"In May of 1839," Maria Popova writes, "Herman Melville found himself riveted by an article in the New York monthly magazine The Knickerbocker about a 'renowned monster, who had come off victorious in a hundred fights with his pursuers' — a formidable albino whale named Mocha Dick." What happened after that is well known, but Popova adds to the backstory with some illustrations from a new "picture-book biography" on the real-life whale that captivated Melville.
August 10, 2014
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