303

Herman Melville (1819-1891)

The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade.

New York: Dix, Edwards & Co., 1857.
First edition, octavo; with the "Miller & Holman" imprint on the copyright page; bound in original brown publisher's cloth, stamped in blind, spine gilt-lettered, olive coated endpapers (two minor closed, short tears to margin of pp. 22-24, very rare pale foxing, overall a clean and bright interior; one gathering starting, small repairs to spine panel, spine caps pushed, pale staining to boards, corners bumped); 7 ½ x 4 7/8 in. 

Originally conceived as an ode to the sprawling American West, Melville's Confidence-Man reads more like a meandering, deeply pessimistic epic. The novel follows a nameless protagonist who dons various masks to con passengers aboard a Mississippi river boat traveling from St. Louis to New Orleans. The result is an intricate meditation on the role of trust in rapidly industrializing America and was met with mixed reviews by critics, many of whom found it opaque and baffling. As Melville's ninth novel, it was also the last published during his lifetime. 

BAL 13670.

From the collection of Joseph V. Ridgely, Professor Emeritus of English at Columbia University.

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