The Piazza Tales

Annotated Edition
This volume, first published in 1856, collects three of Melville's most important pieces of prose fiction: 'Bartleby, the Scrivener', `Benito Cereno' and `The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles'. Also included in this volume are `The Lightning-Rod Man', `The Bell Tower' and a story written especially for the collection, `The Piazza'.

This volume, first published in 1856, includes three of the tales widely considered to be among Melville’s masterpieces. In ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener’, a Wall Street lawyer hires a melancholy young clerk called Bartleby, whose sudden and mysterious refusal to work plunges the firm into disarray. ‘Benito Cereno’ is the account of a mutiny on a slave ship, based on the real-life journals of an American sea captain. ‘The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles’ is a series of sketches about the Galápagos Islands which was a huge success with the reading public and contains some of Melville’s most celebrated prose.

Also included in this volume are ‘The Lightning-Rod Man’, ‘The Bell Tower’ and a story written especially for the collection, ‘The Piazza’. Taken together, these tales, in their masterful use of irony and concision, display the author of Moby Dick at his most uncompromising and compelling.

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.