Born in New York City on August 1, 1819

After an illness that lasted several months, Melville died at his home in New York City early on the morning of September 28, 1891, age 72, in virtual obscurity.

Moby-Dick has become Melville's most famous work and is often considered one of the greatest American novels. It was dedicated to Melville's friend Nathaniel Hawthorne.

It did not, however, make Melville rich. The book never sold its initial printing of 3,000 copies in his lifetime and total earnings from the American edition amounted to just $556.37 from his publisher, Harper's.

Melville is less well known as a poet and did not publish poetry until late in life. His poetry is not as highly critically esteemed as his fiction, although some critics place him as the first modernist poet in the United States.

Today, he may be the most written-about American author.