Kim

London: Macmillan, 1901. First UK edition. Near Fine. Original publisher's cloth binding with gilt to spine and front board. Top edge gilt. A Near Fine example retaining its brightness and shape; internally with some foxing to title page and preliminaries.

Kim stands as a separate character from the other books that had made Kipling's name -- "'Not much of a story' may perhaps be the verdict of the ruthless boy reader who revels in the Jungle Book and Captains Courageous...Kim is, in fact and upon the surface, but an insignificant fragment of human history; a bit out of the biography of a little vagabond of Irish parentage, orphaned when a baby, and left to shift for himself in infinite India," wrote a contemporary reviewer for The Atlantic. That said, it is a book that more mature readers could connect with in the story of a boy growing into manhood, seeking out experiences and relationships to shape and define him. "Kim is a work of genius," that same Atlantic reviewer concludes, because it is "the most truly spiritual production, in the proper sense of the term," giving thoughtful readers "something upon every page which he desires to quote." Near Fine.