there always has been a steady sale of his books in England, and
some of them never have been out of print in that country since
the publication of 'Typee.' One result of this friendship
between the two authors was the dedication of new volumes to each
other in highly complimentary terms--Mr. Melville's 'John Marr
and Other Sailors,' of which twenty-five copies only were
printed, on the one hand, and Mr. Russell's 'An Ocean Tragedy,'
on the other, of which many thousand have been printed, not to
mention unnumbered pirated copies.

Beside Hawthorne, Mr. Richard Henry Stoddard, of American
writers, specially knew and appreciated Herman Melville. Mr.
Stoddard was connected with the New York dock department at the
time of Mr. Melville's appointment to a custom-house position,
and they at once became acquainted. For a good many years,
during the period in which our author remained in seclusion, much
that appeared in print in America concerning Melville came from
the pen of Mr. Stoddard. Nevertheless, the sailor author's
presence in New York was well known to the literary guild. He
was invited to join in all new movements, but as often felt
obliged to excuse himself from doing so. The present writer
lived for some time within a short distance of his house, but
found no opportunity to meet him until it became necessary to
obtain his portrait for an anthology in course of publication.
The interview was brief, and the interviewer could not help
feeling although treated with pleasant courtesy, that more
important matters were in hand than the perpetuation of a
romancer's countenance to future generations; but a friendly
family acquaintance grew up from the incident, and will remain an
abiding memory.