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Article: Israel Potter: Melville's 'citizen of the universe.'
- Article from:
- Studies in American Fiction
- Article date:
- March 22, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Northeastern University. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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If there was ever a moment when Herman Melville stood a chance of recouping the readership he had lost by publishing Moby-Dick and Pierre, it may have been with the release, in 1855, of Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile. Written at the height of his powers (just after "The Encantadas" and before "Benito Cereno"), this historical romance is based on the ghostwritten autobiography of Revolutionary War veteran Israel R. Potter, whose career as a patriot soldier was thwarted by captivity, poverty, and prolonged exile in England. Israel Potter is, among other things, a good read, from its wry send-up of Benjamin Franklin to its rendition of the famous naval battle ...
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Encyclopedia entry: Melville, Herman
The Oxford Companion to United States History;
700+ words
... ... reception by readers and critics, Melville claimed he was “ ... to the short story genre, Melville produced such masterpieces ... 1856). The historical novel Israel Potter (1855) is set in the Revolutionary ... Franklin among the characters. Melville's last novel, The Confidence ...
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