1897 Early Edition - The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Author: Rudyard Kipling. Illustrated by J. Lockwood Kipling, C.I.E.
Title: The Second Jungle Book.
Publisher: Macmillan and Co., Limited, London; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1897.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 x 5 inches.
Pages: 240 pages 
Binding: Very good and attractive original publisher’s blue cloth, gilt vignette of Kaa the python coiled around a staff on the front board, gilt decorative rules to top and bottom, and gilt spine titles with ornamental spine device (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. A clean, bright, and handsome example with strong gilt and unfaded cloth.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing - as shown). The front pastedown bears a finely printed Ex Libris Walter Hybert Drew, designed by Robert Anning Bell, a notable Arts and Crafts artist.
Illustrations: Decorated throughout with black-and-white illustrations and ornamental headpieces, tailpieces, and initials by J. Lockwood Kipling, C.I.E., including jungle scenes, animals, and Indian decorative motifs. These decorations appear in strong impression, consistent with early Macmillan printings.

Estimate: (USD 250 – 300).

The book: Published in 1897, The Second Jungle Book continues Kipling’s legendary stories of Mowgli and the laws and legends of the jungle, blending myth, moral fable, and adventure. This edition preserves Macmillan’s iconic blue cloth binding with gilt serpent emblem and features J. Lockwood Kipling’s intricate decorative work. The volume contains some of the most memorable narratives in the Mowgli cycle, including “How Fear Came,” “The King’s Ankus,” “Red Dog,” and “The Spring Running.”
The presence of a Robert Anning Bell ex libris further enhances this particular copy’s appeal to collectors of illustrated and Arts and Crafts–era material.

The author: Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) ranks among the most influential writers of the late Victorian and early modern eras. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, Kipling is celebrated for his vivid prose, imaginative storytelling, and ability to weave mythic resonance into tales of empire, childhood, and the natural world.