Mr. Melville died at his home in New York City early on the
morning of September 28, 1891. His serious illness had lasted a
number of months, so that the end came as a release. True to his
ruling passion, philosophy had claimed him to the last, a set of
Schopenhauer's works receiving his attention when able to study;
but this was varied with readings in the 'Mermaid Series' of old
plays, in which he took much pleasure. His library, in addition
to numerous works on philosophy and the fine arts, was composed
of standard books of all classes, including, of course, a
proportion of nautical literature. Especially interesting are
fifteen or twenty first editions of Hawthorne's books inscribed
to Mr. and Mrs. Melville by the author and his wife.

The immediate acceptance of 'Typee' by John Murray was followed
by an arrangement with the London agent of an American publisher,
for its simultaneous publication in the United States. I
understand that Murray did not then publish fiction. At any
rate, the book was accepted by him on the assurance of Gansevoort
Melville that it contained nothing not actually experienced by
his brother. Murray brought it out early in 1846, in his
Colonial and Home Library, as 'A Narrative of a Four Months'
Residence among the Natives of a Valley of the Marquesas Islands;
or, a Peep at Polynesian Life,' or, more briefly, 'Melville's
Marquesas Islands.' It was issued in America with the author's
own title, 'Typee,' and in the outward shape of a work of
fiction. Mr. Melville found himself famous at once. Many
discussions were carried on as to the genuineness of the author's
name and the reality of the events portrayed, but English and
American critics alike recognised the book's importance as a