Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling - 1910

St. Martin's Street, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1910. First edition. Hardcover. This volume, a continuation of the Puck stories first told in 1906's Puck of Pook's Hill, contains eleven stories and twenty-three poems. It is notable for containing the first volume appearance of the poem "If --". According to Kipling bibliographer David Alan Richards, the title of the book comes from "the first line of a poem entitled 'The Fairies' Farewell' by Richard Corbet (1582-1635), Bishop of Norwich, which begins "Farewell, Rewards and Faeries ..." (Richards, A242, pp.201-202). Publication of this British first edition preceded its American counterpart by a week. "If --" proved to be so popular that a separate edition of the poem was swiftly published in the US the following month, and a few years later in England. This English first edition is bound in red cloth with gilt lettered spine and raised, gilt Ganesha device on the front cover, white endpapers, and gilt top edges. Condition of this copy is very good minus. The binding is square and tight, with modest overall scuffing and soiling. The contents are bright. Spotting appears almost entirely confined to the pastedowns, half-title, and publisher’s rear catalogue. The sole previous ownership mark is a tiny Nottingham bookseller sticker affixed to the lower rear pastedown. This book has two instances of Kipling's swastika - on the front cover gilt device, and on the half title verso. The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means “good fortune”, and this ancient hooked cross symbol was used at least 5,000 years before being polluted by association with Hitler’s Reich.  It remains a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism. The swastika is a symbol common to many editions of Kipling’s works and came to Kipling’s attention through his father's encyclopaedic knowledge of Indian art. This copy came to us from personal library of Kipling’s U.S. publishers – specifically from the library of Nelson Doubleday Jr., son of Nelson Doubleday, and grandson of Frank Nelson Doubleday, Kipling’s friend and U.S. publisher and founder of the Doubleday publishing empire. F.N. Doubleday began work in the publishing industry working for Charles Scribner’s Sons. His 18-year career with Scribner’s included the task of assembling a complete set of Kipling's works for publication in a collected edition in 1897. His work with Kipling on this endeavor sparked a friendship and partnership that lasted for decades. Kipling affectionately gave Doubleday the nickname "Effendi", a play on the initials of his name - F.N.D. Frank's son Nelson was president of the firm from 1922 to 1946, as was Nelson Jr., from 1978 to 1983. Iconic English poet, short-story writer, and novelist Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children.  Despite this reputation, Kipling’s extraordinary body of work “eludes all labels in its range and variety… Kipling's work is not only of the highest artistic excellence, it is deeply humane and fully expresses the sense of one of his favourite texts: ‘Praised be Allah for the diversity of his creatures.’” (ODNB) Kipling was in his twenties when his stories of Anglo-Indian life made him a literary celebrity, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907.  Born in India and educated in England, Kipling could not afford to attend either Oxford or Cambridge University and instead returned to India to work as a newspaper editor and writer, which proved formative.  He returned to England in 1889, later living in the United States and South Africa before finally settling in England. Owing mostly to ill health, Kipling's production of original work diminished in the years between the end of the First World War and his death. Kipling remains the youngest person to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature and was also the first English language author awarded. Bibliographic reference: Richards A242