Dueling Biographers: Judging the Scholarly Quality of a Catalog "Hit"

These two biographies were published in the same year, and both are in the library collection.    Would either of them be "illegal" for a scholar to consult?  Which one is likely to be better, and why is it likely to be better?

Melville / Edwin Haviland Miller
BOOKS BOOKS
Miller, Edwin Haviland.
New York : Persea Books, c1975.
 
 
 
Items
LOCATION Call No. Status
Main Collection 816 M53Smi 1975   AVAILABLE
Details
Description
382 p., [8] p. of plates : ill ; 24 cm.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 371-375) and index.
Subject
Melville, Herman, 1819-1891.
Subject Headings
Novelists, American -- 19th century -- Biography.

 

Herman Melville : a biography / Hershel Parker
BOOKS BOOKS
Parker, Hershel.
Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, c1996-
 
 
 
Items
LOCATION Call No. Status
Main Collection 816 M53Spa v.1  AVAILABLE
Main Collection 816 M53Spa v.2  AVAILABLE
Details
Description
2 v. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Contents
v. 1. 1819-1851 -- v. 2. 1851-1891.
Subject
Melville, Herman, 1819-1891.
Subject Headings
Novelists, American -- 19th century -- Biography.