The Literature Network - TITLE DEED HOW THE BOOK GOT ITS NAME 'the confidence-man' by herman melville

TITLE DEED HOW THE BOOK GOT ITS NAME 'the confidence-man' by herman melville

Content courtesy of

From: The Sunday Telegraph London
Date: 20070805
Author:GARY DEXTER

Herman Melville's The Confidence-Man (1857) - his last novel - concerns a trickster who, in various guises, fleeces the passengers on a Mississippi steamboat. It was based on the exploits of a real- life swindler of late-1840s New York, one Samuel Thompson. Remarkably, Thompson was the first person to whom the epithet 'confidence man' was ever applied (giving us the words 'con-man', 'con-trick', etc). According to newspaper reports of the time, his method was to claim former acquaintance with his victim and then ask for their 'confidence' with the notorious words: 'Are you really disposed to ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Herman Melville

Herman Melville

Melville's last, grave joke?(Herman Melville)

ALA 2002: Why is Melville a good poet?(Herman Melville)(Brief Article)

Abolition, compromise and "the everlasting elusiveness of truth" in Melville's 'Pierre.' (Herman Melville)(Fictions of Reform)

Melville's Pacific and the Pacific's Melville.(Herman Melville)(Critical Essay)

Giles Gunn, ed.: A Historical Guide to Herman Melville.(Book review)

Melville and the Lyric of History.(Herman Melville)(Critical Essay)

Melville at Sea.(Herman Melville, A Biography, Volume 2, 1851-1891)

A companion to Herman Melville.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

Blurred distinctions: the parable of the sower and Melville's one-legged man. (Herman Melville's 'The Confidence Man: His Masquerade')

Find More Articles

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.