Auction details
10:00 AM PT - Dec 10th, 2008
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CHASE, Owen. Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, of Nantucket; which was attacked and finally destroyed by a large Spermaceti-Whale, in the Pacific Ocean. New York: W. B Gilley, 1821. 8vo (95 x 120 mm). Publisher's blue paper boards, text uncut. Condition: dampstaining, endpapers detached; both covers detached, spine perished. first edition of one of melville's principal sources for moby dick. Among the most famous shipwreck narratives, First Mate Owen Chase here recounts the 1820 sinking of the Essex in the Pacific after being rammed by a large sperm whale (as in the climax to Moby Dick) and describes the ensuing suffering and cannibalism of the surviving crew who were for three months adrift in small boats. Howes C318; Sabin 12189.ImagesClick on thumbnails to see larger images: 
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