In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • From the Mast-Head
  • Brian Yothers

This issue of Leviathan marks more than one transition in the life of this journal. The transition that I suspect will be most immediately evident to current subscribers is that we are resuming our normal issue length and scope after a series of four substantially expanded issues for the 2019 bicentennial of Herman Melville’s birth. The other significant transition that we are observing with the June 2020 issue is a change in our editorial staff. With this issue, volume 22, number 2, I am moving into the role of Editor of Leviathan. Samuel Otter, who has served as Editor with extraordinary vision, care, and scrupulous attention to detail for the past six years, has now moved to our Advisory Board, and John Bryant, who guided the journal as Editor from its inception in 1999 through 2013, continues to hold the title of Founding Editor in addition to his role on the Advisory Board. As the third Editor of Leviathan, I feel immense gratitude to John and Sam, as I have learned more than I could have imagined from working closely with Sam over the past six years, and I have been and continue to be proud to be a part of the endeavor that John established more than twenty years ago when he founded Leviathan. I cannot conceive of better mentors or bigger shoes to fill.

Our new Associate Editor, who now steps into the role that I held from 2014 to 2019 and that Samuel Otter and Wyn Kelley held before me, is Jennifer Greiman of Wake Forest University. Jennifer is known to readers of this journal as the author of outstanding work on Melville and democracy, and she brings a combination of theoretical and critical acumen and close attention to textual detail that will serve the journal’s continued flourishing and development well. I am delighted to be able to welcome this outstanding Melvillean to our editorial staff as the journal’s fourth Associate Editor.

Mary K. Bercaw Edwards of the University of Connecticut continues in the role of Extracts editor, and Dawn Coleman of the University of Tennessee has graciously agreed to continue for one more year in the role of Book Review Editor, after which Paul Hurh of the University of Arizona will be stepping into that role. I am particularly grateful to Mary K. and Dawn as they have put extraordinary work and care into shaping the journal as it now exists; it is a pleasure to continue to work with them on Leviathan this year, and I hope in Mary K.’s case for years to come. [End Page 1]

Although Dawn is moving on to other opportunities after 2020, this seems like the right occasion to mention the truly remarkable work that she has done in shaping the role of Book Review Editor. She is the first Book Review Editor in the journal’s history, and her careful planning and sharp editorial eye have meant that we have had a steady stream of consistently incisive and thoughtful reviews over the past six years. She has also developed the Books in Brief feature, which has substantially expanded the array of volumes to which our readers are exposed.

Mary K.’s work on Extracts as the journal’s first Extracts editor has served to broaden and enrich that portion of the journal as well, emphasizing the public-facing dimensions of Melville scholarship and also bringing an array of fascinating developments and discoveries into view. The special issues that she has edited on the Melville Society conferences from 2013 to the present have made an especially vibrant contribution to Melvilleans’ sense of the ongoing vitality of both Melville studies and Melville’s place in the literary imagination.

We are fortunate to have a rich selection of essays coming up in future issues, with a substantial focus over the next couple of years on the transnational dimensions of Melville studies. This issue features a special collection of essays on “Melville’s England / England’s Melville” edited by Janet Floyd and Edward Sugden. We look forward in future issues to a cluster of essays by scholars working in France on...

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