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Peter Harrington
100 Fulham RoadLondonSW3 6RSUnited Kingdom
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Moby-Dick Herman Melville
Adventure fiction
American Renaissance
Epic
Naval Fiction
USD$1,834

Description

First Rockwell Kent trade edition, first printing, attractively bound. Kent's imagining of Melville's classic novel (1851) first appeared earlier in 1930 as a three-volume limited edition published by the Lakeside Press of Chicago. His efforts have been hailed as a masterpiece of 20th-century book illustration and credited with reviving public interest in a sublime but difficult novel. Kent (1882-1971) was given complete creative control over the illustrations and "spent five years researching and designing his project, during which time he discovered many of the 19th-century textual and visual sources that had influenced Melville" (Abrams, p. 377). Octavo (176 x 126 mm). Mid-20th-century navy calf, red and brown spine labels, compartments decorated with gilt ship device and floral border, gilt ship vignette on front cover bordered by twin gilt fillet with circular corners, milled roll on board edges gilt, floral roll on turn-ins gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt. Profusely illustrated after pen-and-ink drawings, in the style of woodcuts, by Rockwell Kent. Spine sunned to brown, gilt and labels bright, foxing to edges, light offsetting from illustrations. A very nice copy. Matthew Jeffrey Abrams, "Illuminated Critique: The Kent Moby-Dick", Word & Image, vol. 33, no. 4, 2017.

About Moby-Dick

"Moby-Dick; or, The Whale," penned by Herman Melville in 1851, stands as a monumental work in American literature, melding adventure, philosophical inquiry, and deep symbolism. At its core, the novel narrates the obsessive quest of Captain Ahab, the monomaniacal commander of the whaling ship Pequod, to exact vengeance on Moby Dick, a gargantuan white sperm whale. Ahab's pursuit of the elusive leviathan, which had previously maimed him, becomes a profound exploration of ambition, madness, and humanity's struggle against the unfathomable forces of nature. The story is recounted by Ishmael, a sailor aboard the Pequod, who serves not only as a narrator but also as a philosophical observer, pondering the mysteries of existence and the interconnectedness of mankind and the natural world. The narrative weaves together Ishmael's reflections, the diverse tales of the ship's crew, and detailed expositions on whaling, creating a rich tapestry that transcends the conventions of its adventure story framework. "Moby-Dick" is celebrated for its ambitious scope, intricate symbolism, and the complexity of its themes. Melville's use of language is both grandiose and penetrating, capable of shifting from technical descriptions of whaling to eloquent meditations on the human condition. The novel's famous opening line, "Call me Ishmael," signals the beginning of a journey not just across the seas but into the depths of the soul and the paradoxes of existence. The fame of "Moby-Dick" lies not only in its narrative audacity but in its capacity to provoke endless interpretation. Ahab's quest against Moby Dick has been read as an allegory for the hubris of man, the inscrutability of fate, and the eternal battle against nature's indomitable will. Over time, the novel has transcended its initial lukewarm reception to become a cornerstone of American literature, revered for its profound insights into the human psyche and the darkness and light that reside within the human heart.