Moby-Dick, or, the Plurality of the Whale

“Call me Ishmael.” Even if you have never read Moby-Dick, chances are you know the first line and something about Captain Ahab’s obsessive hunt for the white whale. The plot and key characters have become part of our popular culture and are referred to by people who couldn’t tell you if Ahab survives his final encounter with the beast that took his leg.

One reason the novel has so thoroughly entered our popular imagination is because it is not really just one novel. Moby-Dick has been repackaged time and time again to serve multiple purposes and satisfy different audiences. It has been a muse for artists, a dry meditation on the human condition for students to suffer through, an exciting story of the sea, and an action story befitting of comic book heroes.

Our latest exhibition, Moby-Dick, or, the Plurality of the Whale --  a riff on the full title of the novel, Moby-Dick, or, the Whale -- opens this Friday, showcasing editions that span centuries, artistic styles, and even genres. We've blogged about our two first editions of Moby-Dick, but now we have a chance to showcase a larger portion of our Melville collection. From the first editions, to the famous Rockwell Kent illustrations (one seen above), to comic books and even a dinner plate, this show has something for all audiences.

This gif shows one of the editions that didn't make it. The gilt edges of this 1923 edition, when correctly manipulated, reveal a hand-painted scene of the harbor at Christiansted, St. Croix, in what is now the U. S. Virgin Islands. You can't view the image without bending the book -- and it would be horrible for the book to be kept like this for the next three months! 

Come see Moby-Dick, or, the Plurality of the Whale, on display from September 4 to November 15, 2015, in the Class of 1965 galleries on the mezzanine level of Rauner!

If you want to see the edition with the fore-edge painting, ask for Rauner Melville PS2384 .M62 1923c.

Be a Trip Leader

No, not a Merry Prankster, that is so 1960s. We are talking about the Dartmouth Outing Club Freshmen trips. They are in full swing right now--hikes out into the wilderness and close encounters with wildlife are a great way to transition students into a new life and build early friendships.

Each year close to 200 students lead the trips. This year, they are all coming into Rauner Library in groups of 10-15 to see a room filled with documents from the DOC records that show the history and development of the trips. This year's favorite piece is an application from 1991 to be a trip leader. The student added a cover letter apologizing for turning in his application late, then went on to elucidate his skills on the accordion and bag pipes. "I play a mean polka to Guns & Roses tunes and can play a hellish rendition of the Flintstones on the 'pipes. Of course I can play Dear Old Dartmouth on either instrument.  Might this aid in waking the sleeping freshmen come in handy to you?"  When asked on the application if he would be willing to have a faculty member along on the trip, he answered yes, that he could think of one English Professor who "loves this sort of pseudo-Hemingway adventure."

But it was his idea for the T-Shirt pictured here that must have won him a spot as a trip leader.

The history of the trips is well documented in the DOC Records (DO-1) which are available for inspiration here in Rauner.