Billy Budd is a novella begun in November 1888 by American author Herman Melville, left unfinished at his death in 1891 and not published until 1924. It was acclaimed by British critics as a masterpiece when published in London, and quickly took its place among the canon of significant works in the United States.
The novella was discovered in manuscript form in 1919 by Raymond M. Weaver, who was studying Melville's papers as his first biographer. Edited by Melville's widow, the manuscript was confusing. Poor transcription and misinterpretation of Melville's notes marred the first published editions of the text. After several years of study, Harrison Hayford and Merton M. Sealts, Jr. published what is now considered the authoritative text in 1962.
The novella was adapted as a stage play in 1951 and produced on Broadway, where it won the Donaldson Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awards for best play. Benjamin Britten adapted it as an opera by the same name, first performed in December 1951.
Read more about Billy Budd: Plot, Development History, Literary Significance and Reception, Analysis and Interpretations, Further Reading