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Literature and History
Lot 91

"CALL ME ISHMAEL...."
MELVILLE, HERMAN. 1819-1891.
Moby Dick; or, The Whale. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851.

24 April – 4 May 2023, 12:00 EDT
Online, New York

Sold for US$12,240 inc. premium

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"CALL ME ISHMAEL...."

MELVILLE, HERMAN. 1819-1891. Moby Dick; or, The Whale. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851.
8vo. Publisher's blue green cloth, publisher's device stamped in blind to center of upper cover, professionally rebacked, original spine laid down, original orange endpapers, corners repaired. Custom green cloth clamshell box.
Provenance: Jno. M. Connell (ink inscription, dated June 1852); H. Connell (ink name to paste-down).

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, FIRST BINDING, OF THIS CORNERSTONE OF AMERICAN LITERATURE, including 35 passages not appearing in the English edition which was published the previous month, as The Whale. This American edition is the first edition under the title Moby Dick, and it was set from Melville's original manuscript. The English edition was set from the American sheets, with Melville's alterations. BAL 13664; Grolier American 60; Johnson High Spots 57.

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