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A handsome set. Publisher's blue cloth bindings stamped in gilt. All edges gilt. Dark green endpapers. Slight wear to the spine ends and corners of The Jungle Book, a little foxing internally, otherwise very clean and fresh throughout. A Very Good+ copy. The Second Jungle Book presenting very well indeed, front hinge a little tender, bookeller's ticket to foot of front free endpaper verso. A Near Fine copy overall. Both volumes illustrated throughout with contributions by J. L. Kipling, W. H. Drake, and P. Frenzeny in The Jungle Book; the author's father, Lockwood Kipling, C.I.E., illustrated The Second Jungle Book. This set contained in a custom blue cloth slipcase. Few books have shaped the imagination of childhood quite like Kipling's Jungle Books. First published in 1894 and 1895, these two volumes introduced the world to Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa, and Shere Khan. The timeless stories blended fable, folklore, and imperial adventure into one of the most enduring classics of English literature. The Jungle Book (1894) includes the first appearance of "Mowgli's Brothers," "Kaa's Hunting," and "Tiger! Tiger!" alongside such favorites as "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." The Second Jungle Book (1895) continued the tales,deepening the Mowgli cycle and adding enduring pieces like "The King's Ankus" and "Red Dog." Together, the two books form the complete Mowgli canon. First edition sets in original cloth are increasingly scarce, especially when both volumes present well. These are the foundational works of Kipling's career - the stories that earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature (1907) and secured his place in the canon of English storytelling. Based on folktales and legends that Kipling learned during his childhood in India, the Jungle Books were met with huge success upon publication and continue to enthrall readers of all ages to this day. According to Professor Edwin L. Miller, their publication "caused even severe critics of [Kipling's] previous work to admit that he is a writer of inspired genius." Largely focused on man's relationship to nature, the Jungle Books in part narrate the tales of Mowgli, a human ("man-cub") raised by wolves, as he tries to find his proper place in the world. As he struggles with his own identity, he finds allies and adversaries among the animal communities through which he travels. They also include the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the heroic mongoose who would later inspire an animated short voiced by Orson Welles. For contributions like these, Kipling became the first English-language writer, and the youngest ever, to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. Very Good+, Near Fine.
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