- 124
Melville, Herman
Estimate
30,000 - 40,000 USD
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Description
- ink and paper
Moby-Dick; or, the Whale. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851
12mo (7 5/8 x 5 in.; 194 x 127 mm). Two flyleaves at front and back and 6 pages of publisher's advertisements at end. Minor intermittent spotting internally as usual. Original blind stamped purple-brown "A" cloth, gilt lettered spine, orange endpapers; usual fading to cloth, but spine gilt very bright; few tiny splits to cloth at spine ends; corners bumped. Blue quarter morocco slipcase.
12mo (7 5/8 x 5 in.; 194 x 127 mm). Two flyleaves at front and back and 6 pages of publisher's advertisements at end. Minor intermittent spotting internally as usual. Original blind stamped purple-brown "A" cloth, gilt lettered spine, orange endpapers; usual fading to cloth, but spine gilt very bright; few tiny splits to cloth at spine ends; corners bumped. Blue quarter morocco slipcase.
Provenance
Ownership signature pencilled on front free endpaper: "E. Russell, Yale"
Literature
BAL 13664; Grolier, American 60; Johnson, High Spots 57
Catalogue Note
First American edition, first binding. The first American edition of Melville's greatest achievement contains 35 passages and the "Epilogue" not present in the English first edition. In 1853 a major fire destroyed Harper & Brothers and with it some 297 copies of this volume; about sixty copies survived the fire.