[TYPEE] NARRATIVE OF A FOUR MONTHS' RESIDENCE AMONG THE NATIVES OF A VALLEY OF THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS; or, A Peep at Polynesian Life.

MELVILLE, Herman:

Published by London: John Murray., 1846

About this Item

First edition, second issue (with "Pomare" replacing the erroneous "Pomarea" of the first issue on the first line of p.19). Octavo. Near-contemporary red pebble-grain cloth with gilt roan title label to the spine. Illustrated with a map of the Marquesas Islands. Nineteenth-century engraved armorial bookplate for "Fothergill" to the front pastedown, apparently affixed over the remnants of a previous bookplate. pp. [iii]-xvi, [2], 285. Lacking the half-title. A very good copy, the binding square and firm with the odd minor mark to the boards. The contents with a light stain to pp.250-251 where a pressed flower specimen likely once laid and some light scattered foxing to the preliminary pages and occasionally elsewhere are otherwise in very good order. The first edition of Herman Melville's first novel, better known by its American title 'Typee', published a month prior to the first U.S. edition. Based upon Melville's experiences living in the Marquesas Islands after he deserted from the whaler Acushnet in 1842, the novel was an immediate commercial success, gaining him an international reputation and remaining today his most widely-read work after Moby Dick. The London edition was set directly from Melville's manuscript, whereas Typee relied on proofs of the London sheets. It was published in England first for the usual copyright reasons but also because "the English reading public was more interested in the Polynesian islands than were American readers. This English edition also includes a few phrases censored from the American version, having to do with the 'dalliance of sailors and native maidens'" (Hill).

Seller Inventory # 1698

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [TYPEE] NARRATIVE OF A FOUR MONTHS' RESIDENCE AMONG THE NATIVES OF A VALLEY OF THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS; or, A Peep at Polynesian Life.
• Publisher: London: John Murray.
• Publication Date: 1846
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition