Moby Dick; Or, The Whale.

MELVILLE, Herman.

Item Number: 139633

New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1976.

Finely bound edition of Melville’s masterpiece. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco by Asprey, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Illustrated by Warren Chappell. Commentary by Howard Mumford Jones. Text and notes prepared by Harrison Hayford and Hershel Parker. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.

Initially panned by critics and readers when published in 1851, "in the 20th century Moby Dick would be rediscovered and acknowledged as possibly the greatest of all American novels" (Chronology of American Literature). Arguably the greatest single work in American literature, Moby-Dick was initially “a complete practical failure, misunderstood by the critics and ignored by the public. Nevertheless, Melville’s permanent fame must always rest on the great prose epic of Moby-Dick, a book that has no equal in American literature for variety and splendor of style and for depth of feeling” (DAB).