To HERMAN MELVILLE, Esq.
Reading edition
My dear Herman Melville,
In words of beauty and of kindness you lately wished me health and content. Health, alas! you cannot give me; but content you have filled me with. My books have done more than ever I had dared dream, by winning for me the friendship and approval of the Author of ‘Typee,’ ‘Omoo,’ ‘Moby-Dick,’ ‘Redburn,’ and other productions which top the list of sea literature in the English tongue. I beg you to accept this dedication as a further public avowal of my hearty admiration of your genius.
In all faithfulness yours, W. CLARK RUSSELL.