At the time of Herman Melville’s death, in 1891, his novels had fallen into obscurity. Moby-Dick, his masterwork published in 1851, was out of print and unread. But in the 1920s, critical reassessments led to a “Melville revival.”
This lecture surveys some of the famous and less well-known illustrated editions, artists’ books, and other visual interpretations, examining their role in establishing the unassailable reputation of Moby-Dick as the great American novel.
An in-person and virtual presentation by Declan Kiely, author, lecturer, and Executive Director of the Grolier Club
** The Windle-Loker Lecture Series on the History of the Illustrated Book **
** Co-presented and co-hosted by the American Trust for the British Library **