"Melville's Evermoving Dawn contains some of the best writing and thinking on Melville today. Represented here are scholars young and old, traditionalists and new historicists, who gathered at several conferences and venues throughout 1991, the centennial of Herman Melville's death. Meetings occured in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (where Melville wrote Moby-Dick, Pierre, and other works), New York City during Melville week (Sept. 22-28), and Washington, DC, at the Theater of the National Archives. The essays survey the past and present of Melville studies and suggest directions for the future."--BOOK JACKET.