Moby-Dick; or, the whale by Melville, Herman - 1851

Harper & Brothers, 1851 First American Edition; first binding; with the original cloth bound in blue from the publisher. In the Melville bibliography, this would be the blue "A" cloth, the true first American edition and most desirable copy for a collector. Many copies of this first edition were burned in a fire, and the remaining copies tend to be re-bound. This rare first edition is one of the surviving copies still in the original cloth, untouched. The book has some foxing mainly effecting the first few pages and the endpapers. The boards have some wear to the corners and edges. The spine ends have some light fraying. Otherwise, the book is quite lovely. Besides the previous owner's early signature, the book is clean. There is no writing, marks or bookplates in the book. The binding is tight, and the book is one of the nicer copies that you will find on the market with the original first printing binding. Overall, a collectable copy of this first edition housed in custom clamshell for preservation. We buy Melville First Editions.. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good.