Stalky & Co. by Rudyard Kipling - 1929

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1929. Full leather. This is a beautifully preserved copy of the leather-bound “Pocket Edition” of 1929. The book measures 7 x 4.5 inches, bound in dark red leather with blind rule borders on both covers, a gilt elephant illustration on the front cover, extensive gilt decoration on the spine, a dark red ribbon page marker, and gilt top edge. The dust jacket, printed and illustrated in red on cream stock, repeats the volume’s front cover elephant design. Condition is beautifully fine in a very good dust jacket. The leather binding is pristine, with no wear or flaws. The contents remain bright, as does the gilt top edge. We note fraying to the end of the ribbon marker, trivial spotting confined to the fore edge, and a brief, inked gift inscription on the front free endpaper dated “2nd Feb 1941”. Mild differential toning of the endpapers corresponding to the dust jacket flaps confirms what the lovely binding already testifies – that this copy has spent life protected by the dust jacket. The jacket is in very good condition, bright, though with fractional loss to the spine ends and corners and some modest soiling and staining to the lower spine and lower front cover. The rear face and flaps advertise other Kipling works and the lower front face explicitly states that this is the “Pocket Edition Leather”. The jacket is now protected beneath a removable, clear archival cover. Kipling's Stalky & Co. was first published in 1899 (following serialization in the Windsor Magazine). It is a collection of linked short stories, some including the charismatic Stalky character in later life. The character Beetle, one of the main trio, is based partly on Kipling himself. Stalky is based on Lionel Dunsterville, M'Turk is based on George Charles Beresford, Mr. King is based on William Carr Crofts, and the school is based on the United Services College. More Stalky & Co. tales appeared in magazines and later in collections: "Regulus" in A Diversity of Creatures (1917); "Stalky" in Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides (1923); "The United Idolators" and "The Propagation of Knowledge" in Debits and Credits (1926); and "The Satisfaction of a Gentleman" (with the others) in The Complete Stalky & Co. (1929, the same year as the publisher’s leather Pocket Edition). Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist 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.