Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life is the first book by American writer Herman Melville, published first in London, then New York, in 1846. Considered a classic in travel and adventure literature, the narrative is based on the author's actual experiences as a captive on the island Nuku Hiva in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands in 1842, and is liberally supplemented with imaginative reconstruction and adaptation of material from other books.