KIM by Kipling Rudyard - 1901

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1901. First Edition. Illustrated with 10 plates in black and white on coated paper from bas-reliefs by the author's father, John Lockwood Kipling. 8vo, in the publisher’s original ‘Kipling’ red cloth with gilt embossed elephant on the upper cover, gilt lettered on the spine, top edge gilt. in the publisher’s original ‘Kipling’ red cloth with gilt embossed elephant on the upper cover, gilt lettered on the spine, t.e.g. A very handsome, pleasing and well preserved copy, the cloth still clean and bright with little evidence of use, corners and tips all in good order, the textblock clean and the binding tight, a light bit of the usual light foxing to the edges, each pastedown and free-fly. AN UNUSUALLY FINE COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION, A KIPLING CLASSIC, and a very handsome copy of the picaresque novel of India, generally considered Kipling’s masterpiece and one of his most popular works and in some circles considered as the first espionage novel.
Kipling was born in Bombay, grew up in London and traveled throughout the world. “Widely regarded as unofficial poet laureate, he refused many honours; in 1907 he was the first English writer to receive the Nobel Prize” [Oxf Comp to Eng Lit]. Kipling was popular with common soldiers and his phrase, “the white man’s burden” influenced and was used to justify the period of neo-colonialism up until the second World War. While he was and remains a controversial figure, his children’s books do not have this quality and are considered some of his greatest achievements. KIM, of course, is considered the greatest representation of his talents and is considered by many to be Kipling"s greatest work of all.