1930 Rare First Edition - MOBY DICK or The Whale by Melville, illustrated by Rockwell Kent.
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(Description)
Title: MOBY DICK or THE WHALE.
Publisher: New York, Random House, 1930. First one volume illustrated edition by Rockwell Kent.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 " X 6 ".
Pages: xxxi-822 pages.
Binding: Attractive and near fine original full-cloth binding (hinges fine) under a protective removable mylar cover. A rare find in such a nice condition!
Content: Near fine content (bright, tight and clean, light toning to the inner hinge of the last endpaper - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with the beautiful black&white pen, brush, and ink drawings by Rockwell Kent.
Estimate: (USD 450 - USD 750)
The book: Rare and very attractive First Edition of Moby Dick illustrated by Rockwell Kent.
The illustrator: Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. Approached in 1926 by publisher R. R. Donnelley to produce an illustrated edition of Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s Two Years Before the Mast, Kent suggested Moby-Dick instead. Published in 1930 by the Lakeside Press of Chicago, the three-volume limited edition (1,000 copies) filled with Kent's haunting black-and-white pen/brush and ink drawings sold out immediately; Random House also produced the first trade edition.
The author: Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. His best-known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His work was almost forgotten during his last thirty years. His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. He developed a complex, baroque style: the vocabulary is rich and original, a strong sense of rhythm infuses the elaborate sentences, the imagery is often mystical or ironic, and the abundance of allusion extends to biblical scripture, myth, philosophy, literature, and the visual arts.