"Which Version Should I Read/Listen to?" (Notes on choosing a copy of Moby-Dick)

Physical Books

When it comes to physical copies of the book, there's really only one consideration: annotated or not annotated.

Annotated:

Here are four of the most common editions that have extensive annotations (Norton Critical/Longman) or endnotes (Norton Library, B&N, Penguin). There are a few more versions out there with even more intense annotations, primarily meant for Melville scholars, but they're much rarer or out-of-print entirely.

• Norton Critical Edition (By far the overall favorite and includes copious footnotes as well as maps, illustrations, and essays after the conclusion of the novel)
• Longman Critical Edition (Annotated by John Bryant, a preeminent Melville scholar)
• Norton Library (Different than the Critical Edition, this version is meant for students and priced at just $10. Has an intro by Jeffrey Insko and endnotes, though not the extensive annotations of the Critical Edition)
• Barnes and Noble Classics(https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moby-dick-melville-herman/1110282307) (Has some endnotes, mostly obscure vocabulary and whaling terms)
• Penguin Classics (Introduction by Andrew Delbanco, who published a biography of Melville, and about 15 pages of endnotes after the book by Tom Quirk)

Not Annotated:

If you don't want or care about annotations, then virtually any basic copy will do. There's no point in creating a list as there are hundreds (if not thousands) of copies, so just find one that fitting your personal taste in the cover, hardcover/softcover, whether it has illustrations, and so on.

Audiobooks

I've divided these into two categories: paid and free. I'm sure there are more out there, but these seem to be discussed most often in past threads. If anyone has a favorite that wasn't included here, let me know and I'll add it to the list. I've most often seen Frank Muller and Stewart Wills mentioned as favorites, for what it's worth, but each link should also have a sample of the reading for you to listen and choose the one that sounds best to you.

Paid:

• Frank Muller
• Pete Cross
• William Hootkins
• Mark Nelson
• Anthony Heald (Note: This may be on CD only?)
• B.J. Harrison (Note: Also on Spotify here)
• Burt Reynolds Note: Abridged

Free:

• Stewart Wills (Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)
• Moby Dick Big Read (Note: Each chapter is read by a different person, including some celebrities (like Tilda Swinton, Stephen Fry, Will Self, Benedict Cumberbatch, etc.)

Online

Given that Moby-Dick was published almost 200 years ago, the text has long been in the public domain. Here are three additional versions of the text that you can find for free online:

• Power Moby-Dick (Highly-annotated online text)
• Project Gutenberg (Plain-text copies in html and epub)
• Internet Archive (Scan of an original 1851 copy)