Kipling’s original Jungle Book manuscript out in 1,000 copies
MUMBAI: In Rudyard Kipling’s own mind, The Jungle Book wasn’t quite a cute Disney story. The forest was darker, more menacing. Bagheera, who was caged as a cub, had even less trust for humans. Baloo, a friend, was still a wild animal. And Shere Khan, Mowgli’s nemesis, was the kind of tiger you wouldn’t want to spot on a safari.
Kipling’s original manuscript, archived in the British Library since 1940s, was thus far accessible only to researchers. Now, the library and independent publishers, SP books, have collaborated to release the work in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. The manuscript, covering 173 sheets and released on November 25, contains stories from both The Jungle Book (1893-94) and The Second Jungle Book (1895). His elegant penmanship is supplemented with careful black-ink drawings, rarely seen by the public.
The sketches envision the “man-cub” Mowgli, dwarfed against the Pench forest in Madhya Pradesh, with stunning clarity. There’s Shere Khan set against a herd of buffaloes. There are verses and songs that appear at the beginning and end of each story, including the Parade-song of the Camp- Animals, Rikki-tikki-tavi and Road Song of the Bandar-log.
The book offers a look into Kipling’s creative process. The British author wrote it in Vermont USA, years after he’d left India. They show how distinctly he recalled the country in which he’d spent the first six years of his life; and to which he returned, at 16, after studying in England, to spend the next sixand-a-half years as a journalist, traveller and writer.
The drawings were works in progress and never published. But fans of the book will notice subtle revisions Kipling made as he worked through his stories. One tale, Her Majesty’s Servants, was originally titled The Servants of the Queen; another, titled, Red Dog was originally The Little People of the Rocks. There are scrawled notes to self as the writer worked out names and made corrections in red pencil.
It’s no surprise that Kipling would sketch out some of his characters. His father, John Lockwood Kipling, was professor, and later, principal of the Jeejeebhoy School of Art in Bombay (now Mumbai). Kipling was born in Bombay, and added sketches to many of the thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories, four novels, travel books, essays he wrote. Some have survived and were bequeathed by his wife, Caroline to leading libraries and universities after he passed away in 1936.
The book features illustrations by French artist Maurice de Becque. It concludes with the iconic poem The Law of the Jungle: “Now these are the Laws of the Jungle and many and mighty are they. But the head of the Law and the hoof, and the haunch and the hump is - Obey.’ At $240 (₹18,000), it’s likely to be a gift for nostalgic grown-ups than man cubs.