THE JUNGLE BOOK.
New York: The Century Co., 1894. First American edition.
Octavo. Publisher's original green cloth, gilt lettering and elephant on upper panel, gilt tiger on rear, blindstamped designs, gilt animal vignettes and lettering to the spine. t.e.g. xvii,[3],303,[3] pp. Frontispiece, and 34 illustrated plates. Designated as a "Printers Copy" on front and rear pastedown, there are some faded fingerprints on some pages, foretips bumped, very slightly cocked, forged signatures of Eugene Field on the first free endpaper, and Rudyard Kipling on the title page, else very good.
First American edition. In the 1920s and 1930s, after burning through his father, the poet and children's author Eugene Field's genuine estate, his son Eugene “Pinny” Field II teamed up with the Chicago bookseller Harry Dayton Sickles to “enlarge” the late poet’s library. In order to manufacture instant provenance for otherwise ordinary books, they reproduced Eugene Field Sr’s original bookplate (oddly, not present here), wrote signed inscriptions to Field Sr., signed his name, and “Chicago” and the date of either 1893 or 1895. They were very fond of forging Kipling's signature. Latest research suggests it was Sickles who was the forger, Field the willing accomplice. Note on front free endpaper "Signed by Kipling," apparently someone was fooled.
Price: $400.00