Jewels in Her Crown: Treasures of Columbia University Libraries Special Collections

202.  Harper & Brothers.  Contract between Herman Melville and Harper & Brothers for "The Whale," [Moby Dick]. Manuscript, 2 pages, signed by Allan Melville for Herman Melville, New York, September 12, 1851. RBML, Harper & Brothers Papers

The records of Harper & Brothers, dating from 1817 to 1929, along with the pre-1974 records of its successor, Harper & Row, came to Columbia in 1975. Included in the archive are contracts, ledger books, copyright records, correspondence and publishing records of some 240 American and British authors. Also in the gift was Harper & Brothers own archive of 2,700 of their publications. In addition to this contract for "The Whale," the Harper & Brothers Papers also contains contracts for Herman Melville's Mardi, Omoo, Pierre Redburn, Typee, and White-jacket. Mardi, Omoo and Typee are signed by Melville; the others are signed by his brother Allan Melville.

Gift of Harper & Row, 1975, 1989, 1990