viii, 390 pp. The first novel by the American poet and critic best known for his literary anthologies. Rockwell Kent woodcut illustrations on jacket and title page. First published in 1928, Louis Untermeyer's Moses is a precursor to Sigmund Freud's Moses and Monotheism, which appeared over a decade later. The novel presents Moses as the son of the Pharaoh's daughter and a Hebrew father. Having inherited the Pharaoh's vision for a spiritual Egypt, and seen it fail before he eyes, Moses feels to Midian - only to return after the Pharaoh's death in order to pursue the same vision while freeing the Hebrews from the plight of slavery. The plot is well known, letting the poetics take front row, as Untermeyer moves through the Exodus to the wilderness of the desert - and hands the leadership of the Hebrews to Joshua bin Nun.
