The Confidence-Man

Herman Melville

• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781513270036
• eBook ISBN: 9781513275031
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Classics
• Index: Literature

The Confidence-Man (1857) is a novel by American writer Herman Melville. After the failure of his novels Moby-Dick (1851) and Pierre: or, The Ambiguities (1852), Melville struggled to find a publisher who would accept his work. When it was published, The Confidence-Man was seen as a flawed, unnecessarily complicated novel, and beyond several collections of poetry, it all but ended Melville's career as a professional writer. When Melville's work was reappraised in the 1920s, however, scholars recognized his status as one of nineteenth century America's finest literary voices. A keen visionary, Melville's satirical outlook and pessimistic sense of American morality drive the fragmented narrative of The Confidence-Man, his final, most complicated, and perhaps most rewarding novel.

In St. Louis, a mute man dressed in cream colored clothes boards a riverboat bound for New Orleans. On the journey down the Mississippi, a cast of characters at once bizarre and commonplace passes the time playing cards, engaging in conversation, and attempting to gain one another's trust. A crippled African American beggar faces disbelief when he speaks of his life on the streets. A young and naïve student idolizes wealthy men and hopes to make a fortune by investing in stocks. A man in a gray suit asks his fellow passengers to donate to a suspicious charity. As the boat sails on, it becomes increasingly clear that while confidence is easily purchased, honesty remains the rarest of commodities. Set and published on April Fool's Day, The Confidence-Man is a satire of American life that explores with unsparing pessimism themes of religion, identity, morality, and the role of money in everyday life.

This edition of Herman Melville's The Confidence-Man is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• I. A Mute Goes Aboard a Boat on the Mississippi
• II. Showing That Many Men Have Many Minds
• III. In Which a Variety of Characters Appear
• IV. Renewal of Old Acquaintance
• V. The Man With the Weed Makes it an Even Question Whether He Be a Great Sage or a Great Simpleton
• VI. At the Outset of Which Certain Passengers Prove Deaf to the Call of Charity
• VII. A Gentleman With Gold Sleeve-Buttons
• VIII. A Charitable Lady
• IX. Two Business Men Transact a Little Business
• X. In the Cabin
• XI. Only a Page or So
• XII. Story of the Unfortunate Man, from Which May Be Gathered Whether or No He Has Been Justly So Entitled
• XIII. The Man With the Traveling-Cap Evinces Much Humanity, and in a Way Which Would Seem to Show Him to Be One of The Most Logical of Optimists
• XIV. Worth the Consideration of Those to Whom it May Prove Worth Considering
• XV. An Old Miser, Upon Suitable Representations, is Prevailed Upon to Venture an Investment
• XVI. A Sick Man, After Some Impatience, is Induced to Become a Patient
• XVII. Towards the End of Which the Herb-Doctor Proves Himself a Forgiver of Injuries
• XVIII. Inquest Into the True Character of the Herb-Doctor
• XIX. A Soldier of Fortune
• XX. Reappearance of One Who May Be Remembered
• XXI. A Hard Case
• XXII. In the Polite Spirit of the Tusculan Disputations
• XXIII. In Which the Powerful Effect of Natural Scenery is Evinced in the Case of the Missourian, Who, in View of the Region Round-About Cairo, Has a Return of His Chilly Fit
• XXIV. A Philanthropist Undertakes to Convert a Misanthrope, But Does Not Get Beyond Confuting Him
• XXV. The Cosmopolitan Makes an Acquaintance
• XXVI. Containing the Metaphysics of Indian-Hating, According to the Views of One Evidently Not So Prepossessed as Rousseau in Favor of Savages
• XXVII. Some Account of a Man of Questionable Morality, But Who, Nevertheless, Would Seem Entitled to the Esteem of That Eminent English Moralist Who Said He Liked a Good Hater
• XXVIII. Moot Points Touching the Late Colonel John Moredock
• XXIX. The Boon Companions
• XXX. Opening With a Poetical Eulogy of the Press and Continuing With Talk Inspired By the Same
• XXXI. A Metamorphosis More Surprising Than any in Ovid
• XXXII. Showing That the Age of Music and Magicians is Not Yet Over
• XXXIII. Which May Pass for Whatever it May Prove to Be Worth
• XXXIV. In Which the Cosmopolitan Tells the Story of the Gentleman Madman
• XXXV. In Which the Cosmopolitan Strikingly Evinces the Artlessness of His Nature
• XXXVI. In Which the Cosmopolitan is Accosted By a Mystic, Whereupon Ensues Pretty Much Such Talk as Might Be Expected
• XXXVII. The Mystical Master Introduces the Practical Disciple
• XXXVIII. The Disciple Unbends, and Consents to Act a Social Part
• XXXIX. The Hypothetical Friends
• XL. In Which the Story of China Aster is at Second-Hand Told By One Who, While Not Disapproving the Moral, Disclaims the Spirit of the Style
• XLI. Ending With a Rupture of the Hypothesis
• XLII. Upon the Heel of the Last Scene the Cosmopolitan Enters the Barber’s Shop, a Benediction on His Lips
• XLIII. Very Charming
• XLIV. In Which the Last Three Words of the Last Chapter are Made the Text of Discourse, Which Will Be Sure of Receiving More or Less Attention From Those Readers Who Do Not Skip it
• XLV. The Cosmopolitan Increases in Seriousness
• A Note About the Author
• A Note from the Publisher