You’ve heard undoubtedly of Herman Melville’s book Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. However, you might not be aware that the original was published on this day in 1851.
It was a commercial failure upon its release, and the book languished for nearly 70 years in relative obscurity.
Everything changed in the 1920s following the publication of Herman Melville: Mariner and Mystic. During the succeeding decades, the book’s fortunes changed with numerous printings and its eventual recognition as an American classic.
The library holds a first edition of the 1851 printing and the later book that changed the public’s perception of Melville and his 1851 tome about the pursuit of a whale.
If you’d like to see the original, please contact the Special Collections Librarian. The 1920s volume can be found in the library’s circulating collection.