How the Whale Got His Throat (A Just So Story)

How the Whale Got His Throat (A Just So Story) Rudyard Kipling Illustrated by Pauline Baynes Macmillan Children’s Books, London, 1983. Hardcover, illustrated boards. 32 pages. ISBN 0-333-35798-1 / 978-0-333-35798-9. Approximate size 18 × 24.5 cm. Condition: As New. This is an exceptional, essentially unread copy. The illustrated boards are bright, clean and sharp with no fading, rubbing or wear to the corners or edges. The spine is tight and square with no creasing or leaning. Internally the pages are pristine, crisp and free of any marks, inscriptions, stains or foxing; the text and illustrations remain vivid. Blue endpapers are clean and unfaded. Overall, it presents as if it has been carefully stored and barely handled since publication—true “as new” condition for a 1983 children’s picture book. This is the handsome first separate edition (1983) of one of Rudyard Kipling’s most beloved Just So Stories, newly illustrated in full colour by Pauline Baynes for the Macmillan Children’s Books series of individual Just So titles. Each volume in the series was entrusted to a leading contemporary illustrator (others include Charles Keeping, Michael Foreman, William Stobbs, Alan Baker and Chloë Cheese). The story, first published in 1902 in the classic Just So Stories for Little Children, explains why whales have small throats and eat only tiny fish. Once upon a time a Whale ate every fish in the sea until only the cunning small ’Stute Fish remained. The ’Stute Fish cunningly suggests the Whale try Man, directing him to a shipwrecked Mariner of “infinite-resource-and-sagacity” floating on a raft at latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West. The Whale swallows the Mariner (together with his raft, blue canvas breeches, suspenders and jack-knife). The resourceful Mariner, once inside the warm dark inside cupboards of the Whale, cuts up the raft into a grating, ties it firmly with his suspenders, and lodges it in the Whale’s throat. From that day the Whale can swallow nothing larger than the tiniest fish—and that is why whales have narrow throats. The tale is told in Kipling’s characteristic playful, rhythmic language, full of the famous “Best Beloved” address and the memorable catalogue of fishes the Whale once ate. Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was born in Bombay and became one of the most popular writers of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. He is best known for The Jungle Book, Kim and the Just So Stories (1902). In 1907 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature—the first English-language writer to be so honoured. Pauline Baynes (1922–2008) was one of the leading English children’s book illustrators of the twentieth century. She is especially famous for her work on C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and for illustrations, covers and maps associated with J.R.R. Tolkien. Her elegant, richly coloured drawings for this volume perfectly capture the playful spirit of Kipling’s text. Printed in Hong Kong. The book features Baynes’s full-colour illustrations throughout. The cover design is the distinctive turquoise-to-green gradient with the large black title lettering and the swimming Whale amid fish. This is a large-format picture book ideal for reading aloud. The copyright page notes the text copyright held by The National Trust and illustrations © 1983 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. A delightful and collectible copy of a classic children’s story, illustrated by one of the great names of twentieth-century British book illustration, offered here in truly as-new condition. Perfect for collectors of Kipling, Baynes, Narnia/Tolkien-associated artists, or fine illustrated children’s books.…