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{{Short description|1846 book by Herman Melville}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Typee
| image = Typee 1st edition.jpg
| caption = First American edition title page
| alt = 
| author = [[Herman Melville]]
| illustrator = 
| cover_artist = 
| country = United States, England
| language = English
| subject = 
| genre = [[Travel literature]]
| published = {{Plainlist|
* 1846 {{small|(New York: Wiley and Putnam)}}
* 1846 {{small|(London: John Murray)}}
}}
| media_type = Print
| pages = 
| awards = 
| isbn = 
| oclc = 
| dewey = 
| congress = 
| followed_by = [[Omoo]]
|wikisource = Typee
}}

'''''Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life''''' is American writer [[Herman Melville]]'s first book, published in 1846, when Melville was 26 years old. Considered a classic in [[Travel literature|travel and adventure literature]], the narrative is based on Melville's experiences on the island [[Nuku Hiva]] in the South Pacific [[Marquesas Islands]] in 1842, supplemented with imaginative reconstruction and research from other books. The title comes from the valley of [[Tai Pī (province)|Taipivai]], once known as Taipi.<ref>Christian, F.W., Nuku and Uia-Ei, 1895, "Notes on the Marquesans," ''Journal of the Polynesian Society'' 4(3):187-202. Page 200</ref>

''Typee'' was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime; it made him notorious as the "man who lived among the cannibals".{{sfnb|Howard|1968|p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=4pQS7K_zSikC&q=neither+literal+autobiography+nor+pure+fiction 291-294]}}

==Background==
[[File:Richard Tobias Greene.jpg|thumb|Richard Tobias (Toby) Greene in 1846]]
[[File:Melville's Desertion from the Acushnet.png|thumb|Melville's desertion from the ''Acushnet'' in 1842]]
From the beginning there were questions about Melville's romantic tale. The London publisher [[John Murray III|John Murray]] wanted reassurance that Melville's experiences were first-hand  before he included the book in the ''[[Home and Colonial Library]]'' series, which was nonfiction by or about foreigners in exotic places. Warm but sometimes skeptical reviews also challenged Melville's account.{{sfnb|Howard|1968|p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=4pQS7K_zSikC&q=neither+literal+autobiography+nor+pure+fiction 279]}}

Not long after the book's publication, however, many of the events described were corroborated by Melville's fellow castaway, Richard Tobias Greene ("Toby"). Researchers later discovered an affidavit from the ship's captain that corroborated that Melville and Greene did indeed desert the ship on the island in the summer of 1842.{{sfnb|Howard|1968|p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=4pQS7K_zSikC&q=neither+literal+autobiography+nor+pure+fiction 291-294]}}

''Typee'' can be seen as a kind of proto-anthropology. Melville continually admits vast ignorance of the culture and language he is describing while also trying to bolster and supplement his own experiences with wide reading and research. He also employs hyperbole and humor. Starting in the 1930s, scholars in the [[Melville revival]] questioned Melville's account.<ref>See Bibliography below</ref> For instance, the length of stay on which ''Typee'' is based is presented as four months, and this was an exaggeration of Melville's actual stay on the island. There is also not a lake where Melville might have gone canoeing with Fayaway.{{sfnb|Howard|1968|p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=4pQS7K_zSikC&q=neither+literal+autobiography+nor+pure+fiction 291-294]}}{{sfnb|Herbert|1980|p = [https://archive.org/details/marquesanencount0000herb <!-- quote=outright lies. --> 159]}}

To flesh out his narrative, Melville used several source books from which he took passages and rewrote them. The most important of these source books are [[William Ellis (British missionary)|William Ellis]], ''Polynesian Researches'' from 1833, [[Georg von Langsdorff|George H. von Langsdorff]], ''Voyages and Travels in Various Parts of the World'' from 1813, [[David Porter (naval officer)|David Porter]], ''Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean in the U.S. Frigate Essex'' from  1815, and Charles S. Stewart, ''A Visit to the South Seas in the U.S. ship Vincennes'' from 1831.<ref>Tanselle (1982), 1327</ref>

==Critical response==
[[File:Fayaway.jpg|thumb|Fayaway]]
''Typee''{{'}}s narrative expresses a great deal of sympathy for the so-called savages, and even interrogates the use of that word, while focusing the most criticism on European marauders and various missionaries' attempts to evangelize:

<blockquote>
It may be asserted without fear of contradictions that in all the cases of
outrages committed by Polynesians, Europeans have at some time or
other been the aggressors, and that the cruel and bloodthirsty
disposition of some of the islanders is mainly to be ascribed to
the influence of such examples.

[The] voluptuous Indian, with every desire supplied,
whom Providence has bountifully provided with all the sources of
pure and natural enjoyment, and from whom are removed so many of
the ills and pains of life—what has he to desire at the hands of
Civilization?  Will he be the happier?  Let the once smiling and
populous Hawaiian islands, with their now diseased, starving, and
dying natives, answer the question. The missionaries may seek to
disguise the matter as they will, but the facts are incontrovertible.
{{sup|CH 4}}
</blockquote>

''[[The Knickerbocker]]'' called ''Typee'' "a piece of [[Baron Munchausen|Münchhausenism]]."{{sfnb|Miller|1956|p=203}} New York publisher [[Evert Augustus Duyckinck]] wrote to [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] that "it is a lively and pleasant book, not over philosophical perhaps."{{sfnb|Widmer|1999|p=108}} In 1939, Charles Robert Anderson published ''Melville in the South Seas'', in which he elaborated on a number of Melville's likely sources in supplementing his work and also documented the existence of an affidavit from the captain of the ''Acushnet''.{{sfnb|Anderson|1939|p=47}} If the date provided by the captain can be considered accurate, Anderson concludes that Melville's stay in the "Typee Valley" part of the island would have been merely "four weeks, or possible eight weeks at the most."{{sfnb|Anderson|1939|p= 70}} However, in trying to determine the end date of Melville's stay, Anderson relies primarily on Melville's own internal accounts of various events, for instance that he was rescued from the valley on a "Monday." In summing up his view of ''Typee'', Anderson writes:

<blockquote> For the general student of Melville, the detailed analysis and verification of these matters ... probably reveals an accuracy scarcely to be expected. Without hesitation it can be said that in general this volume presents a faithful delineation of the island life and scenery in precivilization Nukahiva, with the exception of numerous embellishments and some minor errors....{{sfnb|Anderson|1939|p= 190}}</blockquote>

All of the initial back and forth that Melville experienced regarding the factuality of ''Typee'' may have had a chastening effect on him, as Anderson considers his next work, the book's sequel ''Omoo'', "the most strictly autobiographical of all Melville's works."{{sfnb|Anderson|1939|p=199}} But this second book also seems to have met with some skepticism, so that for his third book ''Mardi'', Melville declares in the preface that he has decided to write a work of fiction under the supposition (half-joking) he might finally be believed: 
<blockquote>Not long ago, having published two narratives of voyages in the Pacific, which, in many quarters, were received with incredulity, the thought occurred to me, of indeed writing a romance of Polynesian adventure, and publishing it as such; to see whether, the fiction might not, possibly be received for a verity: in some degree the reverse of my previous experience.<ref>[https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=DjJAAQAAMAAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA5 Preface to ''Mardi''] (1849), 5</ref></blockquote>
==Academic analysis==
[[Lawrence Buell (academic)|Lawrence Buell]] suggested that ''Typee'' has interesting textual and metatextual elements implying that Melville was aiming for trans-Atlantic audiences. Buell specifically identifies Melville's portrayal of indigenous Polynesian religions as appealing on the one hand to assuage British concern for "veracity" in their reading and on the other skewering American "religious excess."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Buell |first1=Lawrence |title=Melville and the Question of American Decolonization |journal=American Literature |date=June 1992 |volume=64 |issue=2}}</ref>

In the linguistics field, ''Typee'' is one of the few existing literature that shows examples of [[Maritime Polynesian Pidgin]], a kind of [[zonal auxiliary language]] used by Euro-American sailors and whalers including of Melville's background in communicating with [[Polynesians]] and their [[Polynesian languages|very related, almost mutally intelligible languages]] following the [[first voyage of James Cook|first contact with James Cook]] in the late 1760s until later supplanted with European languages taught in future imperial colonies there.<ref>{{cite book|pages=261-5 |title=Language contact in the early colonial Pacific: Maritime Polynesian Pidgin before Pidgin English |first=Emanuel J.|last=Drechsel|year=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9781139057561 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/language-contact-in-the-early-colonial-pacific/9E4DA477392ABDA61F4C0CA7D3812FFF}}</ref>

==Publication history==
''Typee'' was published first in London by [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] on February 26, 1846, and then in New York by [[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Wiley and Putnam]] on March 17, 1846.{{sfnb|Howard|1968|p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=4pQS7K_zSikC&q=neither+literal+autobiography+nor+pure+fiction 285]}} It was Melville's first book, and made him one of the best-known American authors overnight.{{sfnb|Miller|1956|p=4}}

The same version was published in London and New York in the first edition; however, Melville removed critical references to missionaries and Christianity from the second U.S. edition at the request of his American publisher. Later additions included a "Sequel: The Story of Toby" written by Melville, explaining what happened to Toby.{{sfnb|Melville|1968|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4pQS7K_zSikC&q=Story%20Toby Sequel]}}

Before ''Typee''{{'}}s publication in New York, Wiley and Putnam asked Melville to remove one sentence. In a scene in Chapter Two where the ''Dolly'' is boarded by young women from Nukuheva, Melville originally wrote:
<blockquote>Our ship was now given up to every species of riot and debauchery. Not the feeblest barrier was interposed between the unholy passions of the crew and their unlimited gratification.{{sfnb|Melville|1968|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=4pQS7K_zSikC&q=riot%20and%20debauchery 15]}} </blockquote>
The second sentence was removed from the final version.<ref>Nelson (1981), 187</ref>

The discovery in 1983 of thirty more pages from Melville’s working draft manuscript led Melville scholar John Bryant to challenge earlier conclusions about Melville's writing habits. He describes the versions of the draft manuscript and of the “radically different physical print versions of the book,” which amount, Bryant concludes, to “one grand, hooded mess.” Since there is no clear way to present Melville’s "final intention," his 2008 book offers a “fluid text” that allows a reader to follow the revisions. made what he called “an exciting new perspective on Melville’s writing process and culture.” 
{{sfnb|Bryant|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=7SEczjFr5TkC&q=writing%20habits%20culture 26-30]}}

The inaugural book of the [[Library of America]] series, titled ''Typee, Omoo, Mardi'' (May 6, 1982), was a volume containing ''Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life'', its sequel ''[[Omoo|Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas]]'' (1847), and ''[[Mardi|Mardi, and a Voyage Thither]]'' (1849).<ref>{{cite book|author=Melville, Herman|title=Typee, Omoo, Mardi|publisher=G. Thomas Tanselle|date=1982|isbn=978-0-940450-00-4|edition=Library of America|url=https://archive.org/details/typeeomoomardith00herm}}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[Last of the Pagans]]'', a 1935 film adaptation of ''Typee''
*''[[Enchanted Island (film)|Enchanted Island]]'', a 1958 film adaptation of ''Typee''. (An attempt by Allied Artists to film the novel was cancelled at a loss of $1.5 million.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety-1961-07/page/n2/mode/1up?q=%22brought+in+at%22|magazine=Variety|date=5 July 1961|page=3|title=Film Biz in a Word: Chancy}}</ref>)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Editions ==

* {{cite book |last = Melville|first= Herman|year = 1968 |title = Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life |volume=1 |publisher = Northwestern University Press| location = Evanston, IL|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4pQS7K_zSikC |isbn = 9780810101593}}
* {{cite book |last = Melville |first = Herman|author-mask=3 |year = 1892|title = Typee: A Real Romance of the South Sea |publisher = Page| others= Biographical and Critical Introduction by Arthur Stedman|location = Boston |isbn = |ref = none}} Hathi Trust [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510020745055&view=1up&seq=14&skin=2021HERE]
*{{cite book |last = Melville |first = Herman|author-mask=3 |title = Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life During a Four Months' Residence in a Valley of the Marquesas |publisher = Penguin Books| others= Introduction, Explanatory Commentary, and Appendices by John Bryant| date=January 1996 |location = New York |isbn = 9780140434880|ref = none}}
* {{cite book |last = Bryant |first = John |year = 2008 |title = Melville Unfolding: Sexuality, Politics, and the Versions of ''Typee'': A Fluid-Text Analysis, with an Edition of the Typee Manuscript|publisher = University of Michigan Press| location = Ann Arbor |isbn = 9780472115921}} Hathi Trust Open Access [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015076173833&view=1up&seq=3&skin=2021 HERE].

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|first=Charles Roberts |last= Anderson |title= Melville in the South Seas |publisher= Columbia University Press |year= 1939}}
* {{cite book |last = Herbert|first=  T. Walter  |year = 1980 |title = Marquesan Encounters: Melville and the Meaning of Civilization |publisher = Harvard University Press| location = Cambridge, MA|url=https://archive.org/details/marquesanencount0000herb |url-access = registration|isbn = 0674550668}}
* {{citation | last =Howard|first= Leon | chapter =Historical Note | pages = 277–302| title =Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life the Writings of Herman Melville Vol. 1 | editor-last =Melville, Herman | location = Evanston, IL| publisher =Northwestern University Press | year =1968 | isbn =9780810101593|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4pQS7K_zSikC}}
* {{cite book|last= Miller |first= Perry|author-link=Perry Miller |year=1956 |title= The Raven and the Whale: The War of Words and Wits in the Era of Poe and Melville |place= New York |publisher= Harvest }}
* Nelson, Randy F. (1981). ''The Almanac of American Letters''. Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc. {{ISBN|0-86576-008-X}}
* {{cite book |editor-last = Stern |editor-first=Milton R.|year = 1982 |title = Critical Essays on Herman Melville's Typee |publisher = G.K. Hall| location = Boston, Mass |isbn = 0816184453}}.
* [[G. Thomas Tanselle|Tanselle, G. Thomas]] (1982). 'Notes.' In: Herman Melville, ''Typee, Omoo, Mardi.'' The Library of America, Vol. 1. {{ISBN|0940450003}}
* {{cite book|last= Widmer |first=Edward L.|author-link=Edward L. Widmer |year=1999 |title= Young America: The Flowering of Democracy in New York City |place= New York |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 0-19-514062-1}}.

==External links==
{{wikisource|Typee|''Typee''}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/herman-melville/typee}}
* {{Gutenberg|no=1900|name=Typee}}
* [https://archive.org/details/typeepeep00melvrich ''Typee''], 1846 first edition, scanned book via [[Internet Archive]], other later editions available.
* {{librivox book | title=Typee | author=Herman Melville}}
*[http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/melville/ Herman Melville's''Typee'': A Fluid Text Edition], edited by John Bryant (University of Virginia Press).
*The [https://archive.org/details/ClassicsIllustrated036Typee/page/n0 Classics Illustrated comic book] at the [[Internet Archive]]

{{Herman Melville}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1846 American novels]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Culture of the Marquesas Islands]]
[[Category:Novels by Herman Melville]]
[[Category:Marquesas Islands]]
[[Category:Novels set in Oceania]]
[[Category:Novels set on islands]]
[[Category:Novels set in French Polynesia]]
[[Category:Novels republished in the Library of America]]
[[Category:Nautical novels]]