Much fun in this. I have a group reading Moby-Dick Aloud this year in Melbourne. Can I use some of you interesting stuff in our newsletter. I will of course give you credit. Hanging out for the next post😊
Very interesting! Like you, I was really surprised to learn that Melville didn't specify which leg Ahab had bitten off. I suppose it's one of those things that one doesn't think about until someone else points it out.
After your survey of English versions of Moby-Dick, I was curious and looked up illustrated versions of the novel in Danish, but could only find three illustrated editions, one of which had only some small motifs under chapter headings, so I couldn't learn anything from those about left vs. right legs. What I did find interesting, though, is that, despite Melville specifying that Ahab's leg was fashioned from the jaw of a sperm whale, all of the examples you provided show almost perfectly cylindrical (conical?) legs; whereas, the only good image I could find in a Danish book to hand attempts to make the mandibular origin more evident: https://i.imgur.com/sNPXRFr.png (illustrated by Rasmus Jensen).
Thanks for another great post and I look forward to more each week!
Interesting! Looking forward to part 2. I never realized the book doesn't specify which leg is missing. When I imagine Ahab, I imagine the left leg to be missing. Not sure why. Maybe because Ahab is a sinister character!
Much fun in this. I have a group reading Moby-Dick Aloud this year in Melbourne. Can I use some of you interesting stuff in our newsletter. I will of course give you credit. Hanging out for the next post😊
Very interesting! Like you, I was really surprised to learn that Melville didn't specify which leg Ahab had bitten off. I suppose it's one of those things that one doesn't think about until someone else points it out.
After your survey of English versions of Moby-Dick, I was curious and looked up illustrated versions of the novel in Danish, but could only find three illustrated editions, one of which had only some small motifs under chapter headings, so I couldn't learn anything from those about left vs. right legs. What I did find interesting, though, is that, despite Melville specifying that Ahab's leg was fashioned from the jaw of a sperm whale, all of the examples you provided show almost perfectly cylindrical (conical?) legs; whereas, the only good image I could find in a Danish book to hand attempts to make the mandibular origin more evident: https://i.imgur.com/sNPXRFr.png (illustrated by Rasmus Jensen).
Thanks for another great post and I look forward to more each week!
Interesting! Looking forward to part 2. I never realized the book doesn't specify which leg is missing. When I imagine Ahab, I imagine the left leg to be missing. Not sure why. Maybe because Ahab is a sinister character!