London: Macmillan, 1894, 1895. First editions. Original publisher's cloth bindings with gilt to spines and boards. All edges gilt. Dark green endpapers. Book one Near Fine, book two just slightly less, but a well-matched set overall. Spines bright and unfaded, with just a bit of wear at the spine ends and corners. A few spots to the front cover of book one and the occasional spot of foxing throughout. Book 2 with heavier foxing at pages 208-09, obscuring a few words, and rear inner hinge splitting, but holding well. Overall, an attractive pair of Kipling's most memorable works. Housed in a custom clamshell box that is a little worse for wear.

Based on folk tales and legends that Kipling learned during his childhood in India but written while in Vermont. This work of several inter-related short stories met with huge success upon publication and continues to enthrall readers of all ages to this day. According to Professor Edwin L. Miller, their publication "caused even severe critics of [Kipling's] previous work to admit that he is a writer of inspired genius." Largely focused on man's relationship to nature, The Jungle Books in part narrate the tales of Mowgli, a human (man-cub) raised by wolves, as he tries to find his proper place in the world. As he struggles with his own identity, he finds allies and adversaries among the animal communities through which he travels. They also include the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the heroic mongoose who would later inspire an animated short voiced by Orson Welles. For contributions like these, Kipling became the first English-language writer, and the youngest ever, to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. Near Fine (Item #5380)