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KIPLING (Rudyard). The Jungle book. - The Second Jungle book…
See original version (French)
KIPLING (Rudyard). The Jungle book. - The Second Jungle book…
See original version (French)
Lot no. 78
KIPLING (Rudyard).
The Jungle book. - The Second Jungle book.
London, New York: Macmillan and co, 1894-1895. - 2 works in 2 volumes in-8, 183 x 120: (2 ff. first blank), vi pp., (1 f.), 212 pp. ; (4 ff. first blank), 238 pp., (1 f.). Blue morocco, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, with gilt leaf and bird motifs at the corners and edges, the centres decorated with a distinct mosaic composition, depicting on the first volume, the elephant Hathi on the first board, with a ruby set for the eye, in a rectangle with lobed edges, against a background of lotus flowers gilded and mosaicked in white morocco, and the mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi on the second plate, in brown morocco, in a four-lobed frame against a green morocco background decorated with gilded and mosaicked flowers; and on the second volume, the snake Kaa on the first plate, with a ruby set for the eye, in real snakeskin, coiled to form a four-lobed motif, and the wolf Akela on the second plate, with a ruby set for the eye, in a four-lobed frame decorated with gilt leaves; spine decorated with gilt leaf and animal motifs, gilt fillets and roulette framing the inside, surrounding a phrase in gilt lettering, gilt swastika at the corners, snakeskin lining and endpapers, blue silk double endpapers, edges gilt and chiselled on the edges, boards and spine in percaline of the original cartonnage preserved, common snakeskin-backed slipcase (Sangoski and Sutcliffe).
First edition of these two famous collections of short stories by Rudyard Kipling, forming one of the world's most famous and popular literary works.
Each volume is illustrated with full-page and in-text black compositions by John Lockwood Kipling (1837-1911), the author's father, William Henry Drake (1856-1926) and Paul Frenzeny (circa 1840-1902) for the former, and by John Lockwood Kipling for the latter.
One of the finest copies known, bound in London at the very beginning of the 20th century in the workshops of Sangonski & sutcliffe, set with three small rubies.
Sangorski & Sutcliffe was a bookbinding firm founded in London in 1901, recognised as one of the most important of the twentieth century for its luxurious jewelled bindings, using real gold and precious stones. It was founded by Francis Sangorski (1875-1912) and George Sutcliffe (1878-1943), who met in 1896 on a bookbinding course at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. In 1898, they each won a craft scholarship, enabling them to continue their training. After working in Douglas Cockerell's workshop and teaching at Camberwell College of Art, they set up on their own in 1901 in an attic in Bloomsbury, before moving to Vernon Place and then Southampton Row in 1905. The company soon specialised in bindings decorated with precious stones, creating multicoloured leather books decorated with gold and gems, as in this case where three small rubies form the eyes of the elephant Hathi on the first cover of the first volume, the snake Kaa on the first cover of the second volume and the wolf Akela on the second cover of the same volume. The Kaa snake motif and the linings and endpapers of both volumes are also made from real snakeskin, identified as that of a royal python.
The lining is framed by 4 gilded inscriptions, corresponding to 8 verses taken from the laws of the jungle, namely: I. "As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back - // For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack". - II. "The Jackal may follow the Tiger, but, Cub, when thy whiskers are grown, // Remember the Wolf is a Hunter - go forth and get food of thine own." (The Jackal may follow the Tiger, but, Cub, when thy whiskers are grown, // Remember the Wolf is a Hunter - go forth and get food of thine own.) - III "When Pack meets with Pack in the Jungle, and neither will go from the trail, // Lie down till the leaders have spoken - it may be fair words shall prevail." (When Pack meets Pack in the Jungle, and neither will go from the trail, // Lie down till the leaders have spoken - it may be fair words shall prevail.) - IV "When ye fight with a Wolf of the Pack, ye must fight him alone and afar, // Lest others take part in the quarrel, and the Pack be diminished by war." (When ye fight with a Wolf of the Pack, ye must fight him alone and afar, // Lest others take part in the quarrel, and the Pack be diminished by war.)
Copies perfectly preserved. On the first blank page of each book, there is a handwritten note of provenance that has been largely erased. The dates are 1894 and 1895, i.e. contemporary with the publication of the book.
A discreet scratch on the second cover of the second volume.
Provenance: Robert Nossam, with bookplate.
See original version (French)
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