Summary
Summary of Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 55 min45 min fast, 1 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 13,600 words
- Pages
- 40 pages61 in large print
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1853by Herman Melville
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
Free for 3 months
Get the full summary of Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street, free
- 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
- Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
Key ideas
Key idea 1
Comfort shapes the lawyer's view
An elderly Wall Street lawyer tells the story, and his first loyalty is to a comfortable life. He handles the papers of rich men, avoids courtroom battles, and takes pride in being prudent and methodical. His office windows face walls rather than an open view.
Everything we learn about Bartleby comes through this man. He can be kind, but he also confuses calm with avoiding trouble. That matters because the person telling the story will have his own reasons for explaining, excusing, or delaying what he does.
Key idea 2
The office tolerates familiar flaws
Before Bartleby arrives, the office already has its share of odd behavior.
Start free to read
Key idea 3
A gentle refusal unsettles authority
Bartleby arrives pale, neat, and forlorn.
Start free to read
Key idea 4
Refusal becomes an office rule
Instead of confronting Bartleby, the lawyer postpones the problem.
Start free to read
Key idea 5
Pity meets a hidden loneliness
A Sunday visit reveals something the lawyer has not understood.
Start free to read
Key idea 6
Practical solutions cannot reach Bartleby
When the lawyer asks about his past, Bartleby refuses to explain.
Start free to read
Key idea 7
Kindness is tested by inconvenience
The lawyer's pity is real, but so is his wish to remain undisturbed.
Start free to read
Key idea 8
The telling leaves Bartleby unexplained
Melville lets the lawyer speak, so the story begins with a chatty, self-pleased voice that makes office life comic.
Start free to read
Key idea 9
Good intentions leave questions open
At its center, the story places an ordinary, comfortable man before a need he cannot manage.
Start free to read
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest free
Who it’s for
You will love this story if you enjoy dry humour mixed with real sadness, odd office characters, puzzling people who stay in the mind, and the plain question of what one person owes another.
What this book is
What would you do if an employee calmly refused every request, and then refused to leave? That is the problem facing a Wall Street lawyer in Bartleby, the Scrivener.
Herman Melville wrote this story after the sea novels that made his name. An elderly lawyer hires a pale copyist named Bartleby, who copies legal papers by hand. For a few days he is the best worker in the room. Then he answers a simple request with a sentence no one can answer back: I would prefer not to. You will meet the lawyer and his odd clerks, watch the refusals spread, and see what the lawyer finds one Sunday morning.
In this summary
- 1Comfort shapes the lawyer's viewFree
- 2The office tolerates familiar flaws
- 3A gentle refusal unsettles authority
- 4Refusal becomes an office rule
- 5Pity meets a hidden loneliness
- 6Practical solutions cannot reach Bartleby
- 7Kindness is tested by inconvenience
- 8The telling leaves Bartleby unexplained
- 9Good intentions leave questions open
A comfortable lawyer tells a strange tale
The story begins with the man who tells it. He is an elderly lawyer on Wall Street who says the easiest way of life is the best. He runs a quiet practice among the bonds, mortgages and deeds of rich men. He never argues before juries and never chases applause.
He is proud that John Jacob Astor once called him prudent and methodical. He also holds a pleasant post called Master in Chancery, which pays well for little effort. When a new constitution abolishes it, he still grumbles about the income he lost.
His offices are on the second floor. One window looks into a white light shaft. The other looks at a tall brick wall, black with age, only ten feet from the glass. Notice that wall. It comes back again and again.
The lawyer is our only window onto the scrivener. He knows nothing about Bartleby except what his own astonished eyes saw. Every scene reaches us through a man who loves comfort and is not always honest about his motives. He says he is kind, and sometimes he is. He says he is calm, and often he is simply avoiding trouble.
A narrator who prizes comfort above all is the right person to be tested by a man who asks for nothing.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
- Nothing to pay today · Renews every year
- We email you before you pay
- Cancel online in two clicks
Take this summary with you
Send to Kindle downloads the file and opens Amazon's page: drop the file there.
Check yourself
Why does Bartleby's refusal leave the lawyer unsure how to respond?
Right. “Bartleby shows no anger or insolence to push against.”Not quite. “Bartleby shows no anger or insolence to push against.”
What does the lawyer discover during his Sunday visit?
Right. “He pictures Wall Street on a Sunday, deserted as an ancient ruin, and Bartleby alone in it.”Not quite. “He pictures Wall Street on a Sunday, deserted as an ancient ruin, and Bartleby alone in it.”
What central tension shapes the lawyer's charity?
Right. “The lawyer wants to help without being disturbed.”Not quite. “The lawyer wants to help without being disturbed.”
Go deeper: the whole of Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street
About 1 h to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Who’s who
- The lawyer
- An elderly Wall Street lawyer who tells the story. He loves ease and a good name, and wants his office to run quietly.
- Bartleby
- A pale, silent copyist who answers requests with a mild refusal and keeps his past to himself.
- Turkey
- An elderly English copyist, polite and steady in the morning, wild and blotting in the afternoon.
- Nippers
- A young, ambitious copyist troubled by indigestion and irritable mornings, who dreams of real legal work.
- Ginger Nut
- A twelve-year-old office boy who runs errands and buys the ginger cakes that give him his name.
- The landlord
- The owner of the building on Wall Street who wants the nuisance removed before his tenants leave.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 13,600 words
- Reading timeAbout 55 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street
What is Bartleby, the Scrivener about?
A lawyer on Wall Street hires a copyist named Bartleby, who begins refusing tasks with the phrase I would prefer not to. The story follows the lawyer's confusion, pity and frustration as the refusals grow.
What does I would prefer not to mean?
It is Bartleby's polite way of declining. It is mild and never angry, which makes it hard to argue with, and it stands for passive resistance and a quiet withdrawal from ordinary life.
What is a scrivener?
A scrivener is a clerk who copies documents by hand. Before photocopiers, law offices needed such copyists to produce clean duplicates of contracts, deeds and court papers, often for a small fee per page.
Why is it set on Wall Street?
Wall Street stands for money, contracts and order, so a man who simply steps out of that system stands out sharply. The walls in the setting also echo the barriers between people.
Is Bartleby, the Scrivener easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that the story is short, told in a chatty voice, and full of funny office characters. Its scenes are simple and clear, though its meaning stays open to many readings.
Cite this edition
Melville, Herman. Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/bartleby-the-scrivener-a-story-of-wall-street.
Melville, H. (2026). Bartleby, the scrivener: A story of Wall-Street. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/bartleby-the-scrivener-a-story-of-wall-street (Original work published 1853)
Melville, Herman. Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/bartleby-the-scrivener-a-story-of-wall-street.
@book{melville2026bartleby,
author = {Melville, Herman},
title = {Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/bartleby-the-scrivener-a-story-of-wall-street},
note = {First published 1853}
}
Free for 3 months
Get the full summary of Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street, free
- 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
- Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
