Books

First Detmold edition, in a fine binding by the Chelsea Bindery, and illustrated in colour by one of the best Edwardian animal illustrators. Charles Maurice Detmold (1883-1908) and Edward Julius Detmold (1883-1957) were twins who studied animals together at the Zoological Gardens and exhibited from the age of 14. Edward Detmold lived to produce a considerable output and later moved into fantasy illustration. Based on folk tales and legends that Kipling learned during his childhood in India, The Jungle Book was printed in periodicals in 1893-4 prior to publication in book form in 1894. Octavo. Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in red morocco, spine lettered and framed in gilt, front cover lettered within decorative frames and gilt vignette, covers, board edges, and turn-ins ruled in gilt, dark green endpapers, edges gilt. Frontispiece and 15 colour plates, wood-engraved pictorial headpieces in the text. Tiny spot of wear to front cover, occasional spot of foxing, else clean. A fine copy. Stewart 125.

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.