Books

London: Macmillan, 1895. First English editions of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book, in pictorial morocco bindings by Bayntun-Riviere. Inspired by the folk tales that the young Kipling encountered in India, these stories follow the adventures of the boy Mowgli, who learns the law of the jungle from the animals who adopt him: “The man’s cub is mine . . . He shall not be killed! He shall live to run with the Pack and to hunt with the Pack.” This set has been handsomely bound in full morocco, with a multi-colored onlay of the elephant Kala Nag on the upper board of the first volume, and the bear Baloo on the second volume. Grolier Children’s 100, 52. A near-fine set. Two volumes, measuring 7.25 x 4.5 inches: viii, 212; viii, 238. Early twentieth-century full blue morocco, spines with gilt-dotted raised bands, compartments lettered and ruled in gilt with gilt-stamped animals, all boards ruled in gilt, upper boards with colored pictorial onlays, board…

The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who is raised in the jungle by wolves. The stories are set in a forest in India; one place mentioned repeatedly is the Seonee Hills, now known as the Seoni District in Madhya Pradesh.