Condition Report
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Lot 279
Sale 6286 - The Collected Library
Lots Open
Mar 5, 2025
Lots Close
Mar 18, 2025
Timed Online / Chicago
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Estimate
$2,000 -
3,000
Price Realized
$4,480
Sold prices are inclusive of Buyer’s Premium
Lot Description
[KENT, Rockwell (1882-1971), illustrator]. -- MELVILLE, Herman (1819-1891). Moby Dick, or The Whale. Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1930.
Volume 1 (of 3) only, 4to. Original black cloth stamped in silver with beveled edges, top edge stained black (rubbing, light sunning to spines, many pages unopened); original? glassine jacket (cracks, chipping). Provenance: The Lakeside Press (stamped "Not for Circulation").
PRINTER'S SAMPLE OF THE FIRST VOLUME OF ROCKWELL KENT'S MAGNUM OPUS.
The Lakeside Press edition of Moby Dick was printed on fine rag-paper and was one of the four books produced by Lakeside for the "Four American Books" series; Moby Dick was the only work to sell out completely. “The most lasting contribution of the undertaking, though, was Kent’s Moby Dick. Still regarded as the definitive illustrated edition of this American Classic, it positioned Chicago as a major center in the history of American book illustration, design, and production” (Coventry, “Four American Books Campaign,” Caxton Chicago by the Book, p.121). The Artist & the Book 140. Burne–Jones, p. xiii. Caxton Chicago by the Book 53. Johnson, American First Editions, p. 211. Rockwellkentiana, p. 60.
[With]: KENT, illustrator. MELVILLE. Moby Dick, or The Whale. Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1930. Vols. 1 and 2 (of 3) only, 4to. Original black cloth stamped in silver with beveled edges, top edge stained black (rubbing); all three volumes housed together in original aluminum slipcase. Provenance: The Lakeside Press Library (bookplates). LIMITED EDITION, one of 1,000 copies.
[With]: KENT, illustrator. MELVILLE. Moby Dick, or The Whale. New York: Random House, 1930. 8vo. Original black cloth stamped in silver; dust jacket (rubbing, toning, losses). FIRST TRADE EDITION.
This lot is located in Chicago.


