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Article: Melville's "Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!": a case study in bipolar disorder.(Herman Merville)
- Article from:
- ATQ (The American Transcendental Quarterly)
- Article date:
- March 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 University of Rhode Island. 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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Shortly after returning home from New York City in December 1831, Herman Melville's father, Allan, fell deathly iii. He had walked the final leg of his journey home across the frozen Hudson River after the Constellation was forced to pull ashore in Poughkeepsie due to heavy ice. Subsequent to his return home, Allan failed to allow himself adequate recuperation time, and by January of the following year he became delirious with fever. On 15 January 1832, extremely concerned about his brother's condition, Thomas Melvill, Jr. (1) wrote a letter to Lemuel Shaw (Allan's friend, the Chief Justice of Massachusetts, and Herman's future father-in-law) describing just how dire ...