- description
- # Bartleby's presence in the office on a Sunday
## Overview
This is a segment extracted from the short story [Bartleby, The Scrivener](arke:01KG8AJ8SS2R5YVRHT1BCDZZNP), focusing on the narrator's unexpected encounter with Bartleby in the office on a Sunday morning. The segment spans lines 623-630 of the source file, [bartleby_the_scrivener.txt](arke:01KG89J1CRGPEZ66W67EZPAMPE). It was extracted on January 30, 2026.
## Context
The segment is part of the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. It follows the segment [Bartleby's increasing isolation and refusal to leave](arke:01KG8AJMWVTDHQPZMF5VKZNP5V) and precedes the segment [Bartleby's Refusal and Discovery of His Living Situation](arke:01KG8AJMWVE8A90YMJ263KGRXD) within the narrative.
## Contents
The segment describes the narrator's surprise at finding Bartleby in his office on a Sunday morning. The narrator recounts going to Trinity Church and then deciding to visit his chambers. Upon arriving, he finds the door locked from the inside. To his "consternation," Bartleby appears in his shirt sleeves, partially opening the door and stating that he is "deeply engaged" and "preferred not admitting" the narrator at that moment.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:06.545Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- Bartleby's presence in the office on a Sunday
- end_line
- 630
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:37.562Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 623
- text
- Now, one Sunday morning I happened to go to Trinity Church, to hear a
celebrated preacher, and finding myself rather early on the ground, I
thought I would walk around to my chambers for a while. Luckily I had
my key with me; but upon applying it to the lock, I found it resisted
by something inserted from the inside. Quite surprised, I called out;
when to my consternation a key was turned from within; and thrusting
his lean visage at me, and holding the door ajar, the apparition of
Bartleby appeared, in his shirt sleeves, and otherwise in a strangely
- title
- Bartleby's presence in the office on a Sunday