Moby Dick; Or, The Whale.

MELVILLE, Herman.

Item Number: 138279

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851.

First edition, first issue binding, with the circular Harper’s device of Melville’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth (BAL’s A grain), covers stamped in blind with the publisher’s circular device at the center within a heavy blind rule frame, orange-coated endpapers. In near fine condition with the front free endpaper neatly supplied. From the library of William Reese. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A completely unrestored example of this cornerstone. An exceptional example.

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). Arguably the greatest single work in American literature, Moby-Dick was initially “a complete practical failure, misunderstood by the critics and ignored by the public. Nevertheless, Melville’s permanent fame must always rest on the great prose epic of Moby-Dick, a book that has no equal in American literature for variety and splendor of style and for depth of feeling” (DAB).