Billy Budd and Other Stories by Herman Melville.

Billy Budd and Other Stories by Herman Melville.

Edited by Rex Warner. Chiltern Library Edition. London:

John Lehman,

1951

Mid-twentieth-century interest in Billy Budd and Melvilleís other short fiction and poetry continued to grow on both sides of the Atlantic, evidenced by these affordable editions. Richard Chase of Columbia University used the Harvard Freeman text and argued that the novella should be read with the ìsmall body of great tragic literature,î such as Sophoclesí Antigone. Publisher John Lehman in The Chiltern Library edition reverted to its 1946 Plomer text. The editor contended the reader of Moby-Dick would find ìthe same mystical profundity, energy and eagerness,î as well as ìeconomy and precision.î

From the Collection of William Palmer Johnston.