Moby Dick.

MELVILLE, Herman; Illustrated by Rockwell Kent.

Item Number: 4385

New York: Random House, 1930.

First edition. Octavo, original black cloth. A fine copy. Warmly inscribed by Rockwell Kent on the front free endpaper. Illustrated throughout.

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). The artist Rockwell Kent did more than provide the illustrations for this landmark edition—he designed the entire book. "His energy, many-sided activities and preoccupation with integrated book design made him one of the best known American illustrators of his time" (Harthan, 247).