MELVILLE, Herman

Pierre; or, The Ambiguities

N.Y. Harper & Brothers 1852, viii, 495 p. 19 cm. Hardcover. Black cloth. Exlib., blindstamp on t.p.and stamp on top edge, professionally rebacked with original spine reapplied and repaired, stained on inside boards, foxed, p. 310-311 partially uncut (over 150 years, and no-one's read the whole thing). BAL 13666. Published immediately following Moby-Dick. 1st ed. was pub. Aug. 6, 1852 by Harper & Bros., bound and distributed in England in November by Sampson Low. A fire at the Harpers' warehouse destroyed most of the remaining first ed. stock, and so a 2nd ed. of approx. 260 copies was printed in 1855. The British ed. of Pierre is bound from imported U.S. sheets. It deals with controversial issues such as incest and moral relativism, and savagely lampooned the American literary establishment. Critics hated it. The book sold very poorly, and the combination of publishing failure and critical hostility many have caused Melville to suffer a breakdown. The Boston Post said it "is, perhaps, the craziest fiction extant', although they also said it had 'scenes of unmistakeable power'.

• USD 1,500.00 > other currencies
• ordernr.: 001296

• bookseller: Attic Books (CANADA)