donna Campbell of Washington State University.
The Life and Works of Herman Melville
A repository of information about the author and about sailing and whaling in general. Formerly maintained by Jim Madden of Norton, Ohio, it now seems to be frozen.
Literary History
Links to scholarly essays selected by Donna Jan Pridmore of Boston University.
Useful Essays (back to top)
"Enjoying Moby-Dick by Herman Melville," by Ed Friedlander, M.D.
An online guide to approaching the book for the first time
"How to Love Moby-Dick," by Jack Murnighan
From Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature's 50 Greatest Hits, (Three Rivers Press, 2009)
Moby-Dick: Into the Wonderworld, Audaciously," by Rebecca Stott
An essay in National Public Radio's "You Must Read This" series
"The Reader Recommends Moby-Dick," by Chris Routledge
A cogent case for reading this fantastic but difficult book. (Warning: contains partial spoilers.)
For Teachers (back to top)
Confessions of an Aca-Fan
Henry Jenkins, co-founder of the M.I.T. Comparative Media Studies Program, on how to use fan fiction as a teaching tool in the study of Moby-Dick. Part one is linked to above, and here's part two.
Donna Campbell, Washington State University
Reading questions on Moby-Dick.
Heath Online Instructor's Guide
Guide to teaching Melville's short fiction, by retired Temple University professor Carolyn Karcher.
Web English Teacher
Comprehensive lesson plans for Moby-Dick and other Melville works.
For Book Clubs (back to top)
Penguin Publishing
Questions for readers. Site also contains an overview and biographical info on Melville.
For Students (back to top)
Cummings Guide online summary and analysis of themes and symbolism (all content free)
FreeBookNotes search for online summaries and study guides
Grade Saver online summary and study guide (some content free)
Last Minute Book Report short animated plot summary (free)
LitCharts online summary and study guide
PinkMonkey online summary and study guide
Shmoop straightforward, thorough, hyperlinked study guide
Spark Notes online summary and study guide
Guides to Literary Criticism (back to top)
Bryant, John, Ed. A Companion to Melville Studies.
Gross, Theodore L. Hawthorne, Melville, Stephen Crane: A Critical Bibliography. New York: Free Press at Simon & Schuster, 1971.
Higgins, Brian. Herman Melville: An Annotated Bibliography, Volume I, 1846-1930.
Higgins, Brian. Herman Melville: A Reference Guide, 1931-1960.
If You Are Looking for "O Captain! My Captain!" (back to top)
Here's the Walt Whitman poem.
Have a question, suggestion, or comment? Please use the "Contact Us" link at left or email us directly at meg at powermobydick dot com.