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Just So Stories
by Kipling, Rudyard
- Used
- very good
- Signed
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Portland, Oregon, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1902. First Edition, Third Printing. Very Good. First edition, third printing, published just two months after the first printing. A fantastic association copy, signed by Rudyard Kipling on the title page and inscribed to "Janet Aitken from her obliged and obedient servant the author Jul. 1911," beneath which Kipling has struck through his printed name and signed below it. Then three years old, aristocrat and socialite Janet Gladys Aitken (later Campbell, Montagu, and Kidd), was the daughter of Kipling's close friend Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook.
Beaverbrook was a highly influential Canadian-British press magnate and politician and his daughter Janet grew up with her family entertaining powerful and influential figures such as Kipling, Sir Winston Churchill, and David Lloyd George at their family home.
Beaverbrook met Kipling in 1910 after he relocated his family to Britain from Canada; Kipling advised Beaverbrook on the purchase of Cherkely Court, his Surrey mansion and later even became godfather to Beaverbrook's youngest son, Peter.
In her autobiography, Janet recalls Kipling, whom as a child she nicknamed "Mr Sad": "He had a drooping moustache and never seemed to smile...I felt a bit sorry for him but never said so because he never seemed to notice I was there...He would stand staring soulfully at us as we clattered past...I was always pleased to see him".
Ultimately a rift developed between Beaverbrook and Kipling, who endorsed Irish Home Rule, and despite the efforts of Janet and Kipling's daughter Elsie, the two never reconciled.
Bound in publisher's original red pictorial cloth stamped in black and white. Very Good with fading to spine and bottom of rear cover, extremities a little worn and frayed, front hinge tender and rear hinge partly cracked but holding, contents mildly foxed throughout; with Beaverbrook's family bookplate to the front pastedown.
Signed copies of this title are rare, especially those with such a close association and inscribed; just six other inscribed copies are known. Housed in a custom red cloth chemise case.
Synopsis
The delightful tales of whales and cats and kangaroos and crabs – everything from how the camel got in a humph (and got his hump!) to how the alphabet was invented. Enchanting and funny, these fantastical stories continue to delight each and every generation.With an inspiring written, inspiring introduction by Jonathan Stroud, author of the Bartimaeus trilogy, Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling is one of the twelve wonderful classic stories being relaunched in Puffin Classics in March 2008.
Reviews
On Apr 3 2011, Feeney said:
The original edition (1902) of Rudyard Kipling's yarns for children, JUST SO STORIES, has 12 tales. Some later editions added a 13th ("The Tabu Tale") and might have added a 14th from 1895, THE JUNGLE BOOK, on how the tiger got his stripes. *** Most of the stories are about animals, usually having one part of their anatomy being transformed by outside pressure ( e.g. a young elephant's puffy nose being stretched out to today's dimensions by a crocodile trying to drag the curious youngster for its dinner into "the great gray-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees"). But my favorite is about the domestication by earliest humans of the first wild animals: dog, horse and cat. It is called "The Cat That Walked by Himself." And the free-spirited cat was notable for negotiating, not entirely to his satisfaction, the anarchical terms under which he will consent to live with Man, Woman and Baby "for always and always and always." *** Standing far apart from the animal tales are two inter-twined yarns: "How the First Letter Was Written" and "How The Alphabet Was Made." Rooting the alphabet as we know it in a young cave girl's efforts to send a message home through a stranger speaking a different language but carrying with him an incomprehensible sketch she had drawn, Kipling makes learning the alphabet extra fun for youngsters and adds a bit of spoofing history as well. *** It is easy to imagine that the "O my Best Beloved" to whom Kipling later told the JUST SO STORIES was his oldest child, Vermont-born Josephine ("josie") who died of pneumonia at age six. -OOO-
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Details
- Bookseller
- Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 140944771
- Title
- Just So Stories
- Author
- Kipling, Rudyard
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition, Third Printing
- Publisher
- Macmillan and Co., Limited
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1902
Terms of Sale
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2010
Portland, Oregon
About Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Burnside Rare Books specializes in literary first editions and works of cultural and historic significance. We are located in Portland, Oregon and welcome visitors by appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Cracked
- In reference to a hinge or a book's binding, means that the glue which holds the opposing leaves has allowed them to separate,...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Hinge
- The portion of the book closest to the spine that allows the book to be opened and closed.
- Foxed
- Foxing is the age related browning, or brown-yellowish spots, that can occur to book paper over time. When this aging process...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Association Copy
- An association copy is a copy of a book which has been signed and inscribed by the author for a personal friend, colleague, or...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
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