- description
- # PREFACE
## Overview
This is the preface to the novel "Mardi: And a Voyage Thither" by Herman Melville. It is a frontmatter document, dated January 1849, and was extracted from the file `mardi_vol1.txt`.
## Context
The preface was written by the author as a response to skepticism he encountered after publishing previous narratives of Pacific voyages. He explains that he decided to write a fictional Polynesian adventure, "Mardi," to see if a work of fiction might be accepted as truth, inverting his prior experience. This preface serves as an introduction to the novel and is part of the larger collection "[Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW)".
## Contents
The preface contains the author's reflections on the genesis of the novel "Mardi." It includes the author's note stating that the book is a romance of Polynesian adventure and mentions the date and place of its writing: New York, January 1849. The preface is situated between the table of contents, labeled "[CONTENTS](arke:01KG8AJP4EPBKM81PHDF343DAK)", and the first chapter, "[CHAPTER I. Foot In Stirrup](arke:01KG8AJP4C9JM2SWKWNSK1T0D6)".
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:49:03.978Z
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- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- PREFACE
- end_line
- 156
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- 2026-01-30T20:47:39.468Z
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- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 136
- text
- PREFACE
Not long ago, having published two narratives of voyages in the
Pacific, which, in many quarters, were received with incredulity, the
thought occurred to me, of indeed writing a romance of Polynesian
adventure, and publishing it as such; to see whether, the fiction might
not, possibly, be received for a verity: in some degree the reverse of
my previous experience.
This thought was the germ of others, which have resulted in Mardi. New
York, January, 1849.
MARDI
- title
- PREFACE