Melville, Herman

Japanese: メルビル（英語表記）Melville， Herman

Born: August 1, 1819 in New York
[Died] September 28, 1891. New York. American novelist and poet. Born into a family of merchants with a long history, his father went bankrupt when he was a boy and died soon after. After working in a few jobs, he joined a merchant ship in 1839, and from 1841 spent four years wandering as a crew member on a whaling ship and a warship. Based on his experiences in the South Pacific islands during that time, he published Typee (1846) and Omoo (47), which became best-sellers as tales of adventure in the South Seas. However, his third work, Mardi (49), also set in the South Seas, was a metaphysical allegory, and was unpopular. For financial reasons, he published two maritime novels based on his own experiences, Redburn (49) and White-Jacket (50). Later, he became friends with the older writer Hawthorne and wrote critical reviews praising his works, and was greatly influenced by his insight into the darkness of the human heart and his symbolic techniques. In 1951, he published his masterpiece Moby-Dick, but it was not well received by the reading public at the time, and his next masterpiece Pierre (52), which depicts the tragedy of an idealistic young man's search for truth, was also ignored. After that, he published short stories in magazines, including the existentialist masterpiece Bartleby the Scrivener (53) and Benito Cereno (55), and compiled them in a collection of short stories The Piazza Tales (56). After The Confidence-Man (57), a strange book of pessimistic misanthropy, he turned to poetry, and published several books of poetry, including Clarel (70), a long poem about pilgrimages to sacred places. In his later years, he worked at the customs office and lived a life forgotten by the world, and his true value was never recognized during his lifetime. His posthumously published novella Billy Budd (1924) gives a glimpse of the tranquil state of mind and resignation he had reached in his later years. In the 20th century, his insight into the depths of human existence and his diverse symbolic style made him one of the great masters of world literature.

Melville
Melville, George Wallace

Born: July 31, 1841 in New York
[Died] March 17, 1912, Philadelphia. American Arctic explorer and naval engineer. Graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. Joined the U.S. Navy as an assistant technical officer in 1861 and served in the Civil War. He explored the Arctic several times, particularly in 1879, which is detailed in In the Lena Delta (1884). Became chief technical officer of the Navy in 1887, and rear admiral in 1899. Retired in 1903. He developed many new technologies and designed and invented machinery for warships. He also invented the triple screw and water-tube boiler. He conducted repeated experiments with oil fuel and predicted its importance.

Melville
Melville

A city in the southeastern part of Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1906, it became a town in 1908 and a city in 1960. It is an important location as a junction of the Canadian National Railway and is also the center of services for the surrounding dairy and grain growing regions. Factories such as meat processing, flour milling, and railroad cars are located here. Population is about 5,000.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

[生]1819.8.1. ニューヨーク
[没]1891.9.28. ニューヨーク
アメリカの小説家，詩人。古い家柄の貿易商の家に生れたが，少年時代に父が破産，まもなく死亡したため，2，3の職業に従事したのち，1839年商船に乗込み，41年からは，4年間捕鯨船や軍艦の乗組員として放浪生活をおくる。そのおりの南太平洋の島々での経験をもとに『タイピー』 Typee (1846) ，『オムー』 Omoo (47) を出版，南海の冒険譚としてベストセラーになった。しかし，第3作『マーディ』 Mardi (49) は同様に南海を舞台にしたものの，一変して形而上的な寓意物語であり，不評であった。経済的理由から，自己の体験を素材に『レッドバーン』 Redburn (49) ，『ホワイト・ジャケット』 White-Jacket (50) の海洋小説2作を出版。その後，先輩作家ホーソーンとの交友，その作品を絶賛する評論の執筆などがあり，人間の心の暗さへの洞察や象徴主義的手法など多大の影響を受けた。 51年に傑作『モービー・ディック (白鯨) 』 Moby-Dickを刊行するが，当時の読書界にはまったく受入れられず，理想主義的な青年の真理探究の悲劇を描いた，次の大作『ピエール』 Pierre (52) も無視された。以降は，雑誌に実存主義的な傑作「バートルビー」 Bartleby the Scrivener (53) ，「ベニート・セレーノ」 Benito Cereno (55) などの短編を発表，短編集『ピアッザ物語』 The Piazza Tales (56) にまとめた。厭世的人間不信の奇書『詐欺師』 The Confidence-Man (57) を最後に詩作に転じ，聖地巡礼を主題にした長詩『クレアレル』 Clarel (70) など数冊の詩集がある。晩年は税関に勤めるなど，世間から忘れ去られた生活をおくり，ついに生前にはその真価を認められなかった。死後出版の中編『ビリー・バッド』 Billy Budd (1924) は，作者の到達した晩年の静謐な心境と諦観をうかがわせる。 20世紀に入り，その人間存在の深淵への洞察と多様な象徴主義的作風のゆえに，世界文学の巨匠の一人に数えられるにいたった。

メルビル
Melville， George Wallace

[生]1841.7.31. ニューヨーク
[没]1912.3.17. フィラデルフィア
アメリカの北極探検家，海軍技術家。ブルックリン工芸技術学校を卒業。 1861年補助技術官としてアメリカ海軍に入隊，南北戦争に従軍。数度，北極地方を探検し，特に 79年のそれは『リーナ・デルタにて』 In the Lena Delta (1884) に詳しく述べられている。 87年海軍の主任技術官，99年海軍少将。 1903年退役。数々の新技術を開発し，軍艦の機械類を設計，考案した。また三重スクリュー，水管式ボイラなどを考案。石油燃料の実験を繰返し，その重要性を予測した。