The Jungle Book [with] The Second Jungle Book. With Illustrations by J.L. Kipling, W.H. Drake, and P. Frenzeny. by KIPLING, Rudyard

London, Macmillan and Co., 1924-26. . 2 volumes; sml. 8vo; various illustrations and vignettes, both volumes in publisher's maroon calf, gilt spines, gilt roundels to upper covers containing an elephant's head (the Hindu, Ganesha, one of their favourite gods, with the Hindu motif symbolizing surya 'sun'), prosperity and good luck, top edges gilt, slight rubbing to extremities, spine of second vol. slightly faded, otherwise fine.
The Jungle Book is a 'collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1894. The Second Jungle Book, published in 1895, contains stories linked by poems. The stories tell mostly of Mowgli, an Indian boy who is raised by wolves from infancy and who learns self-sufficiency and wisdom from the jungle animals. The book describes the social life of the wolf pack and, more fancifully, the justice and natural order of life in the jungle. Among the animals whose tales are related in the work are Akela the wolf; Baloo the brown bear; Shere Khan, the boastful Bengal tiger who is Mowgli's enemy; Kaa the python; Bagheera the panther; and Rikki-tikki-tavi the mongoose.' (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopaedia of Literature).