Bartleby and Benito Cereno

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In this collection readers will find two of Herman Melville’s most renowned shorter works, Bartleby: The Scrivener , and Benito Cereno . The first story, Bartleby , was first serialized in two issues of Putnam’s Magazine in November and December of 1853. It concerns the office of a Wall Street lawyer who due to an increase in business hires a third scrivener named Bartleby to copy legal documents by hand. At first Bartleby proves to be a very productive worker but one day begins acting rather strangely. When asked to proofread a document he replies I would prefer not to , an answer he begins repeating perpetually in regards to all the tasks put to him. What follows for Bartleby is a tragic decline into apathy. The second story, Benito Cereno , first appeared in Putnam’s Monthly over three installments in 1855. It is the story on Don Benito Cereno, the captain of a Spanish Slavery ship, and the revolt that happens aboard his ship. Together Bartleby and Benito Cereno are widely regarded as two of Melville’s finest compositions. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.