Rudyard Kipling

If You Happen To Be In London

/ Amie Inman / Leave a comment
John Lockwood Kipling with his son Rudyard Kipling, 1882. © National Trust/Charles Thomas

John Lockwood Kipling with his son Rudyard Kipling, 1882. © National Trust/Charles Thomas

Kipling is almost a household name for many in our group, but primarily in the context of Rudyard Kipling, the writer of the well-known stories and fables about India. When researching the author a few years back I was surprised to learn about his talented father, whose beautiful illustrations graced the early editions of several of his son’s books.

Rudyard Kipling’s bookplate ‘Ex Libris', Lockwood Kipling, 1909. © National Trust Images/John Hammond

Rudyard Kipling’s bookplate ‘Ex Libris’, Lockwood Kipling, 1909. © National Trust Images/John Hammond

Those lucky enough to be in London this month can visit the Victoria & Albert Museum for the exhibition Lockwood Kipling: Arts and Crafts in the Punjab and London.

More of note, not only was the senior Kipling an artist, writer, museum director, teacher, and influential figure in the Arts and Crafts movement – he was also a conservationist, distinguished for promoting the traditional textile crafts of India and what is now Pakistan.

The exhibit coincides with Conferences and Symposia related to the 3-year international research project on Kipling’s legacy.

The 19th century Arts and Crafts revival in British India is a fascinating chapter in the international history of art and design. However, John Lockwood Kipling’s career as designer and architectural sculptor, curator and educator, illustrator and journalist, has received little attention. Continue reading →

Just So

/ Amie Inman / 2 Comments

First Edition 1864

Now Rann the Kite brings home the night

That Mang the Bat sets free–

The herds are shut in byre and hut

For loosed till dawn are we.

This is the hour of pride and power,

Talon and tusk and claw.

Oh, hear the call!–Good hunting all

That keep the Jungle Law!

“Night-Song in Jungle” by Rudyard Kipling

In the world of literature we associate Rudyard Kipling first and foremost with India, although in reality he only spent about 12 years of his life here.  Born December 30th 1865 in Bombay to English parents, he spent his very early childhood there before returning to England at the age of 5.  In his mid-teens he returned to India and spent an additional 6 and half years working as an editor in Punjab.  Despite living the majority of his life elsewhere (England and the United States), India and his self-identification as an “Anglo-Indian” defines much of Kipling’s work.

The Jungle Book  first appeared in serialized versions but was eventually published in  1894 under one cover, with illustrations by Kipling’s father, John Lockwood Kipling.  The Jungle Book and the Just So Stories still remain among Kipling’s most beloved works. Continue reading →