Bartleby, the Scrivener

“I would prefer not to.”

Four words that changed American literature. A story about a man who refuses. And a question that has haunted readers for more than a century: What do we owe the people who will not play the game?

Herman Melville’s most famous short story is a masterpiece of quiet subversion—a tale about a Wall Street lawyer, his diligent employees, and the strange, pale scrivener who one day decides that he would prefer not to copy legal documents, and that he would prefer not to leave the office, and that he would prefer not to explain himself, and that he would prefer, finally, not to exist.

The lawyer-narrator is a reasonable man, a prudent man, a man who prides himself on his ability to get along with everyone. He hires Bartleby, a quiet, industrious copyist. The work is good. Then Bartleby is asked to proofread a document. “I would prefer not to,” he says. The lawyer is baffled. He asks again. Bartleby prefers not to. He will not leave. He will not explain. He will not engage. The lawyer tries patience, kindness, threats, eviction. Nothing works. Bartleby simply prefers not to. The story moves from comedy to tragedy to something stranger: a meditation on free will, capitalism, mental illness, and the limits of human sympathy.

This is Melville at his most cryptic and profound: a story about a man who chooses nothing, and a world that cannot bear to look at him. Bartleby, the Scrivener has been read as a critique of Wall Street, a portrait of depression, a parable of existentialism, and a ghost story without a ghost.

• First published in 1853 in Putnam’s Monthly Magazine

• One of the most frequently anthologized and studied works of American short fiction

• The source of the most famous refusal in literature: “I would prefer not to”

Available in multiple formats:

• Paperback & Hardcover: Beautifully designed print editions presenting the complete, unabridged text made to last.

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• Audiobook: Professionally narrated, complete and unabridged, available on all major audiobook platforms.

A beautifully crafted edition for your shelf, your device, or your ears—or the perfect gift for anyone who has ever wanted to say, “I would prefer not to,” and meant it.

About the Author

Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet, best known for Moby-Dick (1851), now considered one of the greatest novels in the English language. Born in New York City, Melville went to sea as a young man, an experience that shaped his early novels, including Typee (1846) and Omoo (1847). By the 1850s, his reputation had declined, and he turned to writing short fiction. “Bartleby, the Scrivener” was published in 1853, followed by “Benito Cereno” (1855) and “The Encantadas” (1854). The story was largely ignored during Melville’s lifetime but was rediscovered in the twentieth century and is now recognized as a masterpiece of American short fiction. Melville died in 1891, nearly forgotten; a revival of interest in the 1920s restored his reputation. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.