Melville, Herman:

$6,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

WHITE JACKET; OR, THE WORLD IN A MAN-OF-WAR. First edition, second issue, with the cancel titles dated "1853," of Melville's semi-autobiographical novel based on his service aboard the man-of-war United States from August 1843 to October 1844. The novel, with its vivid depictions of the inhumane conditions and corporal punishment endured by enlisted sailors, is credited with having led to the eventual abolition of flogging in the U.S. Navy. The original London printing, which preceded the U.S. edition by two months, consisted of only one thousand sets. As a consequence of their tepid sales, in 1853 Bentley bound up remaining sets of sheets of this title, of Redburn, and of The Whale in several forms of remainder cloth bindings, including two- and three-volumes in one format, with cancel titles bearing the new date. In the remainder format, both due to the somewhat smaller quantities issued thus, as well as to the exceptionally vulnerable multi-volume in one format, they are much less often seen than the primary issues.

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