Moby Dick. By Herman Melville. Illustrated by Rockwell Kent. First Trade Edition, First Printing. Random House. New York, 1930.

Moby Dick; Or, the Whale, is often cited as the Great American Novel. Many authors in the 20th century, such as D.H. Lawrence and Ralph Ellison, praised Moby Dick as one of the most important novels ever written. Yet during Melville’s lifetime, the work was mostly disregarded. The literary tastes of the mid-1800s considered the fragmented narrative an unredeemable flaw. A less complete British edition also appeared first, in 1851, which did not include the crucial epilogue describing Ishmael’s, the narrator’s, escape from death, rendering the whole work illogical. This initial reception colored all later reviews, even after the first American edition (which was complete) was published. Ultimately, the work went largely unread until the 1920s when Modernists reconsidered with fondness the fragmented narrative and other masterful qualities, thereby revitalizing interest in the work. Yet it received even greater acknowledgement when Rockwell Kent produced this volume, containing what many believe are the best book illustrations of the 20th century. Kent’s work catapulted Moby Dick to the forefront of American literary criticism and popularized the novel more than any edition published before it. Without Rockwell Kent’s illustrated Moby Dick, we would not name this work among our greatest.

This first trade edition is in very good condition. In the original blue cloth boards with bright silver stamped illustrations and labels, about-fine with only rubbing to corners and bumping to spine ends. Text block very good, only cocked and with soiling to bottom edge. Former bookseller sticker to front pastedown. Rockwell Kent’s illustrations are superb. Without the scarce original dust jacket. Preceded only by the three-volume limited edition published by Lakeside Press.

A very good first trade edition of Rockwell Kent’s Moby Dick.