<i>Moby Dick, or The Whale</i>
date: label: Date made
content: 1930
name: label: author
content: Melville, Herman
label: illustrator
content: Kent, Rockwell
label: publisher
content: Random House, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: In early 1841 at the age of 21, Herman Melville shipped out on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean aboard the Massachusetts whaler <I>Acushnet</I>, which he deserted in the Marquesa Islands after only 18 months. He then served briefly on the Australian whaler <I>Lucy Ann</I>; the Nantucket whaler <I>Charles & Henry</I>, and in the US Navy. His whaleship experience supplied the background for his sixth and most famous novel, <I>Moby-Dick, or the Whale</I>, published in 1851. The first American edition of <I>Moby-Dick</I> of 2,915 copies did not sell well at $1.50 and only netted Melville lifetime earnings of $556.37.
label: Description
content: Although he continued to write poetry and fiction, Melville supported himself as a New York City customs inspector for 19 years before dying in 1891 at the age of 72. It was not until the 1920s that Melville achieved recognition as one of the icons of American literature. This 1930 edition of <I>Moby Dick</I>, published by Random House and illustrated by Rockwell Kent, introduced Melville to thousands of Americans.
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: New York, New York
topic: label: related event
content: The Emergence of Modern America
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Elizabeth and Helen Jennings
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2007.0071.1
label: catalog number
content: 2007.0071.1
label: accession number
content: 2007.0071
objectType: label: Object Name
content: book
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 22.098 cm x 11.43 cm x 11.684 cm; 8 11/16 in x 4 1/2 in x 4 5/8 in