Melville's Billy Budd
By: ed. by F. Barron Freeman
Contributors: Freeman, Frederic Barron, 1912-
Publisher: Harvard Univ. Press
Published: 1948
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA, USA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 381
Copyright date: 1948
Other titles: Billy Budd
Description: Mr. Freeman presents the results of his careful appraisal of the two works, and reinterprets the often misunderstood last five years of Melville's life--the years which formed the background for these final writings. In an extensive introduction he reveals Melville's creative process and his solution to the universal conflict between good and evil--the conflict which haunted him through all his works.

Here are two "firsts" for Melville collectors: "Baby Budd, Sailor," published for the first time; and Billy Budd, Foretopman in its first complete, accurate transcription. William Ellery Sedgwick has written: "The story of Billy Budd is as stark a tragedy as an American writer even to this day has ever penned." The general reader will find this story, in both the short and long versions, of great emotional impact and intensity. Everyone who recognises the greatness of Typee, White Jacket, or Moby Dick will be stirred by Billy Budd, as will all lovers of seafaring literature.
Notes: "The complete text of the novel and of the unpublished short story [Baby Budd, sailor]"

Bibliography: p. [371]-381