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Moby Dick: Starring John Barrymore: A warner Bros & Vitaphone Talking Picture

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Moby Dick: Starring John Barrymore: A warner Bros & Vitaphone Talking Picture

by Melville, Herman

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
very good condition in green cloth and in a dust jacket with a bit of edgewear, an inch closed tear on the top of the front and
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Berkeley, California, United States
Item Price
£361.35
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About This Item

Grosset and Dunlap, 1925. hardback. very good condition in green cloth and in a dust jacket with a bit of edgewear, an inch closed tear on the top of the front and some soiling to the spine and rear, - there is a pen gift inscription on the frontpiece verso .

Synopsis

Melville's classic was first published in England as three volumes titled The Whale in October 1851. Slow sales of Melville's previously books convinced Publisher L. Richard Bentley to reduce the printing to only 500 copies, and of that, only 300 sold in the first 4 months. The remaining unbound sheets were bound in a cheaper casing in 1852, and in 1853 there were still enough remaining sheets to again bind into an even cheaper edition. Melville changed the title to Moby Dick a month later, November 1851, when the American Version was published in one volume by Harper & Brothers in NY. Of the 2,951 copies printed, 125 were review copies. About 1,500 sold in 11 days, but then sales slowed to less than 300 the next year. After two years copies of the first edition were still available, and almost 300 were destroyed in the 1853 fire of Harper's warehouse. Most of the first editions have orange end-papers, although there are 2 known volumes with rare white-endpapers. Because of Nineteenth-century printing practices, and the time-lapse between when the first-editions were published and Melville became collectible, oxidized paper, bumped and chipped spines, and brittle wrappers are all common for even the most expensive and collectible of these books, which can sell from $35,000 to $100,000. Also, expect heavy wear and maybe even minor repair. Another collectible edition is the 1930 first edition illustrated by Rockwell Kent, a three-volume set published by the Lakeside Press with acetate dust jackets in an aluminum slipcase. These range in value from $9,000 to $11,000. A total of 3,215 copies of Moby-Dick were sold during Melville's life (he died in 1891). Today, Moby-Dick is considered one of the greatest American novels. -

Read More: Identifying first editions of Moby Dick: Starring John Barrymore: A warner Bros & Vitaphone Talking Picture

Reviews

On Mar 9 2016, a reader said:
Why would this be 600 since the original was in 1851?

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Details

Bookseller
Wonderland Books US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
65809
Title
Moby Dick: Starring John Barrymore: A warner Bros & Vitaphone Talking Picture
Author
Melville, Herman
Format/Binding
Hardback
Book Condition
Used - very good condition in green cloth and in a dust jacket with a bit of edgewear, an inch closed tear on the top of the front and
Binding
Hardcover
Publisher
Grosset and Dunlap
Date Published
1925

Terms of Sale

Wonderland Books

shipping is $4.00 for media mail and $11 for priority mail for the average book. For multi volume sets and heavy and or oversize books postage will be charged at cost

About the Seller

Wonderland Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2004
Berkeley, California

About Wonderland Books

My shop is a small storefront with an eclectic stock. I have larger selections of children's books, Western Americana, Transportation, Science and Natural History store hours are Tuesday, wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 11 until 4:20

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Jacket
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
Verso
The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....

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