The Melville Society Archive, as part of the Melville Society Cultural Project, is housed at the Research Library, the library, archival, research, and publications division of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The Archive thus becomes part of the world’s most comprehensive and diverse collection of materials pertaining to whales and whaling. By focusing specifically on the life, times, and writing of Herman Melville, author of the greatest of all whaling tales, Moby-Dick (1851), the Archive complements this extraordinary collection.

The core collection of the Melville Society Archive consists of the generous gifts made to the Society by distinguished Melville scholars, Harrison Hayford and Merton M. Sealts, Jr. Their books, numbering over 1,200 volumes, include not only unusual editions of Melville’s works, copies of his sources, and his collected works in the Constable, Hendricks House, and Northwestern-Newberry editions, but also translations and critical, biographical, and historical studies from 1921 to the present. Many of the latter are presentation copies, and there are also several sets of bound proof sheets. Much of the collection is inscribed with Hayford’s and Sealts’s marginalia. Several donors have pledged additional gifts, and in 2004, the core collection will be supplemented by a gift of first, rare, and other limited editions of Melville’s writings.

In the future the Melville Society Archive will embrace the papers and personal library holdings of other prominent Melville scholars, runs of relevant journal publications, and copies of literary works and films inspired by Melville’s life and writings. Works of art on paper inspired by Melville’s writings and illustrated editions of his works will continue to be a significant part of the Archive. Marc Davis’ three paintings related to Moby-Dick, which were bequeathed to the Melville Society in 2000, are now part of the Archive. As the Melville Society Archive develops, Melville’s relevance for studying globalism, multiculturalism, race, gender, and art will be emphasized in its collection.

The Archive is accessible through the Kendall Institute, which manages the collection. A permanent Archive Committee, appointed by the Melville Society Cultural Project, oversees the collection’s development, the repair and restoration of materials, and donations. The Melville Society Archive offers vital support for seminars, conferences and institutes, and collaborates with local organizations, such as the New Bedford Historical Society, the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the New Bedford Free Public Library, and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in an ongoing dialogue about the place of Melville in New Bedford and in maritime culture of the nineteenth century.

Melville Society Archive
791 Purchase Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
Mailing address: 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740

Melville Society Archive Committee
Mary K Bercaw Edwards
Wyn Kelley

Kendall Institute
Laura Pereira, 508 997-0046, ext. 134