Q 01/05

Where was Herman Melville born on August 1, 1819?

A) Boston

B) Manhattan

C) Albany

D) Nantucket

Answer · why

B) Manhattan

He was the third of eight children of importer Allan Melvill; the family added the 'e' later.

Q 02/05

Melville's paternal grandfather, Major Thomas Melvill, took part in which famous event?

A) The Boston Tea Party

B) The Battle of Bunker Hill

C) The signing of the Declaration

D) Washington's crossing of the Delaware

Answer · why

A) The Boston Tea Party

His maternal grandfather, General Peter Gansevoort, defended Fort Stanwix in 1777, giving Melville a 'double revolutionary descent'.

Q 03/05

What language did the Gansevoort side of Melville's family speak at home?

A) Dutch

B) French

C) German

D) Gaelic

Answer · why

A) Dutch

His mother's severe Dutch Reformed Calvinism became a decisive influence after his father's death.

Q 04/05

Melville's father Allan died in January 1832 after what?

A) Surviving a shipwreck off Cape Cod in a winter gale

B) Being wounded in a duel over an unpaid debt

C) Catching cholera during an outbreak in New York

D) Travelling 70 miles in an open carriage in freezing weather

Answer · why

D) Travelling 70 miles in an open carriage in freezing weather

He fell into delirium; twenty years later Melville described a similar death in Pierre.

Q 05/05

After his father's death, young Melville worked as a clerk at what kind of institution?

A) A bank

B) A law office

C) A newspaper

D) A shipping firm

Answer · why

A) A bank

His uncle Peter Gansevoort got him the $150-a-year job at the New York State Bank; he was later pulled out to run the family fur store.