Pittsfield

Pittsfield was a point of proximity and transition in Herman Melville’s relationship with Nathaniel Hawthorne: while staying with his aunt there, Melville discovered Hawthorne’s writing, and a month after they met nearby, he settled on a farm just south of the town.

Setting and Literary Encounter

In the summer of 1850, Melville was staying with his aunt in Pittsfield, away from New York City. He read Hawthorne’s Mosses from an Old Manse and was captivated by its evocation of old New England. Hawthorne was living nearby in the Berkshires, drawn to the region’s landscape. Their meeting took place at Monument Mountain, not in Pittsfield itself, but the town was the setting for Melville’s first encounter with Hawthorne’s work and part of the local geography that brought the two writers within reach of one another.

From Pittsfield to Arrowhead

A month after meeting Hawthorne, Melville moved to a farm two miles south of Pittsfield. He named it Arrowhead after Indigenous artifacts found in its fields. With financial help from his wealthy father-in-law, he took up a daily routine that included two hours of farm work and selling cider by the roadside. The farm gave Melville a settled home while keeping him less than an hour’s ride from Hawthorne’s house in Lenox.

Role in the Friendship

Pittsfield’s significance lies in how it connects reading, place, and an emerging friendship. Melville’s time there began with his absorption in Hawthorne’s book; the nearby farm then made continued visits possible. Hawthorne, who already admired Melville’s Typee, invited him to stay for a few days. The town thus belongs to the geography of a relationship that grew through proximity, meetings, and increasingly long letters.