MOBY DICK
The legendary Lakeside Press limited edition — among the greatest illustrated interpretations of a great American novel, a key publication in the Melville Revival, and Kent's spellbinding masterpiece.
Overall near fine.
Price: $16,000.00
MOBY DICK
"Melville's death in 1891 had passed almost unnoticed. It might be said, without too much exaggeration, that Rockwell Kent brought him back to life." — Constance Martin
A fine balance of philosophy and comedy like DON QUIXOTE but with epic Miltonic undertones, MOBY DICK (1851) was not only Melville's most ambitious work to date, but became one of his biggest flops. By his death in 1891, the book was out of print, and would have to wait until the 1920s for a critical resurrection, one solidified in no small part by this edition. Approached in 1926 by Lakeside Press to illustrate a classic of American literature, Kent gladly accepted the commission, but insisted upon MOBY DICK as his subject. The book became a four-year obsession, in which Kent strove to match both Melville's transcendent heights and ordinary elegances. The most striking images are of the White Whale: sublime, alien, cosmic. Kent's mystic vision of MOBY DICK has shaped our approach to the work ever since. A modern monument.
Read more: Constance Martin, "Rockwell Kent's Distant Shores: The Story of an Exhibition," Arctic, March 2002; Benton, Beauty and the Book.
The Object
First edition thus. Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1930. Full title: Moby Dick: Or The Whale. Three volumes, 11.5'' x 8.25'' each. Original black cloth stamped in silver with Kent-designed titles and images. Black topstains, other edges uncut and largely unopened. In original acetate jackets with paper flaps and original aluminum slipcase. Illustrated by Kent with 280 images. xxvii, 279, [1]; viii, 284; viii, 282, [8] pages. Limited to 1000 copies. Bookplates to front pastedowns. Moderate rubbing to slipcase. Spine of vol. I acetate perished, vol. II acetate split at spine, some rippling and a few closed tears as typical. Cloth sharp. Interiors a trifle musty but crisp and clean. Tight. Scarce with slipcase and all acetates.
The Fine Print
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