Folio Archives 235: Moby Dick by Herman Melville Limited Edition 2009

Moby Dick by Herman Melville Limited Edition 2009

If you haven’t read Moby Dick, and don’t know the story, its about time you did so. Herman Melville's tale of the hunt for the white whale, Moby Dick, is one of the greatest novels of all time. It is at once an adventure story of the high seas, and an exploration of the uncharted regions of the soul.

The Folio Society initially published Moby Dick in 1974, then as a limited edition in 2009. The limited edition was reproduced as a fine edition in 2017.

The 2009 LE consists of an illustrated text volume and an unillustrated commentary volume housed together in a chunky Solander box. My copy is number 1351 of 1750. The original price was £195, but it is now one of the more sought after limited editions produced by the Folio Society.

Text volume
The 768 page text volume has 280 integrated black & white illustrations by Rockwell Kent, with one featured at the beginning of every chapter and often at the chapter end as well. The book is bound in sensual thick black leather, cover blocked in white and silver with a design based on one of Kent's illustrations. The page tops and endpapers are silver, and there is a silver page ribbon marker.

Commentary volume
Written by Harold Beaver, the 306 page book contains a brief biography of Melville, an essay on the composition of Moby Dick, and introduction, bibliography and then a 250 page chapter by chapter detailed discussion on the book. Anything you did not understand, or wanted to know about, in the text, will be explained here. The book is bound in black buckram with silver cover and spine titling, and a ribbon page marker.

Solander box
Both books are presented in an impressively solid black buckram-bound solander box with silver spine titling and silver paper lining. It measures 26.5x20x10.4cm.

















































































An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.

Thanks for a finely assembled celebration of one of Folio's triumphs. A tiny point which I hope will cause no significant increment of regret to those who missed it, is that the original price was £175, with the increase to £195 coming only toward the end of the book's time in print. Curious to reflect now on the slow seller it was: then I resisted it myself at £175 until the FS dangled a £50 discount voucher in front of me.

Still, I think, my favourite Folio. After many years of Folio-adjacency thanks to an uncle who was a member (and kindly let me explore his collection), this finally pushed me to join myself. Just a magnificent edition in every regard.

I am with Ian on this. I have a number of FS limited editions and this is by far my favourite. It's a real triumph.

Another great post. I absolutely adore this edition but as you have said in your post it is now one of the most highly sought after FS books out there so sadly not one I will ever own going by todays secondary prices. Still even from your post it's a pleasure to look at. The standard edition released after goes for astronomical prices also. Luckily for me there is the 1974 edition and its reprints which have those lovely Garrick Palmer wood engravings which I have long intended to get. It may be time to follow through as I don't own a copy of Moby Dick. I think it is hilarious that this LE could be got for £175 initially and was a slow seller. If Folio released this now it would be for multiples of that price.

One of the best productions Folio has ever done IMO. Having said that, I sold mine some months ago, alongside all my LEs. I currently have the Raymond Bishop illustrated Calla edition and the Everyman edition on my shelves - more than enough (space!) for my needs. One of the great books to read, I so agree.

>6 Willoyd: How do you find the Calla Edition? I have looked at it as a possible buy in the past as it looks great but from experience with other Calla Editions did not follow through. Has it the heavy high gloss paper that some of the others have?

My first Folio book Purchase, right out of University.

And they had problems selling this it seems.. took them years.
I regret not buying 100-200 copies then... :)

>5 assemblyman: I have have the 1974 edition as well, a lovely book in its own right and a fine example of older "standard" Folios at their best. Mine is the third printing, from 2006 - you would hope there are some reasonably priced copies floating around.

>9 ian_curtin: I have been dithering on it for quite a while now but I will make getting it more a priority.

>7 assemblyman: I'd definitely be very careful with the Calla Moby Dick, to say the least. I don't know if all printings are like that, but the Moby Dick I saw at a bookstore did have the glossy coated paper, and was of poor quality overall. And I think it was glued, not sewn.

Now, I know that Calla did issue at least some well-made books. I own only one of their editions, The Arabian Nights illustrated by Rene Bull that I got about a decade ago. It's a well-made book - sewn, good cloth binding. Color plates might not be up to Folio standards, but for the price it was a good book. Their Moby Dick and a few others I saw at a bookstore a few years ago were of decidedly lower quality. Nasty glossy paper, not very good printing quality, binding looked cheaper, and I don't remember if they were glued, but that would be consistent with the overall downgrade.

Now, I don't know if there are earlier (or perhaps, however unlikely, later) Moby Dick printings of better quality. But my recommendation would be not to buy it unless you can see it in person.

>5 assemblyman: I absolutely adore this edition but as you have said in your post it is now one of the most highly sought after FS books out there so sadly not one I will ever own going by todays secondary prices.

My biggest regret in my long years of collecting Folios. It's been no. 1 on my wishlist for over a decade. I came agonisingly close to sealing a deal once until the seller whisked it away and said he had decided to auction it. Not a nibble since. I had hoped the secondary price might come down after they reissued it in 2017 but no, if anything the asking price has increased. That trend, along with my inexorably advancing years, makes it extremely unlikely I'll ever see it on my shelves. But making do with "just" the 1974 edition is not such a bad fate. The Garrick Palmer engravings are very fine indeed.

>11 elladan0891: Thanks for clarifying that as I always wondered about that one. I have a few Calla Editions of varying quality but I could not find any in depth pictures online for Moby Dick when it was released or since to gauge whether it was in the good or bad camp. The Ship that Sailed to Mars for me is the best edition I own which includes The Arabian Nights, Tales of Mystery and Suspense, East of the Sun and West of the Moon and Faust but it's been years since I last bought one.

M-D is my favorite book by a country mile. I have a 1930 Rockwell Kent edition from which the images for the LE were taken and it is great but fragile. I may pull the trigger one day on a secondary market copy of the LE. As an aside another fantastic edition was the Arion Press 1979 publication with Barry Moser wood-engraved images that are way too expensive on the secondary market (I don't even bother tracking that one) but the University of California published a reasonably-priced edition of this one. I like having the Rockwell Kent and Barry Moser images in my collection as they are both amazing artists. Thanks for sharing, it was fun to read this post.

>14 LBShoreBook:

The University of California facsimile of the Arion Press Moby Dick has not been "reasonably-priced" for quite some time. It routinely sells for $1,000 or more, depending on condition, in the secondary market.

>15 dlphcoracl: I purchased a paperback edition for something like $35. I consider that reasonable.

This was my first purchase, after signing up for membership with the Folio Society, with the free member offer of The Fairy Tales Collection, back in 2009. I was and am still in awe and overwhelmed by the production quality and beautiful binding of Moby Dick. £195, even back then, was a lot of money, during the Financial Crisis, and being a graduate student at university, but I worked hard to buy my first limited edition.

Production quality and at that lower price is just what makes this limited edition the most coveted book in my library. I adore the wood engravings by Rockwell Kent.

How expensive is this edition these days? I have never seen it online. Fortunately I’ve never read MD so I don’t have too much of a desire for it.

I really love these archive posts, they are brilliant for enablement and incredibly useful when most sellers don’t photograph the contents of books!

>18 behemoththecat: I have never seen it online.

There are four copies currently listed on ABE, three in the USA starting at $1250 and one in the UK for £1395: the "cheapest" is only described as VG+ but without sign or mention of any significant defects. Or $200, a little less than the original price of the book, will buy an empty solander box for it.

I pondered a long while before buying the FS LE (it seemed like it would never sell out) because the USA premium was substantial. With shipping, it cost me $390. Seems cheap now but I thought it was quite pricey back in 2011. Still, I wanted an edition with the Rockwell Kent illustrations and figured I'd never be able to afford the original Lakeside Press edition.

>15 dlphcoracl: "The University of California facsimile of the Arion Press Moby Dick has not been "reasonably-priced" for quite some time. It routinely sells for $1,000 or more, depending on condition, in the secondary market."
Really? I paid $50 for a Fine copy (UC trade hardback) back in 2015. Was there a UC fine edition like they did for the Pennyroyal Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

The LEC with Boardman Robinson's illustrations and Evan Dahm's KickStarter edition round out my Moby Dick collection.

Moby-Dick is my favourite book, one of two I revisit every year, and the LE was my first purchase after I learned of the Folio Society. Still the pride and joy of my library.

>21 gmacaree:
Go on, what’s th’other?

>15 dlphcoracl: - You had me all excited, since I own a copy in hardcover. But one sold on Ebay for $40 in August.

I unfortunately missed out on this when Folio were still stocking it as I was still new to book collecting and wasn't quite ready to take the dive into 3 digit prices. On the flip side luck came my way a few years later when I found an ebay listing for a pristine copy still in Folio's original packaging (though with an extra dead spider between the cardboard packing, a sign I suppose that the book wasn't even taken out) for the original Folio asking price.

This is definitely one of my favourite Folio productions and I think to be one of their strongest complete packages but what really stands out to me, even after amassing a number of LEs, is the leather they used; being only listed as "Wright's Smooth Grain Leather" it's without doubt the most supple leather found in all my LEs. I presume it's goatskin but boy do I wish Folio used this supplier more.

>14 LBShoreBook:
>20 kdweber:
>23 coynedj:

I am not referring to the paperback edition or the or the U of C trade edition, both of which are generic Barnes and Noble-type books that are not fine press at all. The $1,000 plus price tag is for the deluxe facsimile known as the California Edition, printed and published by the University of California Press in 1981. This was produced in consultation with Andrew Hoyem, who supervised its production, and issued in a limited edition of 750 copies in a size that is 90% of the original Arion Press edition. It is remarkably similar to the original with production details as follows:

The pages of the Arion Press edition were carefully photographed for reproduction in the deluxe facsimile by Charles R. Wood. The printing was then done by the Kingsport Press on a fine unspecified paper. The binding is a handsome tightly-woven cloth in a dark blue color nearly identical to the full morocco Arion Press binding, with identical silver lettering embossed on the book spine.

Although it is not letterpress entirely set by hand, printed on an exceptional Barcham Green paper tinted pale blue with a white whale watermark, etc., as the Arion Press edition is, all other aspects are identical to the original. If you want an exceptional copy of Moby Dick and cannot afford to spend many thousands of dollars for the limited edition Lakeside Press / Rockwell Kent or Arion Press / Barry Moser editions, this is a very desirable alternative, one that I prefer to the FS Limited Edition. If you ever see this copy being offered for under $1,000. and you wish to acquired Moby Dick in a deluxe edition, I would not hesitate to purchase it.

>22 GusLogan: I read In Parenthesis every Remembrance Day

Like many another I only bought the MBLE to use up a fat discount coupon awarded by FS to frequent LE flyers. (The only other candidate was the Aeneid, which I found dull.) Perhaps it moved slowly because so many people already owned an illustrated edition. I was quite happy with my trade edition Norton with Warren Chappell illustrations. It's the one I'd likely turn to were I to read the work again.

Another interesting edition of Moby-Dick is this one, which was published as an exercise to demonstrate the artistic skill of the illustrator, Evan Dahm. See here.

>28 wcarter: The illustrations look interesting but I could not see many live photo’s of it online. How would you rate it Warwick in terms of quality? It has Nathaniel Hawthorne as the author on your link by the way.

>7 assemblyman: How do you find the Calla Edition? I have looked at it as a possible buy in the past as it looks great but from experience with other Calla Editions did not follow through. Has it the heavy high gloss paper that some of the others have?
>11 elladan0891: I'd definitely be very careful with the Calla Moby Dick, to say the least. I don't know if all printings are like that, but the Moby Dick I saw at a bookstore did have the glossy coated paper, and was of poor quality overall. And I think it was glued, not sewn.

Looking around online, I think there are at least two, maybe more, different iterations of Moby Dick by Calla. The one I have (most easily distinguished by the title being across the top of the spine) is cloth bound, no dustcover (or slipcase) and definitely sewn. It's printed in China by RR Donnelly, and the paper is fairly heavy weight with a similar gloss to that used by FS Chinese editions (maybe a tad glossier). It cost me £20-something new a year or two ago (can't remember who I bought it through now, but might be able to find out if I track back), and I regard it as good value for money. There seems to be at least another variant, where the title runs down the spine and a different font on the front cover (looks uglier to me), which is described as boards and dustcover. Some stock photos on abebooks suggest that there's also a variant with the same cover design as mine but again boards and dustcover (don't know if cover printed on the main boards as well as dustcover, presumably not).

There's no doubt in my mind that the production values on my Calla edition are not as high as those on the FS Rockwell editions. But then my edition cost about a quarter of the SE when available from stock, and I used barely 5% of what I made on selling the LE to buy it. For that I got a pretty decent, beautifully illustrated edition, so am quite content. I do wonder sometimes about keeping my eye open for a reasonably priced copy of the SE, but (a) that's unlikely and (b) it's rather too large for my taste nowadays anyway. TBH, I think I'd if anything prefer a copy of the Garrick Palmer edition (which I sold when I bought the LE), but that seems to have spiralled in price too.

>28 wcarter: Thornwillow Press indicated on Twitter that Melville is on their radar for an upcoming publication. I would love to see them partner with Evan for a letterpress edition of M-D and Evan's art. That would be a nice combination. Unlikely to happen but a nice daydream.

Everything about the FS Moby Dick LE is great, a fitting tribute to what I think is one of the greatest novels ever. My copy still smells like a new baseball glove, even though it is over 10 years old and has been read several times. I would love to see FS do one of his lesser known works, such as Mardi, The Confidence Man or even his 18,000 line epic poem Clarel.

With so many here impressed by it and counting it as a favorite I’m going to get it. Like many others, FS was not on my radar when it came out, unfortunately.

Finally, a subject Moby Richard can usefully comment upon

I have the Random House Rockwell Kent illustrated trade edition, published shortly after the Lakeside Press edition. Personally I prefer both the trade edition's front board illustration and the overall design in silver to the Folio Society LE. Obviously the trade edition's cloth can't match goatskin. I got the trade edition for less than $100 without the dust jacket. The dust jacket is a bit tough to find in good condition, but a facsimile dust jacket can be purchased here:

https://www.dustjackets.com/pages/books/4767/herman-melville-rockwell-kent/moby-...

Unless you're a purist, these facsimile dust jackets are just as good as the originals.

I had a chance to get the Lakeside Edition for not cheap but still around 40% or 50% off the average auction price but at the time I had never even heard of Rockwell Kent so I passed on it...

Also, I've mentioned this before, but the artist Gilbert Wilson did a very interesting interpretation of Moby Dick, seen here: https://hatandbeard.com/products/moby-dick-illustrated-by-gilbert-wilson

Not to everyone's taste but I enjoy Wilson's illustrations more than Moser's or Dahm's or Robinson's (LEC).

>26 gmacaree:
Thank you. A noble habit.

>28 wcarter:
Oops! Thanks for pointing this out. Corrected.
Quality wise it is very good. I would rate it along with the better FS fine editions, but not the quality of a FS Limited Edition.

The nicest smelling Folio LE ever.

>36 wcarter: It’s definitely an interesting alternative and the generous amount of illustrations are a draw.
>37 Quicksilver66: Ha. I bet a few others who have it went over to smell their copies when you said that.

I purchased the LE at release price, and sold it a year or two ago (for much more than I paid, but far less than today’s prices). With some of the proceeds, I bought a copy of the 2017 reprint (cloth-bound in slipcase). I miss the delicious leather binding, but not the solander coffin. And the cost difference eases my pain, somewhat….

Melville seems to be hot. Here is still another edition just announced. https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/deluxe-limited-editions/herman-melvil...

>40 jroger1: I don't own a single Easton Press book, but have a few folios. The EP website/photos are nothing like Folio so it's tough to really see how the book presents in person. What does FSD think of this EP one, is it a good quality purchase?

I'm one of the many monitoring this MD Folio LE on the second hand market, but unwilling to afford the $1,200+ I keep seeing!

>41 simbae: The art looks nice, but I find the cover and slipcase goofy. The remind me somehow of a DVD box set for Lord of the Rings.

I have an older Franklin Library edition of MD that I really like:
https://www.hcbooksonline.com/product/moby-dick-herman-melville-franklin-library...

It is a perfect reading size and the paper and font are fantastic. I think it is fairly cheap. I bought mine for about $30.

There is also a 2 volume edition from Franklin with the Rockwell Kent illustrations.

>42 PartTimeBookAddict: write: "There is also a 2 volume edition from Franklin with the Rockwell Kent illustrations."

This is the one in The Great Books of the Western World series. It is the last copy I read, earlier this year. It is quite pleasant in the hand (size, paper, binding, etc.), though the Kent illustrations are not as finely reproduced as the Folio edition.

>42 PartTimeBookAddict: you hit the nail on the head with the look. It’s why I haven’t been too into EP. i think they’re beautiful and nice, but bland and provide for a boring library. Even though I don’t like most Folios, I appreciate the risk taken with many, makes my library feel more alive.

I’m looking up the Franklin volume too, similar look to EP.

I think I would have even preferred that recent folio SE that came out recently but I just missed it joining FSD early this year once it sold out.

Not to take this too far off topic personal to me.

This LE… something to drool over and been waiting on Carter to feature it.

>41 simbae: My taste is violently at odds with almost everything Easton does with its bindings, and this is no exception. From the tacky 'signed edition' on the spine to the bizarre attempt at fusing the (quite good) art with the leather cover to the risible typographic decisions ... well, I think it's hideous.

>45 gmacaree: I have to agree. EP have produced one or two gorgeous LE’s in the past - The Romance of King Arthur and HG Wells History of the World are two I own and that I like very much.

As long as EP don’t screw up the leather and binding then they are ok, but rather bland on the whole. But they frequently do screw it up these days, going for garish leather, clunky garish script, garish designs.

>46 Quicksilver66: David, were you referring to The Outline of History?

>47 ironjaw: I was Faisel, apologies. A stunning LE and an absolutely brilliant read