Whaleology with tact

New York Observer - November 20, 1851

The Whale, by Herman Melville, is a beautiful book, just out of the press of the Harpers, a complete exhibition of the art and mystery of whaleology, with graphic pictures of the life and times of whalemen, in which the peculiar tact of Melville appears on every page.
--New York Observer, November 20, 1851

Nowadays tact generally implies "avoiding offense," but in Melville's time the word conveyed the senses of touch, feeling, and

"Peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment."
--Webster's 1848 American Dictionary of the English Language. 

Short notice of Clarel in the New York Observer

New York Observer - June 29, 1876

CLAREL: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land. By Herman Melville. In Four Parts. 1, Journalism. 2, The Wilderness; 3, Mar Saba; 4, Bethlehem. G. P. Putnam's Sons.

This is a dreary pilgrimage of two volumes of miserable poetry (if such it can be called) which few readers will be able to complete. --New York Observer, June 29, 1876

So Melville was right when he described Clarel as "eminently adapted for unpopularity," in his letter to James Billson dated October 10, 1884. The first book is titled "Jerusalem," not "Journalism."