Kipling Rudyard

1899 · Best.-Nr. 35064 — New York: Doubleday & McClure Company 1899. 2 volumes. First American Edition and the first complete authorized book publication of the collection preceding the English edition of 1900. 8vo publisher's original green cloth the upper covers lettered and nautically decorated in black the spines lettered in gilt and with a small gilt nautical device. xiii 460; ix 400 pp. A very fine and handsome set both volumes in remarkable condition. FIRST EDITION OF KIPLINGS JOURNALISM AND TRAVEL WRITING FROM 1887-1889 writings full of humor sharp observation and self-awareness. Many of these pieces were originally written as special correspondence for the 'Civil and Military Gazette' and the 'Pioneer'. Kipling himself explains in the preface that he assembled the pieces because unauthorized publishers had been digging up his newspaper writings and sometimes altering or interpolating them. Thus the 1899 edition represents Kipling's attempt to establish an authorized text of his early travel journalism. The two volumes include: Letters of Marque — Kipling's journey through Rajputana in India; the 37 From Sea to Sea travel letters; The City of Dreadful Night; Among the Railway Folk; The Giridih Coalfields; In an Opium Factory; and The Smith Administration. The principal 'From Sea to Sea' narrative records the extraordinary journey Kipling made when he left India for England in 1889. Instead of simply sailing west the 23-year-old Kipling took the long way around. He left Calcutta on March 9 1889 traveled through Rangoon Moulmein Penang and Singapore went on to Hong Kong and Canton then through Japan—Nagasaki Kobe Kyoto and Yokohama. He sailed from Yokohama for San Francisco arriving May 28 and then wandered across North America before eventually sailing from New York for England in September. The American portion is particularly entertaining. Kipling writes about San Francisco Oregon and the Clackamas River Yellowstone Salt Lake City Omaha and Chicago among other places. There is even a chapter recounting his interview with Mark Twain. Doubleday & McClure Company hardcover