Life and Remarkable Adventures of Israel R. Potter

The Life and Remarkable Adventures of ISRAEL R. POTTER
The autobiography of America’s first tragic hero— the basis of Herman Melville’s famous novel
Introduction by Leonard Kriegel
CORINTH AE 16 $1.25
LIFE AND REMARKABLE ADVENTURES OF ISRAEL R. POTTER
“Shortly after his return in infirm old age to his native land, a little narrative of his adventures, forlornly published on sleazy gray paper, appeared among the peddlers, written, probably not by himself, but taken down from his lips by another. But like the crutch-marks of the cripple by the Beautiful Gate, this blurred record is now out of print.”
So Herman Melville, on June 17th, 1854, described this original volume in the Dedication (To His Highness, The Bunker Hill Monument) of his fictionalized version of Potter’s autobiography.
The present edition is a faithful republication of Potter’s own story, reset from the Henry Trumbull printing in 1824. The reproduction of the original title page and frontispiece illustration are from a copy in the New York Public Library and used with their kind permission. Also reproduced is the title page and frontispiece illustration of the J. Howard printing in the same year.
In an Appendix, the final chapters of Herman Melville’s Israel Potter have been reproduced from the 1855 first edition printing.
LIFE and REMARKABLE ADVENTURES of ISRAEL R. POTTER
Introduction by Leonard Kriegel
CONSULTING EDITOR: HENRY BAMFORD PARKES