Herman Melville

Bartleby, The Scrivener Herman Melville

"It's a source of bafflement to me that Bartleby the Scrivener is not the most famous and celebrated book by Herman Melville. It's a flawless and ambiguous work of art." -Sophie Hannah; The Independent


Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street (1853) is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville. In the story, a Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who, after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copies or do any other task required of him, with the words "I would prefer not to."

Numerous critical essays have been published about the story, which scholar Robert Milder describes as "unquestionably the masterpiece of the short fiction" in the Melville canon.

Also included in this book is Benito Cereno (1855), another short story by Herman Melville, a fictionalized account about the revolt on a Spanish slave ship captained by Don Benito Cereno.

Two Classic Melville Stories that Belong on Every Bookshelf!