1923 Rare Book - Moby Dick or The White Whale illustrated by Mead Schaeffer
This book has been sold, but we regularly acquire comparable copies.
An imposing 1923 illustrated edition of Herman Melville’s American masterpiece, enriched with Mead Schaeffer’s dramatic full-page colour plates and striking pictorial endpapers.
Author: Herman Melville.
Title: Moby-Dick; or, The White Whale.
Illustrator: Mead Schaeffer.
Publisher: New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1923.
Language: English.
Pages: 540 pages.
Size: 9.5 x 7 inches.
Binding: Very good publisher’s original dark brownish-black pebbled cloth binding, with blind-stamped decorative borders and publisher’s device to the front board, and handsome gilt lettering to the front board and spine. Light general wear and slight fading to the spine, as shown. Hinges firm. Upper edge gilt. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content, bright, clean and well preserved, with only light age toning and occasional minor signs of use.
Illustrations: Complete with 12 full-page colour plates by Mead Schaeffer, including the colour frontispiece, together with beautifully illustrated pictorial endpapers. The plates remain bright and richly coloured.
Estimate: US$250–350
The book: A particularly handsome early twentieth-century illustrated edition of Moby-Dick, Melville’s monumental tale of Ishmael, Captain Ahab and the doomed voyage of the Pequod. First published in 1851, the novel combines maritime adventure with meditations on obsession, fate, nature, faith and the limits of human knowledge, culminating in Ahab’s relentless pursuit of the great white whale.
Published by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1923, this substantial edition is especially desirable for Mead Schaeffer’s series of vivid colour illustrations. His paintings give visual form to some of the novel’s most memorable scenes, from life aboard the Pequod and the personalities of its crew to the violence and grandeur of the whale hunt. The richly illustrated title page and atmospheric pictorial endpapers make this an especially attractive production.
The author: Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American novelist, short-story writer and poet whose experiences at sea profoundly influenced his fiction. Although Moby-Dick received only limited recognition during his lifetime, the twentieth-century revival of Melville’s reputation established it as one of the defining works of American literature. Its extraordinary combination of adventure, symbolism, philosophy and psychological intensity has secured its place among the great novels of the nineteenth century.
The illustrator: Mead Schaeffer (1898–1980) was one of the leading American illustrators of his generation. Early in his career he became particularly associated with lavishly illustrated editions of literary classics before achieving wide recognition for his magazine work, including numerous covers and illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post. His paintings for Moby-Dick combine narrative drama, strong characterization and a vivid sense of maritime atmosphere, making this 1923 edition one of the most appealing illustrated interpretations of Melville’s masterpiece.