Melville, Herman.

8vo (196 x 128mm.), 3 volumes, first edition, half-title in vol. 1, publisher's remainder binding of purple cloth, spines gilt-lettered, covers with blindstamped decoration, yellow-coated endleaves, green buckram slipcase with morocco gilt spine label, matching chemise, two leaves supplied in facsimile: M1 in vol. 1 and F6 in vol. 3, with the original defective leaves laid in, minimal foxing and soiling throughout, rebacked with backstrips laid down, some wear and rubbing, stains on upper portion of front cover of vol. 3 affecting front endpapers

Charles Hays Miller, presentation inscription of verso of front free endpaper in vols. 1 and 3

BAL 13663; Grolier American 60; Sadleir, Excursions 228; Sadleir, XIX Century Fiction 1685

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This edition precedes the New York edition by a month and was printed in a edition of 500. The English edition was extensively edited and about thirty-five passages that later appeared in the American edition had been deleted.

Melville's first mention of the composition of Moby-Dick was in a letter to Richard Henry Dana, dated 1 May 1850: "It will be a strange sort of book, tho' I fear; blubber is blubber you know; tho' you may get oil out of it, the poetry runs as hard as sap from a frozen maple tree; - & to cook the thing up, one must needs throw in a little fancy, which from the nature of the thing, must be ungainly as the gambols of the whales themselves. Yet I mean to give the truth of the thing, spite of this" (Letters 108).