Moby Dick Herman Melville 1950 Modern Library #119 Hardcover DJ Brodart
A handsome 1950 Modern Library hardcover edition of Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville, issued as No. 119 in the Modern Library catalog.
Condition:
Good hardcover with a solid binding
Clean text with no marginalia or dog-eared pages
Pages top-stained red
Publisher: Modern Library
Publication date: 1950
Modern Library catalog No. 119
Dust jacket protected in a new, archival-quality clear Brodart wrapper
Back of dust jacket lists the Modern Library catalog
Please examine photographs for additional details of condition
About the Book:
Ishmael joins the crew of the Pequod, a whaling ship commanded by Captain Ahab, whose consuming desire to destroy the white whale that maimed him places every man aboard in danger. More than an adventure at sea, Moby-Dick is a philosophical exploration of obsession, fate, free will, mortality, faith, friendship and humanity’s attempt to conquer an unknowable natural world.
Among its most memorable characters is Queequeg, the tattooed harpooner whose marked body represents an entire personal history that others cannot easily read. Initially regarded as an outsider, Queequeg becomes one of the novel’s most humane and honorable figures. His tattoos, coffin and friendship with Ishmael give the story some of its richest symbolism concerning identity, prejudice, brotherhood and survival.
Censorship History:
Moby-Dick has not been broadly banned, but it does have a genuine history of censorship. Melville’s original British publisher removed or altered passages considered sacrilegious, sexual or politically objectionable. In 1996, the novel was also removed from an advanced English reading list in Lindale, Texas, because it was said to conflict with “community values.”
Collector Interest:
Once poorly received and largely forgotten, Moby-Dick was rediscovered in the twentieth century and is now regarded as one of the defining works of American literature. Vintage Modern Library editions appeal to collectors for their place in the history of affordable literary publishing. The surviving dust jacket—especially with its period catalog printed on the back—adds both visual appeal and historical interest, while the Brodart wrapper helps preserve it for future readers and collectors.
An attractive vintage edition for a Herman Melville collector, Modern Library enthusiast, student of literary symbolism or reader drawn to classic nautical fiction and philosophical literature.
