Kim – Rudyard Kipling (1901) (1st ed)

S$185.00

Kim – Rudyard Kipling (1901) (1st ed)

S$185.00

The true first edition of Kim, published in New York a few weeks before the first UK edition.

Title: Kim

Author: Rudyard Kipling

Publisher: Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, 1901. First American edition, first edition.

Condition: Hardcover, no dust jacket. Good. Covers bright. A bit of endpaper torn off, exposing netting (see photo). About 2 inches of blank ffep detached from book. Front hinge cracked and needs to be handled gently. Pages very roughly cut. Slight tanning to book. Text clean.

Kim is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling. It was first published serially in McClure’s Magazine from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in Cassell’s Magazine from January to November 1901, and first published in book form by Doubleday, Page & Company (New York) and Macmillan & Co. Ltd (London) in 1901. The story unfolds against the backdrop of The Great Game, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia. The novel made the term “Great Game” popular and introduced the theme of great power rivalry and intrigue.

It is set after the Second Afghan War which ended in 1881, but before the Third, probably in the period 1893 to 1898. The novel is notable for its detailed portrait of the people, culture, and varied religions of India. “The book presents a vivid picture of India, its teeming populations, religions, and superstitions, and the life of the bazaars and the road.”