Herman Melville is best known as the author of Moby Dick, arguably the definitive American epic, but he also penned several significant works of shorter fiction. "Bartleby the Scrivener", Melville's first published short story, was published in 1853, two years after the publication of Moby Dick, and was followed by "Benito Cereno" in 1855. His celebrated novella Billy Budd, which remained unfinished at the time of Melville's death in 1891, was published posthumously and is now considered a classic. These three works, collected together in this one edition, remain popular among critics, scholars, teachers, and--to use Dr. Johnson's famous term--"the common reader". Collectively, alongside Moby Dick, they serve to prove and secure Melville's place as one of the greatest of all American authors.
