Moby-Dick Reviews Archive
Browse all 125 known contemporary reviews of Moby-Dick from 1851–1852, plus key revival-era criticism. The most complete collection online.
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Harper's New Monthly Magazine
favorable
“Surpasses any of the former productions of this highly successful author.
”
— December 1851
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The Eclectic Magazine
favorable
“Faulty as the book may be, it bears the marks of such unquestionable genius, and displays graphic powers of so rare an order, that it cannot fail to add to the popular author's reputation.
”
— December 1851
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Savannah (GA) Daily Morning News
favorable
“The reading public will greet with pleasure another work from Mr. Melville, in that field of romance where he has won so many laurels. He is at home in this book among the whales and whalers, harpoons and habergeons.
”
— December 2, 1851
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Newark (NJ) Daily Advertiser
favorable
“Fresh and buoyant as ever, our old friend dashes out in another realm of sea-life.
”
— December 5, 1851
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New York Spirit of the Times
favorable
“A work of exceeding power, beauty, and genius.
”
— December 6, 1851
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Savannah (GA) Republican
favorable
“Full of wild adventures and glowing descriptions... just think of chasing the whale, the monster king of the great deep, through the mighty waste of waters!
”
— December 6, 1851
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Poughkeepsie (NY) Eagle
favorable
“Full of interest from beginning to end, and promises to be the most popular of Melville’s writings. The characters are various, each imparting peculiar interest to the reader.
”
— December 6, 1851
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St. John, New Brunswick News
favorable
“A fair sample of the 'Romance of real life,' and while its tendency is useful and instructive, it is free from those pernicious and deceptive ingredients with which many of the tales of the present age are impregnated.
”
— December 10, 1851
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Washington (DC) National Intelligencer
favorable
“A prose Epic on Whaling... In whatever light it may be viewed, no one can deny it to be the production of a man of genius. The descriptive powers of Mr. Melville are unrivalled... His delineation of character is actually Shakespearean... We close this ingenious romance, which for variety of incident and vigor of style can scarcely be exceeded.
”
— James C. Welling, December 16, 1851
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Providence (RI) Manufacturers' and Farmers' Journal
favorable
“His description of the ocean and of the ship have a fascination that binds the reader to his pages.
”
— December 1, 1851
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New Orleans Commercial Bulletin
favorable
“This, we take it from a cursory survey, is an exceedingly exciting and attractive work... The book is highly spoken of, and engages very general attention.
”
— December 8, 1851
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Boston Christian Freeman and Family Visiter
favorable
“Takes a wide and diversified scope of descriptive, sketching, anecdote, etc., directly and indirectly connected with the whaling and other seafaring locations and business.
”
— December 1851
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- ✅ Complete, unabridged text — every word of the original 1851 edition
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- ✅ Historical context — the Essex disaster, Nantucket whaling, Melville's life
- ✅ Literary analysis — chapter-by-chapter commentary on themes and symbols
- ✅ Victorian vocabulary — obsolete words and nautical terms defined inline
- ✅ Biblical & literary references — every allusion traced to its source