Moby-Dick

This special edition is broken into three volumes in a deluxe publishers binding and stored in the original metal shelfcase. Inspired by an 1839 article by Jeremiah N. Reynolds titled “Mocha Dick: Or, the White Whale of the Pacific”, Moby-Dick‘s early draft was a detailed account of whaling. While working on the novel, though, the author befriended Nathaniel Hawthorne who read an early draft and encouraged Melville to make Moby-Dick an allegorical novel. The novel did not receive much attention when first released and only sold 3,000 copies during Melville’s lifetime. However, it rose to popularity in the early 20th century and quickly found its place in the American literary canon.

Herman Melville (1819-1891) was an American writer whose stories were heavily influenced by the time he spent at sea in his early 20s. His at-sea career started aboard the merchant ship St. Lawrence, after which he spent a few years working aboard three different whalers (Acushnet, Lucy Ann, and Charles and Henry), before finally enlisting in the US Navy in 1843.

Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was an artist and illustrator most well-known for his woodblock prints. He was also a voyager and writer who took multiple trips to Alaska and Iceland. Salisbury House is home to one of Kent’s few oil paintings – The Snowy Range (1925) on display in Carl’s Bedroom.