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MELVILLE, Herman;. Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; Being a Sequel to the "Residence in the Marquesas Islands". . London, John Murray, 1847, First edition., 1847.

Price: US$473.00 + shipping

Description: small 8vo [17.5 x 12 cm]; xiii, 321 pp, map frontispiece, text illus. contemporary half calf, raised bands, decorated in gilt and blind, red title labels with gilt lettering, marbled boards, rubbed at edges, a very good copy, clean throughout. BAL 13655, with the 'P' at p. 209, as signature mark, showing top half only, no priority of states. The London edition preceeded the US edition by several weeks. Hill 196: "This work deals with Melville and his part in the mutiny aboard the Julia, called in this book, Lucy Ann. Melville then spent about three months wandering in various parts of Tahiti and Imeeo (Moorea) as a beachcomber and was able to make extensive observations on the social conditions of the natives. This work is also a true story." The author has been described as "the most important of all the great American writers" and later wrote Moby Dick. This is the author's second book. A picture of this book is available on request.

Seller: Horizon Books, Toronto, ON, Canada

Melville, Herman. Omoo. John Murray, London, 1847.

Price: US$475.00 + shipping

Condition: Near Fine

Description: First Edition, First Printing. The book is in great shape with minor wear to the boards. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A lovely copy re-bound in a period binding.

Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.

Melville, Herman. OMOO: A NARRATIVE OF ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS. John Murray, London, 1847.

Price: US$560.00 + shipping

Description: Octavo, xiii, 321 pages; VG; bound in contemporary half-burgundy calf, marbled boards, rebacked with modern burgundy cloth, gilt titling to spine; mild wear and rubbing to boards; lacking terminal ads. BAL 13655: State C of page 209, no priority; frontispiece map.; WD consignment; shelved case 2. Omoo is the second book by American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1847, preceding the American edition by several weeks, and a sequel to his first South Sea narrative Typee, also based on the author's experiences in the South Pacific. After leaving the island of Nuku Hiva, the main character ships aboard a whaling vessel that makes its way to Tahiti, after which there is a mutiny and a third of the crew are imprisoned on Tahiti. In 1949, the novel was adapted into the exploitation film Omoo-Omoo, the Shark God. [wikipedia]. 1316775. Shelved Dupont Bookstore.

Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA, Rockville, MD, U.S.A.

Melville, Herman. OMOO: A NARRATIVE OF ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS. John Murray, London, 1847.

Price: US$600.00 + shipping

Description: Octavo, xiv, 321 pages. In Good minus condition. Half bound in red leather with red cloth boards and gilt lettering on paneled and blindstamped spine. Boards have rubbing to corners and joints, slight bumping to corners, stain on front cover, and white marks on rear cover. Text block has light age toning, foxing to pages, splitting to rear interior hinge, and spine separated from binding at rear interior hinge. State A of page 209, no priority. Frontispiece map. Shelved in Room A. Omoo is the second book by American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1847, preceding the American edition by several weeks, and a sequel to his first South Sea narrative Typee, also based on the author's experiences in the South Pacific. After leaving the island of Nuku Hiva, the main character ships aboard a whaling vessel that makes its way to Tahiti, after which there is a mutiny and a third of the crew are imprisoned on Tahiti. In 1949, the novel was adapted into the exploitation film Omoo-Omoo, the Shark God [Wikipedia]. BAL 13655. 1372557. Special Collections.

Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA, Rockville, MD, U.S.A.

Melville, Herman. Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; Being a Sequel to the "Residence in the Marquesas Islands.". John Murray, London, England, 1847.

Price: US$1000.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: 1st Edition, precedes American Edition, State A. Publisher's original blue cloth rebacked with decorated black leather in clamshell box. Bound without advertisements in back. Gilt lettering and decorations on spine of the book. Clamshell box is bound in blue cloth and backed with blue leather. Gilt lettering on spine of the box. Box measures 6" x 8." Book measures 4 3/4" x 7." 321 pages, complete. One black-and-white frontispiece map of the "South Seas; or Pacific Ocean," complete. Box is very clean and intact except for a few small stains and marks. Pages are very clean and intact except for occasional foxing. Covers are intact but have marks and smudging on the front and back. A Very Good copy in a Near Fine box. Herman Melville (1819-1891) was an American author who was part of the Romanticist movement and the American Renaissance period. Melville is best-known for writing the novel, Moby-Dick (1851). As noted in the title, Omoo is a sequel to his book, Residence in the Marquesas Islands, which also goes by the title, Typee. Like Typee, Omoo is semi-autobiographical and based on Melville's own experiences in French Polynesia. Typee takes place on the Marquesas Islands and is based off of Melville's stay on the island of Nuku Hiva, whereas Omoo mostly takes place on Tahiti. While Melville said both books are autobiographical, scholars have concluded they are more accurately a combination of autobiography and fiction. What is notable about Typee and Omoo is Melville's depiction of the residents of French Polynesia. At a time when Polynesians were commonly derided as "savages" by Westerners, Melville was relatively sympathetic toward the people of French Polynesia and even questioned the usage of such a term. The following is referenced from the Bibliography of American Literature (BAL), no. 13655: 1st Edition, precedes American Edition, State A.

Seller: Barry Cassidy Rare Books, Sacramento, CA, U.S.A.

Melville, Herman. Omoo / A Narrative Of Adventures In The South Seas. John Murray; London; nc/1847, 1847.

Price: US$1500.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: ; 321+16 pp.; ; VG; This British edition precedes the American. _____ This copy conforms to BAL's state "A" (no priority known), with the signature mark "P" on p.209."Present and perfectly formed." _____ Unfortunately this copy also lacks the front free endpaper and the covers are soiled. . BAL=13655. [kwA_ 1st Ed. noisbn ]

Seller: Watermark West Rare Books, Wichita, KS, U.S.A.

Melville Herman. OMOO: A Narrative of Adventure In The South Sea. London John Murray 1847, 1847.

Price: US$2035.00 + shipping

Description: First Edition, the English issue, preceding the American issue by about a month. State A of the signature mark on p. 209. Full page cartographic frontispiece and the illustration at p. 78. 8vo., in an antique binding of dark brown-maroon over brown cloth boards, the spine with gilt panel enclosing the title lettered in gilt. [xiv], 321 pp. A handsome and very well preserved copy, with just pleasing bit of age. A fine survival of an important book, Melville's second. FIRST EDITION, OMOO is a story of the Marquesas and was written out of Melville's own sojourn there. This English issue preceded the American edition. the work is loosely based on the author's experiences in the South Pacific. In this story, which picks up where Melville's first book, TYPEE, ends we find our un-named hero leaving the island of Nuku Hiva. He ships aboard a whaling vessel that makes its way to Tahiti, after which there is a mutiny and a third of the crew are imprisoned. The narrator meets and forms a friendship with the vessel’s surgeon, a tall thin man known to his crew-mates as "Dr Long Ghost".

Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.

Melville, Herman. Omoo.. John Murray, London, 1847.

Price: US$2800.00 + shipping

Description: First British edition, which precedes the American edition of this classic Melville work Omoo. Octavo, original cloth. In very good condition, bookplate to the front pastedown. BAL 13656. Uncommon in the original cloth. Following the commercial and critical success of Typee, Herman Melville continued his series of South Sea adventure-romances with Omoo. Named after the Polynesian term for a rover, or someone who roams from island to island, Omoo chronicles the tumultuous events aboard a South Sea whaling vessel and is based on Melville’s personal experiences as a crew member on a ship sailing the Pacific. From recruiting among the natives for sailors to handling deserters and even mutiny, Melville gives a first-person account of life as a sailor during the nineteenth century filled with colorful characters and vivid descriptions of the far-flung locales of Polynesia.

Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.