Buy this book on-line

Melville, Herman (Author) & Hayford, Harrison (Editor) : Pierre, Israel Potter, The Piazza Tales, The Confidence-man, Uncollected Prose, Billy Budd, Sailor

The Library Of America, New York City, NY, 1985

ISBN 0940450240

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 1480 pages. Volume Three of The Library of America's definitive Collected Works of Herman Melville. The First Slipcased Edition in its First Uncorrected State. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, of which there are innumerable. Published in a small and limited first print run as a Slipcased Edition for distribution to libraries and LOA subscribers only. None of the copies was sold to the public. The Slipcased Edition has the same ISBN as the regular trade edition. The Slipcased Edition is now rare. Printed to the highest standards on acid-free paper, utilizing sewn binding, closely woven rayon cloth boards, satin bound-in ribbon marker, and a page layout that is both readable and elegant, each volume is guaranteed to last for several generations of readers and collectors (despite frequent and regular use, the estimated life span of Library of America Editions is 1000 years; un-used, they will last forever). Scrupulously edited and annotated by Harrison Hayford. Without DJ, as issued. Presents Volume Three of The Collected Works of Herman Melville: "Pierre, or The Ambiguities", "Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile", "The Piazza Tales", "The Confidence Man: His Masquerade", "Uncollected Prose", and "Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative) ". The rare First Uncorrected State, released on March 1, 1985, with a full-page Letter laid-in, calling attention to, and profusely apologizing for, the fact that the author's name is misspelled on the title page as "MEVILLE", a letter L missing in the bold title. The Letter goes on to say that copies of the First Edition that remain in LOA's possession - actually, almost ALL of them - will be corrected, but that this will take twelve weeks to accomplish. The Letter urges subscribers who got a copy with the egregious error to send it back in order to be replaced - with, in effect, the Corrected Second State. "You may, on the other hand, wish to keep the copy you now have. Many of you are Series collectors, and this original first printing with the uncorrected title page stands to be a rarity and a collector's piece someday" (Excerpt from Publisher's Letter). Apart from this "colossal typo" error, this is THE definitive collection of Melville's late, last works, which are, in the opinion on many critics and scholars, his greatest works, "Billy Budd, Sailor" in particular (and "Moby-Dick" notwithstanding). Plus: 17 re-discovered prose pieces are collected and appear in published form for the very first time. An absolute "must-have" title for Herman Melville collectors. This title is a great collection. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the First "Library of America" Slipcased Edition/First Printing/First Uncorrected State available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: The First Uncorrected State was released on March 1, 1985, with the publisher's full-page Letter laid-in, calling attention to, and profusely apologizing for, the fact that the author's name is misspelled on the title page as "MEVILLE", a letter L missing in the bold title. The Corrected Second State copies were issued twelve weeks later. A rare copy thus. One of the greatest writers of all time. A fine collectible copy. . ISBN 0940450240.

1
0

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.