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First edition, published in 1911, although undated. Concerning the characters and scenes in the literary works of Kipling rather than in his personal life. ***Very good in red cloth-covered boards, with gilt titles and decoration to the spine. The gilt has faded slightly over the years. The boards show some marks and rubbing commensurate with age and handling, but are generally clean. The fragile spine of the book is undamaged, just slightly creased at the top and tail, and sightly faded. No reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. No foxing to the page block edges. Internally also very clean, with a neat ownership name, date and place in pencil at the top of the front free endpaper. There is some browning to the endpapers, but virtually no foxing and no creasing or tears to the interior. Printed on thick quality paper stock. No dustwrapper. ***231 pages including a three-page Subject Index at the back of the book. 232mm x 160mm. ***'It was my original intention, when a Kipling Dictionary in this series was mooted, to have confined the scheme to brief outlines of the plots and bare records of the names and personal characteristics of the author's men and women. Before the compilation had been begun, it was borne upon me that the semi-jubilee of Mr. Kipling as an English writer who appeals to every class, not only at home and in the English-speaking lands overseas, but also in many foreign countries, was a fitting occasion to gather together as many facts and as much information about his works as might be possible. The task has not been easy.' (Quote taken from the author compiler's Preface) ***'Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 Dec 1865 - 18 Jan 1936) was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling's works of fiction include the Jungle Book duology - "The Jungle Book" (1894, "The Second Jungle Book" (1895), "Kim" (1901), the "Just So Stories" (1902) and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888). His poems include "Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If?" (1910). He is seen as an innovator in the art of the short story. His children's books are classics; one critic noted "a versatile and luminous narrative gift". Kipling in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was among the United Kingdom's most popular writers. Henry James said "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius, as distinct from fine intelligence, that I have ever known." In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, as the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and at 41, its youngest recipient to date. He was also sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and several times for a knighthood, but declined both. Following his death in 1936, his ashes were interred at Poets' Corner, part of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey. Kipling's subsequent reputation has changed with the political and social climate of the age. The contrasting views of him continued for much of the 20th century. Literary critic Douglas Kerr wrote: "[Kipling] is still an author who can inspire passionate disagreement and his place in literary and cultural history is far from settled. But as the age of the European empires recedes, he is recognised as an incomparable, if controversial, interpreter of how empire was experienced. That, and an increasing recognition of his extraordinary narrative gifts, make him a force to be reckoned with.' (Wiki) ***A first edition of this comprehensive work, detailing the characters and scenes in Kipling's work, in very good original condition. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.
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