When Allan died suddenly in 1832, finances dwindled significantly.Īllan's oldest son, Gansevoort, took control of the family's fur and cap business in New York following his father's death, while Melville clerked at a bank to help make ends meet. However, he was also borrowing heavily to finance his business interests, and after he moved the family upstate to Albany in a failed attempt to branch into the fur trade in 1830, the family's fortune took a big hit. The family had enjoyed a prosperous life for many years due to Allan's success as a high-end importer and merchant. In the mid-1820s, young Melville fell ill to scarlet fever, and though he regained his health not long afterward, his vision was left permanently impaired by the illness. Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819, to Allan and Maria Gansevoort Melvill (Maria added the "e" to the family name following her husband's death). Following his death in New York City in 1891, he posthumously came to be regarded as one of the great American writers. Subsequent books, including his masterpiece Moby-Dick (1851), sold poorly, and by the 1860s Melville had turned to poetry. He worked as a crew member on several vessels beginning in 1839, his experiences spawning his successful early novels Typee (1846) and Omoo (1847). Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819.
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