1972 Norton Critical Edition

Here is the 1972 Norton Critical Edition of Moby-Dick, the iconic book for any English Class be it high school or college. 

The inside is inscribed: Best to Mr. Badgley, from Ted.  Other than that, there is not a mark in the volume. Too bad, as we always like to see the parts that are important to the reader. Perhaps, Mr. Badgley already had a copy and he was too shy to own up to Ted.

1972 is the year I graduated from Middlebury College, which reminds me that Chapter 2 contains the following: "as I stood in the middle of a dreary street shouldering my bag, and comparing the gloom towards the north with the darkness to the south..."  

That sentence conjures up for me the memories of those rare crossroads of life I have been at, as in 1972, when I was forced to compare the darkness of the past with the gloom of the future. 

So too is Ishmael, not just at that moment having to decide where to lodge for the evening, but also he must make a choice with his life which the out come is uncertain.

Again, I find myself at one of those crossroads.  

1976 Moby-Dick, Norton & Company

Its so interesting to me how many of the illustrators that we have run across in our Ahab portrait study, have a connection to the Art Students League in New York City.

Warren Chappell, who illustrated the Norton edition of Moby-Dick, (see earlier post) studied and taught there.

His Ahab is a left legged fellow, whose peg leg is somewhat elegant and thin. The pea coat, floppy hat and beard give him a salt look.

Also interesting is the fact that there is no hint in this image or any of the other numerous images of Ahab in the book, of a psycological storm brewing. He seems oddly an everyman Ahab.

1967 Norton Critical Edition - Paperback Moby Dick

One of the most common phrases people speak after seeing the Moby-Dick Collection is: Its all the same book right!

They are perplexed, "its the same words, so how many do you need?"

But are they the same words? Not entirely.

For a moment regard the 1967 Norton Critical Edition of Moby-Dick, as an example, nothing special about it, in fact this copy has A. Hawley signed in red pen on the inside, the cover is broken, and judging by the overall condition, A. Hawley probably never finished reading it...

His or her markings and underlinings stop at page 26, therefore he or she never made it to page 44 to read the words of the hymn read by Father Maple, and specifically un read is the first line of the second stanza: "I saw the open maw of Hell..."

Maw: The mouth, stomach, jaws, or gullet of a voracious animal, especially a carnivore.

Heck of an image, the open mouth of Hell ready to receive the offering...

Checking the 1919 Page Edition of Moby-Dick, already posted, the hymn is on page 43, and the first line of the second stanza reads: "I saw the opening maw of Hell...."

Open vs Opening. Still heck of an image. This edition carries the Copyright, 1892 Elizabeth S. Melville. So presumably this is the "official" text.

Furthermore, checking the Northwestern-Newberry Edition of Moby-Dick, page 42 has the opening line of the second stanza: "I saw the opening maw of Hell....". From the back cover: "The aim of this edition of Moby-Dick, ... is to present a text as close to the author's intention as surviving evidence permits."

Conclusion: The Norton text is in error. This may or may not be a typo, every other Norton Edition has the same wording, and in no other printed text can this wording be found.

1967 Norton Critical text

1919 Page text

1988 Northwestern- Newberry text.

Both the Norton and Northwestern edidtions were edited by Harrison Hayford.

1976 Moby-Dick, Norton & Company

This is an example of the 1976 Norton edition of Moby-Dick. 1967 was the original Norton printing, this is a reprint copy. Firstly I choose it so that I would have the 1970's covered in the tags, and secondly, I choose it because 1976 is the bicentennial year and I remember fondly how proud we were that this country was 2oo years old!

Noon, 4th of July 1976 all the churches rang their bells (or played the tape), at least they did in Harwichport Massachusetts because I heard them while fishing with my wife off of the Banks Street beach.

I bought this book at the Dog Eared Bookstore in upstate New York in 1999 on my way from Albany to Bennington Vermont.

I am posting this post at 1/11/11 11:11 am

Next up: Same decade but