{"product_id":"the-essex-and-the-whale-melvilles-leviathan-library-and-the-birth-of-moby-dick-hardcover","title":"The Essex and the Whale: Melville's Leviathan Library and the Birth of Moby-Dick - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eR. Madison\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor), \u003cb\u003eR. Madison\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis fascinating anthology introduces readers to the literary side of Herman Melville's whaling world with an unprecedented collection of the original whaling texts from which Melville drew to create his masterpiece, \u003ci\u003eMoby-Dick\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe notorious 1820 sinking of the whaleship \u003ci\u003eEssex\u003c\/i\u003e inspired Herman Melville's \u003ci\u003eMoby-Dick\u003c\/i\u003e, as recounted in Nathaniel Philbrick's bestselling book \u003ci\u003eIn the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex\u003c\/i\u003e--now a major motion picture. But how exactly did Melville transmute the historic tragedy of the Essex into what is arguably the \"Great American Novel\"? Here, for the first time, R.D. Madison collects together Melville's personal \"library\" of whaling and whale-lore into a single volume and presents these primary sources in a way that readers can readily see how a horrific whaling tragedy became a literary masterpiece. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut where did \u003ci\u003eMoby-Dick\u003c\/i\u003e begin? Prompted by sailor-author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Melville supplemented his own firsthand experience as a whaleman in the South Pacific with \"libraries\" of books that he \"swum through\" to create his whaling masterpiece. Scholars and lay readers alike have long wondered how he did it, and over the past 60 years, a very tight theory of inspiration and creation has emerged. It is very likely wrong. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis volume gathers together for the first time all of the main texts that Melville encountered, including the accounts of the unique sinking of the \u003ci\u003eEssex\u003c\/i\u003e by a sperm whale that provided the climax for \u003ci\u003eMoby-Dick\u003c\/i\u003e. Melville scholar R. D. Madison examines what critics have said about Melville's response to the sinking and offers the challenging thesis that Melville did not even begin the book at all until spurred on by Dana in the spring of 1850.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eR. D. Madison\u003c\/b\u003e is professor emeritus of English at the U.S. Naval Academy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 9.4 x 6.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 28, 2016\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47435954323634,"sku":"9781440850073","price":144.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/29a926bab3ad008f49837f1154244584.webp?v=1778634781","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/the-essex-and-the-whale-melvilles-leviathan-library-and-the-birth-of-moby-dick-hardcover","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}