Typee: A Real Romance of the South Seas by Herman Melville

Typee: A Real Romance of the South Seas 

Herman Melville 

The United States Book Company 1892

First Edition. Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Chestnut colored cloth binding with gilt lettering on the spine. Title and Author's name stamped in black on the front cover, accompanied by a small illustration of a Polynesian boat. Some shelfwear on the cover: Minor fraying/fading on the top and bottom edges of the spine and the bottom outer corner of the front cover. Some small bumping on the edges of the covers. Faint pale discoloration on the front and back of the boards. Some small writing on the free endpapers from previous owners, noting dates and publication history. Some fingerprints on the cover pages/free endpaper. Occasionally minimal gray marking on the pages of the novel itself. Overall the interior is in great condition, with the pages and binding firmly intact and largely unmarked. No jacket. Herman Melville's first book, this adventure novel was originally published in 1846 with the name Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life. This edition, published in 1892, saw significant changes made to the original text. At the request of the publisher, Melville removed criticism of christian missionaries and a sentence in the second chapter that was deemed too sexually suggestive. This edition also included a new chapter at the end titled "Sequel: The Story of Toby". Though now overshadowed by the legacy of Moby Dick, Typee was Melville's most popular novel during his lifetime for its enthralling fictionalized depiction of his travels to Polynesia.