The Eyes of Asia

New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1918 . First edition. Cloth. Near Fine. 7.5" by 5". None. A very smart first edition of Rudyard Kipling's collection of letters home from soldiers stationed in India in 1915 and 1916. First edition. Bound in the publisher's original quarter cloth, with paper covered boards. Lacking the dust wrapper. Written by English novelist and short story writer Rudyard Kipling, who was born in India, with this country inspiring much of his work. This work was originally published in American Saturday Evening Post in six parts in 1917, and then published in book form as it is here in 1918. This collection is comprised of four stories reading as letters home from soldiers in India between 1915-16. The first two stories in the collection, 'A Retired Gentleman' and 'Fumes of the Heart' are told from the view of injured soldiers on the North-West Frontier. 'The Private Account' depicts an Afghan family reading a letter from their soldier son, while the final story, 'A Trooper of Horse' presents a soldier's letter home to his mother in France. It is suggested that the idea behind these letters is to provide intelligence to those at home, with the framework of the book coming from censored letters written by Indian soldiers.From the library of A. P. Watt & A. S. Watt of A. P. Watt and Son, literary agent of Rudyard Kipling. In the publisher's original quarter cloth, with paper covered boards. Lacking the dust wrapper. Externally, excellent, with light shelf wear and a little darkening to the spine and spine label. The odd handling mark. Internally, firmly bound, with bright, clean pages. Near Fine