About this book
Melville's classic was first published in England as three volumes titled The Whale in October 1851. Slow sales of Melville's previously books convinced Publisher L. Richard Bentley to reduce the printing to only 500 copies, and of that, only 300 sold in the first 4 months. The remaining unbound sheets were bound in a cheaper casing in 1852, and in 1853 there were still enough remaining sheets to again bind into an even cheaper edition.
Melville changed the title to Moby Dick a month later, November 1851, when the American Version was published in one volume by Harper & Brothers in NY. Of the 2,951 copies printed, 125 were review copies. About 1,500 sold in 11 days, but then sales slowed to less than 300 the next year. After two years copies of the first edition were still available, and almost 300 were destroyed in the 1853 fire of Harper's warehouse. Most of the first editions have orange end-papers, although there are 2 known volumes with rare white-endpapers.
Because of Nineteenth-century printing practices, and the time-lapse between when the first-editions were published and Melville became collectible, oxidized paper, bumped and chipped spines, and brittle wrappers are all common for even the most expensive and collectible of these books, which can sell from $35,000 to $100,000. Also, expect heavy wear and maybe even minor repair. Another collectible edition is the 1930 first edition illustrated by Rockwell Kent, a three-volume set published by the Lakeside Press with acetate dust jackets in an aluminum slipcase. These range in value from $9,000 to $11,000.
A total of 3,215 copies of Moby-Dick were sold during Melville's life (he died in 1891). Today, Moby-Dick is considered one of the greatest American novels. -From the rear cover
A masterpiece of storytelling, this epic saga pits Ahab, a brooding and fantastical sea captain, against the great white whale that crippled him. In telling the tale of Ahab's passion for revenge and the fateful voyage that ensued, Melville produced far more than the narrative of a hair-raising journey; Moby-Dick is a tale for the ages that sounds the deepest depths of the human soul.
Interspersed with graphic sketches of life aboard a whaling vessel, and a wealth of information on whales and 19th-century whaling, Melville's greatest work presents an imaginative and thrilling picture of life at sea, as well as a portrait of heroic determination. The author's keen powers of observation and firsthand knowledge of shipboard life (he served aboard a whaler himself) were key ingredients in crafting a maritime story that dramatically examines the conflict between man and nature.
First Edition Identification
Melville's classic was first published by L. Richard Bentley in England in 1851 as a three-volume set entitled The Whale. Only 500 copies were printed.
The US version, published a month later in November 1851 by Harper & Brothers, titled Moby Dick had 2,951 in the first printing. The U.S. version contained substantial textual differences even aside from the prominent change of title, including 35 passages that were wholly deleted from the English version.
Details
- Title Moby-Dick
- Author Herman Melville
- Binding Paperback
- Edition New edition
- Pages 452
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, U.S.A.
- Date 2003-08-29
- ISBN 9780486432151 / 0486432157
- Weight 0.7 lbs (0.32 kg)
- Dimensions 8.2 x 5.2 x 1.2 in (20.83 x 13.21 x 3.05 cm)
- Ages 11 to UP years
- Grade levels 6 - UP
- Reading level 730
-
Themes
- Chronological Period: 19th Century
- Chronological Period: 20th Century
- Library of Congress subjects Sea stories, Psychological fiction
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 2003048599
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
Media reviews
Citations
- Library Journal, 11/15/2003, Page 103
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