1937 Garden City Publishing Co. Moby-Dick

Rockwell Kent is by far the best known of the Moby-Dick illustrators, and there are multiple editions that feature his remarkable work.  The Garden City deluxe edition has eluded us for many years. So happy we are to have recently scored this copy. 

Chapter 49

Ishmael, and the rest of the crew have topped off their last wills and testaments, and are preparing for the future:

Now then, thought I, unconsciously rolling up the sleeves of my frock, here goes for a cool, collected dive at death and destruction, and the devil fetch the hindmost.

The future can no longer wait, its time to move on to things put off too long.

1950 Modern Library Edition Moby Dick

The dust jacket illustration features Ahab, left pegged leg, sighting his position by shooting the sun with a sextant.

This copy, near perfect, is the #119 in the Modern Library series, published in 1950, right after WWII, in time for the economic expansion of the 50's. TV's just around the corner.

Chapter XV Chowder

As its getting colder here in Albany, I reread this chapter, a chapter of warmth and comfort, for there is nothing more comforting to this old salt on a cold day than a cup, no a bowl, of clam chowder.."the whole enriched with butter, and plentifully seasoned with pepper and salt."

We love how Melville mixes it up: not salt and peppa but pepper before the salt. 

Chowder for breakfast, chowder for lunch, chowder for dinner, and never never never a red chowder, Manhattan chowder is not Chowder, I don't know what it is, but its not chowder.

1950 is the birth year of the editor of TMDC, and he too is shooting the sun to find his location.

1956-Czech Language -Rockwell Kent - MOBY DICK

Rikejte mi Izmael.

Lets see: here is a beautiful edition of the 1956 Czech language Moby- Dick. Printed in Praque an imposing size and signed and book-plated (left)

Even 1956 has to be slap dab in the middle of the Cold War...

Getting the info from the sales description: Bila Velryba (Moby Dick) by Herman Melville. Illustrated by Rockwell Kent. Published in Praha (Prague) in 1956 by Statni Nakladatelstvi Krasni Literatury, Hudby A Umeni. .... 663 pages. Hardcover. 7" x 9.5." ... The book itself is clean and in very good condition. Light wear only to dust jacket with dust and short closed tear on white rear panel.

biela velryba

1944 Modern Library Giant Edition

The 1944 Modern Library Giant Edition Moby Dick features this blue binding with silver type and lighter blue offset.

We had always known that the Modern Library was the domain of Bennett Cerf, as he was a favorite of ours on the TV show "What's My Line" which ran from 1951 to 1967. As youths we were mesmerized by his patrician ways and seemingly endless knowledge while trying to guess the occupations and other "secrets" of the contestants.

Right up until the time we were shuffled off to boarding school, we watched him on Sunday nights. Perhaps, Bennett Cerf was one of our early "friends" keeping us company on those lonely solitary nights while the Duke and Duchess were off at some cotillion or other.

What we didnt know was that the Modern Library was started by Albert Boni, previously covered in this blog.

That running guy is the "Promethean bearer of enlightenment", for your information.

Here is an interesting link to a Modern Library web site.

Ramblings...

Today I was walking the stacks of a library and discovered this gem. 1930 edition, Russian language, Rockwell Kent, Random House, stamped: printed in the USSR. All I could say was wow, wow, wow. I have no idea how many were printed, I have never seen a listing for it. LG's comment: "Holy S#*T" when I sent her the picture.

Also, over at Ahab Beckons, Gansevoort pointed me to an edition I dont have.

So many editions, so much time!

1930 Random House Moby-Dick

The classic Rockwell Kent illustrated edition. #21 in the collection, purchased on Ebay.

New York, Random House, 1930. First trade edition. Thick small 8vo. 280 woodcut illustrations (including chapter headings and tailpieces), spine, upper cover illustrations by Rockwell Kent. Original black pictorial cloth stamped in silver. NEAR FINE, fresh bright copy with minor rub to cover stamping a

bove whales head, lower tips little bumped. No signatures or bookplates. Nice copy of a handsome edition of this classic.

I have choosen this edition to begin a series of postings of the illustrated books in the collection. And specifically, Kent's choice to introduce an Ahab illustration in Chapter XXX, is classic: no peg leg, no crazy eyes, just Ahab in a strangely pedestrian hat, pondering his pipe and its addiction, just before heaving it over board, in a way denying himself its pleasure....

2003 Russian Language Edition, Moby-Dick

The 2003 Russian language edition of Melville's Moby-Dick, printed in Moscow, the Russian Federation, uses the Rockwell Kent illustrations from the 1930 Random House edition, which I find that fact amusing to speculate about.

Specifically, while I don't read Russian and the cryillic type is difficult to decipher, it does appear to me that nowhere on the title page or in the entire book for that matter, is there anything appearing to be an attribution for the illustrations, leading me to believe that there is some left-over soviet editor who figured since Mr. Kent was a communist, they could just requisition his work, as property of the state, so to speak. HAHA...

Also, I find it interesting that this book can no longer be found on line... Check: Amazon, ABE, and Paperback Swap

Next post, one of the older editions..