First UK edition, first impression. Contains the first written account of the poem 'If-' in book form. 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, polling 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. -- Richards A242.
Octavo. Finely Bound in goat, often referred to as "Morocco". Hand tooled with 23 carat gold leaf. Hand-sewn silk headbands. Five raised bands to spine, titles to spine labels. Covers bordered with a double gilt fillet, elaborate decoration to board edges and turn-ins, marbled endpapers, edges gilt
