“A superb new-old edition of Moby-Dick – if the imperishable book is like a great throbbing gnomic brain, here’s a set of deliriously psychedelic new CAT scans to entice you back into its mysteries.”
— Jonathan Lethem, author, Motherless Brooklyn and The Feral Detective
“The sword of history can cast a sweeping shadow over art. Some are born to be a legend in their time. For others, politics, cultural forces and chance eclipse their greatness for another generation to discover. Gilbert Wilson is finally emerging from that missing part of the landscape as one of the great American artists of his generation.”
— FAILE (artists Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller)
“Robert K. Elder’s book is a treasure to behold, for he has rescued Gilbert Wilson from a most undeserved obscurity. The Muscular American vision Wilson fostered into the world of Melville’s White Whale matches that Leviathan’s power and awe-inspiring depth. Elder has shined a light on a Masterpiece about our need to conquer the very notion of Conquering. By re-introducing us to the complex and brilliant Gilbert Wilson’s astonishing paintings of Moby-Dick, Elder underlines the idea that great Art…keeps beginning. Bravo!”
— Tony Fitzpatrick, artist, The Secret Birds
“A stunning new edition of Melville’s classic that belongs in the library of anyone who loves Moby-Dick.”
—Nathaniel Philbrick, author, In the Heart of the Sea and Why Read Moby-Dick?
“This revelatory reclamation of the life and artistic quest of Gilbert Wilson profoundly enriches the story of American art in its dramatic presentation of Wilson’s deep fascination with Moby-Dick, from his dynamic, William Blake-like illustrations to his arresting comparison of the White Whale to atomic power, each a ‘tremendous elemental force’ we’d best not confront ‘with hostile and destructive intentions.’ ”
— Donna Seaman, author, Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists
“Gilbert Wilson’s art, like the novel Moby-Dick itself, is at once timeless and essentially modern. Both are revelatory reminders that the work of each creator remains vital and relevant to an understanding of our human condition.”
— Matt Kish, artist, Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Every Page
“Gilbert Wilson was as obsessed with Moby-Dick as Ahab was with Moby Dick. Wilson spent a lifetime living with Melville’s novel in his head, and the work here is the fine product of that obsession. Those of us who grew up with Rockwell Kent’s engravings will find the Wilson illustrations generous, delirious, evocative, and grand. They are revelations, literally and figuratively illuminating the text. Wilson here does that most difficult and essential thing: he leads us to see the book itself in new and wondrous ways.”
— Howard A. Rodman, author, The Great Eastern
“What a gift to Moby-Dick fans everywhere on the two hundredth birthday of Herman Melville. I love Gilbert Wilson’s illustrations. His solid, great figures are like something half remembered, and Moby Dick himself is a potent, unknowable force plowing through water so terrifying you could drown.”
— Jeff Smith, creator of the BONE graphic novel series