IF.

Doubleday, Page and Company. New York. 1910. FIRST SEPARATE EDITION (U. S). IN PUBLISHERS DELUX LEATHER BINDING. Precedes the first U. K separate edition by 4 years. Oblong 8vo. (4.4 x 6.4 inches). 8 double leaves, uncut at the top, held in by a yellow cord tie. Each double leaf has a red rule and dot border, the text printed in black with red initial letters. Half title has "IF" printed in red within an ornamental black panel, the same printed onto the front board, with the addition of the author's name. The Publishers note on page 5 appears in four different variants, with priority unknown, and this copy has variant iii. In the rare original delux publishers dark green morocco leather binding with gilt ruling and lettering to the front panel (Richards binding variant i). There is some mottling to the leather on the front panel, which has also faded to a mellow brown colour. The rear board is still dark green and has just a small area of mottling. Overall the binding is in very good condition and the gilt is still bright and sharp. Internally this is a clean and bright copy. An attractive copy of this uncommon little book. Published (probably November 1910) very shortly after the Poem first appeared in the book Rewards and Fairies (October 1910), this separate publication was issued to capitalise on the huge, and instant, popularity of what has become Kipling's most enduring work of verse. A poll taken by the BBC in the UK in 2005 voted it as Britain's favourite Poem, poling twice as many votes as the number 2 choice, Lord Tennyson's The Lady of Shallot. Originally written in 1895, IF was inspired by the actions of Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, a British Officer whose forces were defeated by the Boers in 1895, but who was portrayed as a victorious hero by the British press, the poem is a powerful masterclass in maintaining the British stiff upper lip. ---- David Alan Richards. Rudyard Kipling. A bibliography. A244.