Moby Dick

MOBY DICK

First edition:

Moby Dick or the White Whale, New York, 1851

Main illustrator:

In short:

Captain Achab is ready to chase the white whale. Thus the adventure begins: "Call me Ishmael. Some years ago -- never mind how long precisely -- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off -- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me".
This is the famous opening paragraph of the novel. Ishmael is a school master who chose to give up the comfort and security of his life and fulfill his romantic dream of sailing the ocean blue. He finds a job on Captain Ahab's whaler and his adventures begin. This is a book of amazing depth.

Selection of edition:

Moby Dick, illustrated by Mead Shaeffer, 1950.
Moby Dick, illustrated by M. Berthier, Gallimard, 1978.
Moby Dick, translated by Jean Muray and illustarted by Mathieu Blanchin, Hachette Jeunesse, collection "La Verte Aventure", 1993, 320 p.
Moby Dick, illustrated by Véronique Ageorges, Rouge et or, 1995.

More about Moby Dick:

Moby Dick is a major work of Romantic literature. It was first published in New York in 1851, when melville was 32 years old but it became a well-known book many years later.

Adaptations:

Moby Dick, film directed by John Huston with Anthony Quinn

On the Internet:

Site on Moby Dick, with explanations on the origin of the name Moby Dick, its publishing history, some excerps from the book and some contemporary criticism articles.