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Moby-Dick, or the Whale: Volume 6, Scholarly Edition
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Moby-Dick, or the Whale: Volume 6, Scholarly Edition Hardcover - 1988

by Herman Melville; Harrison Hayford (Editor); G. Thomas Tanselle (Editor)


From the publisher

In Moby Dick Melville set out to write a mighty book on a mighty theme. The editors of this critical text affirm that he succeeded. Nevertheless, their prolonged examination of the novel reveals textual flaws and anomalies that help to explain Melville's fears that his great work was in some ways a hash or a botch. A lengthy historical note also gives a fresh account of Melville's earlier literary career and his working conditions as he wrote; it also analyzes the book's contemporary reception and outlines how it finally achieved fame. Other sections review theories of the book's genesis, detail the circumstances of its publication, and present documents closely relating to the story. This scholarly edition is based on collations of both editions published during Melville's lifetime, it adopts 185 revisions and corrections from the English edition and incorporates 237 emendations by the series editors. This is an Approved Text of the Center for Editions of American Authors (Modern Language Association of America).

Details

  • Title Moby-Dick, or the Whale: Volume 6, Scholarly Edition
  • Author Herman Melville; Harrison Hayford (Editor); G. Thomas Tanselle (Editor)
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition Th
  • Pages 1048
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Northwestern University Press, Evanston and Chicago
  • Date September 1, 1988
  • ISBN 9780810102682 / 0810102684
  • Weight 3.56 lbs (1.61 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.58 x 6.75 x 2.49 in (24.33 x 17.15 x 6.32 cm)
  • Reading level 1150
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 19th Century
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

Citations

  • Library Journal, 12/01/1988, Page 0

About the author

HERMAN MELVILLE (1819-1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick. His first three books gained much contemporary attention (the first, Typee, becoming a bestseller), and after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime. When he died in 1891, he was almost completely forgotten. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby-Dick, which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America.