LOT #45128 |
Sold on Jun 27, 2024 for: Sign-in
or Join (free & quick)
Herman Melville. Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1876....
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Description
A fine bright copy of a Melville rarity
Herman Melville. Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the
Holy Land. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1876.2 volumes, 8vo (170 x 119mm). Original publisher's green cloth, upper covers with central gilt device, spines gilt-lettered; quarter morocco slipcase.
FIRST EDITION. Inspired by his travels to Palestine in 1857, Clarel is an allegorical epic poem about a naive American named Clarel. It was published in two volumes on 3 June 1876 by Putnam's, at the expense of Melville's uncle, Peter Gansevoort. It took Melville twenty years to complete, all while dealing with tremendous personal tragedy, including his son's suicide, and the deaths of his brother, mother, and cousin. Composed as a four-part poem, it contains 150 cantos in almost 18,000 lines (nearly double Paradise Lost).
After a long run of financial failures, this was the last book Melville wrote to be accepted for publication. And less than three years after publication, Melville requested of the publishers that the 224 remaining unsold copies be pulped, making this one of only 126 copies to have survived. According to online auction records, only four copies of Clarel have appeared at auction in over the past forty years.
Condition: A touch of rubbing to extremities; some minor blistering to cloth on sides. Hinges in Vol. I cracked or starting; upper hinge cracked in Vol. II. Some very light toning internally. Overall, a very fine and bright copy.
References: BAL 13674.
Provenance: Purchased from Seven Gables Bookshop, Inc., New York, 1976. From the William A. Strutz Library.
View all of [The William A. Strutz Library ]
Auction Info
2024 June 27 Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature® Auction #6295 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2024
27th
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 7
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 286
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% on the first $1,000,000 (minimum $49), plus 20% of any amount between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000, plus 15% of any amount over $5,000,000 per lot.
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms