Evening star., 1935-12-15
BY the Associated Press

ASAANSO AlAo AAdJccCy years ago WIlcll he
wrote Of the Widow of Windsor"
Talk of New Honor.
Whatever the reason, Kipling has
held his peace and the honor has gone
elsewhere. Now there is talk of some
new civil list honor this season.
For 80 years Kipling has lived vir-
tually a recluse in his moat-encircled
estate, Bateman's, in Burwash, Sus-
sex, surrounded by the wooded hills
ne wrote of-in Puck of Pook's Hill"
Recently he expressed his aversion
to the limelight in these lines:
"And we confess our blame,
How all too high we hold
The noise which men call fame,
The droSs that men call gold"
There Is not even telephone In his
home. There are few visitors, and
in turn Kipling seldom goes from
home, and more seldom still is his
voice heard
His most recent speech was in May
before the Royal Society of St. George
in London. Kipling, who twoScore
years before was called the high
priest of British Imperialism. the
sword rattler of empire, had scarcely
changed his tune at all.
What he said was that Great
Britain had better hurry reconstruc-
ton of its defenses or face a possible
quick defeat by some foreign power.
Today England is strengthening its
defenses, particularly in the air, and
the British Empire that Kipling
toasted in his heyday again hears
the sound of marching men and sees
the smoke of maneuvering battle
ships.
Two years ago, in response to a re-
quest from the overseas league for
toast, Kipling wrote:
"Our empire-her peace, her
power and her security"
Thus. briefly. he added a postscript
to his famous hymn occasional,
written for Queen Victoria's diamond
jubilee-the hymn to Eng1and's Far
Flung Battle Line"
The Kipling of today is hale. A
friend describes him this way: "a
bald-headed, sturdy little figure. with
the famous beetle eyebrows bristling,
brown eyes twinkling behind small
gold-rimmed spectacles, and square,
toed boots redolent of old fashioned
shoe blacking."
Admirers Are Active.
While Kipling himself has re-
mained a recluse his admirers over
the world and through the years have
been exceedingly active. Kipling in
terests has been in two directions.
First, the Kipling societies, COM
posed of those interested in the man
and his work and in the spreading
of his fame.
Second, the Kipling collectors.
Kipling undoubtedly is the most
collected author in the world today.
In fact collecting of Kipling first
editions, at least during the boom
days, reached the heights Of absurdity.
A little more sanity is apparent today.
Take the average author. If he Is
fairly productive he runs up maybe
20 or rs volumes during his writing
career
In Kipling's case this would be a
mere drop in the proverbial bucket.
Flora v. Livingston's photography,
published in 1926, listed 5o4 Kipling
first editions = Books. pamphlets,
broadsides, brochures, etc, each con-
tanning the first appearance of some
item from his pen.
Even that was only start. Today,
less than decade later, so many
new items have been turned up that
a leading Kipling collector estimates
the Kipling photography now contains
nearly 700 entries.
AS the aim of every collector Is
possession of every first
edition from the pen of his author
and as Kipling collectors are legion,
you can see what scurry and scram-
BILE there has been in the past for
these TOO items, many of which are
excessively rare.
The rarest Of all Kipling First
Editions is THE Smith Administra-
tion," published in India in 1891.
Only six copies are known. One sold
for $4,000 at auction in New York
in 1927.
First Book Also Rare.
"s--1aaoolboy Lyrics" Kipling's first
book, also Is rare. A copy in a
white wrapper fetched $500 in 1928:
while brown wrappered copy, signed
by the author, has sold for as high
as $3,l00. The book was printed at
the press Of the Civil and Military
Gazette at Lahore in 1881. Kipling's
parents brought out the volume. The
author at the time was at school in
England.
plain Tales From The Hills"
(1S8s), another Indian publication,
sold for $1,000 in 1928. This particular
copy, however, had an inscription
to the woman to whom the book was
dedicated. Incidentally, Kipling in
criptions are few. Kipling was not
much Of hand to sign books for
Tom, Dick and Harry. When he
did unbend for his friends he usually
struck out his name on the title-page
and wrote it in ink underneath.
Echoes" publised In India in 1884,
with notes in the authors handwrit-
ing, once reached $4,000.
The greatest English collection Of
Kipling works, numbering between
800 and 400 items, was sold in this
country shortly before the market
crash for approximately $4,000. A
fine American collection, that put to-
gether by George Barr McCutcheon,.
the late novelist, was disposed of
for around $4,000.
The rarest, Kipling printed In
America Is Pan In Vermont" done
- L. "a