SAVE THE DATE
July 30 – August 1, 2026 the Berkshire County Historical Society celebrates the tenth anniversary of its reading of Moby-Dick.
Each year people across the country come together to read aloud Moby-Dick in its entirety. The locations vary from historic sites, to museums, to beaches. Each place is special and offers a unique lens through which to interpret Melville’s epic tale. In Mystic, Connecticut, you can read aboard the Charles W. Morgan, the last remaining wooden whale ship. You can hear the crash of the waves and perhaps see a whale from Venice Beach. Or you can visit the port of New Bedford where Melville set sail in 1841.
But…there is only one place where you can participate in a community reading at the place where the novel was written – Arrowhead, Herman Melville’s historic home and farm.
It was here that Melville was inspired in part by his view of the whale-like shaped Mount Greylock. Of his time at Arrowhead Melville wrote to his editor, “I have a sort of sea-feeling here in the country. When I look out my study window, especially now that the ground is covered with snow, it reminds me of looking out a ship’s porthole.”
You, too, will be inspired by Melville’s home and surrounding landscape. We’re planning some special things this year – stay tuned for more details.