Description

Franklin Library leather edition of Herman Melville's "Billy Budd, Sailor and The Piazza Tales," a Limited edition, Illustrated by J. William Myers, one of the COLLECTED STORIES OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST WRITERS series, published in 1978. Bound in navy blue leather, the book has navy blue French moire silk end leaves, acid-free paper, Symth-sewn binding, a satin book marker, hubbed spine, gold gilding on three edges---in FINE condition. Herman Melville, who lived from 1819-1891, was born in New York City, the son of a cultivated gentleman who went bankrupt. Young Herman's schooling ended when he was 15, and after clerking in a NY bank, farming and teaching, he shipped as a cabin-boy to Liverpool in 1839. Later he sailed on the ACUSHNET for the SOUTH SEA, and this 18 month voyage provided a factual basis for "Moby Dick." Having completed his education in what he later termed "the only HARVARD and YALE" that were open to me, he began writing. Selections include: "Billy Budd, Sailor," "The Piazza," "Benito Cereno," "The Lightening-Rod Man," "The Encantadas," and "The Bell Tower." 351 pages. I offer combined shipping.