Did Herman Melville write the "textbook" chapters of Moby Dick?
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Accepted answer
The Cetology of Moby Dick was written by Herman Melville, but it draws upon the works of several naturalists and anatomists of his time, including:
- Thomas Beale, who wrote The Natural History of the Sperm Whale
- Frederick Debell Bennett, who wrote the Narrative of a Whaling Voyage Round the Globe
Both were surgeons on whaling ships, and wrote of the anatomy of whales. They, and Melville as well, further relied upon the writings of the great naturalist John Hunter, especially his Observations on the Structure and Oeconomy of Whales.
Wikipedia has an image of Melville's copy of Beale's book:
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Source: stackoverflow.com
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