The Whale, the Silver copy in a contemporary binding - photo 1
The Whale, the Silver copy in a contemporary binding - photo 2
The Whale, the Silver copy in a contemporary binding - photo 3

The Whale, the Silver copy in a contemporary binding

Sold
$ 170 100
Auction dateClassic
15.06.2023 10:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 967595
Lot 126 | The Whale, the Silver copy in a contemporary binding
The Whale, the Silver copy in a contemporary binding

Herman Melville, 1851

MELVILLE, Herman (1819-1891). The Whale. London: Richard Bentley, 1851.



The true first edition of Melville's masterpiece, this London edition preceded the American edition by a month. This handsome copy in contemporary calf is one of 500 copies printed, few of which have survived. "This edition was set up from Harper proof-sheets, which were edited to some extent by Bentley, without Melville's knowledge. The editing consisted of toning down profanity and some alleged irreverent references; also, the 'Epilogue' was omitted, which caused at least one English review to comment on the impossibility of a first-person narrative, when everyone on the Pequod was killed by the white whale's attack" (Grolier). Copies in contemporary bindings are rare at auction; this is the only one recorded in RBH in the past 25 years.



When Herman Melville moved to the Berkshires to escape the confines of his Fourth Avenue house in New York, he divided his time between farming and writing the novel that would follow White-Jacket. He evidently set out to write another potboiler: when he wrote to his British publisher Richard Bentley he said that he was at work on a novel that was to be "a romance of adventure founded upon certain wild legends of the Southern Sperm Whale Fisheries." His intensified reading of Shakespeare and Carlyle pointed him in a vastly different direction, however, as did reports of 19th-century adventures at sea. Owen Chase's Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex (1821), a rare book even at the time, was found for Melville by his father-in-law Lemuel Shaw and provided the author with the seeds of his story. News of the killing in the late 1830s of the Mocha Whale, an albino sperm whale which had attacked ships and evaded hunters for years, gave shape to the great elusive figure of Moby Dick. Though he originally thought the manuscript could be delivered to the publisher by December 1850, it was not finished until the following autumn. An excellent copy of a legendary rarity and one of the great American books. No great collection of American literature is complete without The Whale. BAL 13663; Grolier American 60; Sadleir Excursions p. 229; Sadleir 1685 ("one of the rarest of three-deckers").



Three volumes, octavo (188 x 120mm). Half-title in volume 1 only as issued. Contemporary black calf gilt over marbled boards (a few chips to calf at heads and along raised bands, joints showing a little wear but holding, covers and extremities a little rubbed); modern chemise and quarter morocco slipcase. Provenance: Irwin Silver, Sotheby's New York, 26 April 2005, lot 89) – Sotheby's New York, 21 June 2019, lot 212.

Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
15.06.2023
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

More from Creator

The Piazza Tales
The Piazza Tales
$100
Israel Potter and Benito Cereno in Putnam's Monthly
Israel Potter and Benito Cereno in Putnam's Monthly
$3 000
Criticism on Art by William Hazlitt
Criticism on Art by William Hazlitt
$7 000
Typee, inscribed, the Bradley Martin copy
Typee, inscribed, the Bradley Martin copy
$80 000
Narrative of a Four Months' Residence Among the Natives, a family copy
Narrative of a Four Months' Residence Among the Natives, a family copy
$100
The Piazza Tales, inscribed by Allan Melville
The Piazza Tales, inscribed by Allan Melville
$3 500
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
$25 000
Herman Melville
Herman Melville
$100

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.