Typee: A Narrative of a Four Months' Residence among the Natives of a Valley of the Marquesas Islands or A Peep at Polynesian Life (The Astor Library)

319 pp. 8vo. Typee (1846; in full: Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life) is American writer Herman Melville's first book, partly based on his actual experiences as a captive on Nuku Hiva (which Melville spelled as Nukuheva) in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands and the title comes from a valley there called Tai Pi Vai. It was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime; for 19th century readers his career seemed to go downhill afterward, but during the early 20th century it was seen as just the beginning of a career that peaked with Moby-Dick (1851).