Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, essayist, and poet. Due to his poor family, he worked as a farmer, clerk, teacher, sailor, and navy. Later, he became a novelist. He used his experiences at sea as a factual basis to write his fable masterpiece "Moby Dick" (1851), which is considered one of the greatest novels in the United States. The British writer Maugham's evaluation of "Moby Dick" in "Top Ten Novelists in the World and Their Masterpieces" is far higher than that of other American writers Allan Poe and Mark Twain. Melville, who died in obscurity and poverty, only became famous seventy years after the publication of "Moby Dick"; his works also included short stories such as "Butterfly the Clerk" (1856) and the novella "Billy Bud" (1924). He is regarded as one of the greatest American novelists of a century.