A rare first edition copy of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book – with a poignant handwritten inscription by the author to his young daughter – has been discovered at the National Trust’s Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.
Kipling dedicated the book to his young daughter, Josephine, when it was published in 1894, but she died of pneumonia five years later at the age of six. The inscription, which reads: ‘This book belongs to Josephine Kipling for whom it was written by her father, May 1894’, is unsigned but, based on many other items in the Kipling archive, is believed to be his handwriting.
The book is from a collection of Kipling’s works that belonged to his second daughter, Elsie Bambridge, who lived at her marital home of Wimpole Hall from 1938–1976. The Kipling family home, Bateman’s, was given to the National Trust in the 1930s so it is thought that Elsie brought her collection of books with her, including the book dedicated to her sister, when she moved in.
The book, which is now on display at Wimpole Hall, has only recently come to light following a three-year project to catalogue the extensive library.
Mark Purcell, the National Trust’s Libraries Curator said: “There are nearly 7,000 books in the Wimpole library and this has been a big project to catalogue them all properly, but as one of the nation’s favourite children’s books of all time, this first edition of the Jungle Book with its rare inscription is very special.”
Fiona Hall, Curator at Wimpole Hall, added “This inscription is very touching, especially when you consider that Kipling lost not only Josephine, but also his youngest child, John, who died in the Great War. As Kipling’s only remaining child, Elsie would have really treasured this book.”
Click here to go to the Wimpole Hall website
Source: National Trust
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