You may also be interested in

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1678539 — Gustav Vasas bibel "Thet är all then heligha scrifft, på Swensko...".

SEK8,000

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1678144 — Books, 'Svenska slott och herresäten', 18 volumes, Allhems Förlag, Malmö, 1966-1971.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1679391 — Jodocus Hondius, from Gerardi Mercatoris "L'Atlas ou Méditations Cosmographiques...", 1613-16.

SEK4,000

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1679520 — Johannes/Jean Blaeu, "Zeelandia Insula Danicarum Maxima", 1665.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1679405 — Jodocus Hondius, from Gerardi Mercatoris "Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes...", ca 1606.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1676297 — Books 3 vol "Fish and Fishing in the North" and "Between Us Anglers".

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1676322 — Product catalogs "Napp och Nytt" Abu Garcia.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1674739 — Tove Jansson, Don Carlos & Tove Jansson, "Bröderna Borgs bedrifter".

SEK5,000

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1663229 — Tove Jansson, a book, 'Bildhuggarens dotter', signed.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1674740 — Tove Jansson, "Kometjakten".

SEK10,000

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

1652553 — Tove Jansson, Booklet, A Tale of Moomintroll for Föreningsbanken, Helsinki 1956.

EUR400

ARCHITECTURE - ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL Manuscript planning brief for work under the supervision of Inigo Jones, [c.1631]

1 — ARCHITECTURE - ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL Manuscript planning brief, 1631

ADVERTISING POSTERfor 'The Suffragette' newspaper, [c.1913-1914]

1 — ADVERTISING POSTER for 'The Suffragette' newspaper c.1913

ARCHITECTURE - STUART (JAMES) AND NICHOLAS REVETT The Antiquities of Athens, 4 vol. bound in 2, 1825-1830

2^• — ARCHITECTURE STUART (JAMES) AND NICHOLAS REVETT. The Antiquities of Athens, Measured and Delineated, 4 vol. bound in 2, Priestley and Weale, 1825-1830

£600 - £800

2^* — ILLUMINATED ADDRESS – CLARA CODD Illuminated printed address signed by Emmeline Pankhurst [1909]

3^• — ARMENIAN - HISTORY, THEOLOGY AND PRINTING. Group of books/a map in Armenian, c.1825-1901 (12)

£800 - £1,200

3^• — MUSIC & RECORDINGS – ETHEL SMYTH Collection of printed music, song sheets and records [c.1911-1912]

£400 - £600

BANK NOTES - MANUFACTURING BRADBURY (HENRY) On the Security and Manufacture of Bank Notes, FIRST EDITION, Bradbury and Evans, 1856

4^• — BANK NOTES - MANUFACTURING BRADBURY (HENRY) On the Security and Manufacture of Bank Notes. A Lecture as Delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.... Friday Evening, May 9, 1856, FIRST EDITION, Bradbury and Evans, 1856

Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Historical Photographs, including the Property of the late Michael Silverman

Previous Lot

Next Lot

Lot 103

KIPLING (RUDYARD)

22 November 2011, 10:30 GMT

London, New Bond Street

Sold for £1,187.50 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Books & Manuscripts specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Luke Batterham

Senior Valuer

Tel: +44 20 7393 3828

Luke.Batterham@bonhams.com

KIPLING (RUDYARD)

Autograph letter signed, a fan letter to the American journalist and humorist W. L. Alden ("Dear Alden – or rather since I have surprised the secret of your life – William Livingstone Alden"), written at the prompting of the womenfolk in his house: "There's a third cousin of my wife, Miss Emily Gibbons...visiting us and discussing her eight and seventy relatives and my wife's four and thirty other cousins... They've talked over Buffalo, Rochester, Paris, England and a few thousand other things but the point of it is this. Miss Gibbons was telling about you and a meeting she had with you and your folks in Paris. Then she explained a few things to the wife in the language of These States. Whereat my wife shrieked aloud crying:- 'What him!' 'Yes' said Miss Gibbons 'the man that wrote the funny column in the New York Times when you were that high!' 'Why, I was brought up on it' said the wife. 'You mean? –' 'William – Livingstone' said the maiden from Buffalo as who should say:- 'George Washington'. 'And I didn't go down to see him when he called at Brown's' the wife moaned and I gathered that she wanted to kick herself. I can't quite get at the rights of the funny column but it appears to have been some portion of my wife's daily food when she was young and she bids me... instantly write you a note... I'm mighty pleased at this because it seems to me eminently right and proper that you should enter into the family circle. Evidently William Livingstone Alden (crescendo) is a name to conjure with... There's some yarn of yours of a coloured Baptist female who put a Boynton life saving apparatus under her baptismal gown insomuch that she, sliding away from the pious minister, the two floated into the Gulf of Mexico... They are cackling over it rejoicefully... Great is the power of a good jest", 2 closely-written pages, blindstamped letterhead of Naulakha, Brattleboro, Vermont crossed through and replaced with "Waite Windham Co" in Kipling's hand, minor soiling, a few words smudged, short split at central fold, 8vo, Brattleboro, Vermont, 2 October 1895

Footnotes

A fan letter by Kipling, written from Vermont. Aldin was, in his turn, a great admirer of Kipling's, as one of his later columns for the New York Times shows: 'I was in the habit of assuming that the public must necessarily admire the books nearly as much as I admire them, and that would insure a sale of least 500,000 copies of everything that Mr Kipling has written' ('London Literary Letter' in the New York Times Saturday Review, 11 May 1901). Not published in The Letters of Rudyard Kipling. See illustration on page 65.

Additional information

This auction is now finished. If you are interested in consigning in future auctions, please contact the specialist department. If you have queries about lots purchased in this auction, please contact customer services.
Buyers' Obligations
ALL BIDDERS MUST AGREE THAT THEY HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD BONHAMS' CONDITIONS OF SALE AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM, AND AGREE TO PAY THE BUYER'S PREMIUM AND ANY OTHER CHARGES MENTIONED IN THE NOTICE TO BIDDERS. THIS AFFECTS THE BIDDERS LEGAL RIGHTS.
If you have any questions about the Conditions of Sale, please contact your nearest client services team.
From 28 June 2025, the import into the EU of non-EU property of a certain age (and in some categories above a certain value) is subject to additional requirements. Under the relevant EU Regulation, it is the Buyer's sole responsibility to assess whether any Lot meets the criteria for import into the EU. The refusal of any required Import Licence or Importer Statement, or any delay in obtaining such Licence or Statement shall not give rise to the rescission or cancellation of any Sale, nor allow any delay in making full payment for the Lot.
Buyers' Premium and Charges
For all Sales categories, buyer's premium excluding Cars, Motorbikes, Wine, Whisky and Coin & Medal sales, will be as follows:
Buyer's Premium Rates
28% on the first £40,000 of the hammer price;
27% of the hammer price of amounts in excess of £40,000 up to and including £800,000;
21% of the hammer price of amounts in excess of £800,000 up to and including £4,500,000;
and 14.5% of the hammer price of any amounts in excess of £4,500,000.
A 3rd party bidding platform fee of 4% of the Hammer Price for Buyers using the following bidding platforms will be added to the invoices of successful Buyers for auctions starting on or after 6th July 2024 – Invaluable; Live Auctioneers; The Saleroom; Lot-tissimo.
VAT at the current rate of 20% will be added to the Buyer's Premium and charges excluding Artists Resale Right.
Payment Notices
For payment information please refer to the sale catalog.
Shipping Notices
For information and estimates on domestic and international shipping as well as export licenses please contact Bonhams Shipping Department.
- Books & Manuscripts

Bid now on these items

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Heinrich Scherer, "Archipelagus Atlanticus...".

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, "Roman World . . . 1763".

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Selma Lagerlöf, a signed letter, Mårbacka, Sunne, 22/11 1914.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Franz Anton Schraembl, "Map of the Country of Yemen... 1789".

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Johannes/Jean Blaeu, "Fionia vulgo Funen", Funen Denmark.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Bröderna von Wright, books, three volumes, 'Svenska fåglar', Förlaget Svenska Fåglar, Stockholm, 1927-1929.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Gustav Vasas bibel "Thet är all then heligha scrifft, på Swensko...".

SEK8,000

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Books, 'Svenska slott och herresäten', 18 volumes, Allhems Förlag, Malmö, 1966-1971.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Jodocus Hondius, from Gerardi Mercatoris "L'Atlas ou Méditations Cosmographiques...", 1613-16.

SEK4,000

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Johannes/Jean Blaeu, "Zeelandia Insula Danicarum Maxima", 1665.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Jodocus Hondius, from Gerardi Mercatoris "Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes...", ca 1606.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Books 3 vol "Fish and Fishing in the North" and "Between Us Anglers".

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Product catalogs "Napp och Nytt" Abu Garcia.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Tove Jansson, Don Carlos & Tove Jansson, "Bröderna Borgs bedrifter".

SEK5,000

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Tove Jansson, a book, 'Bildhuggarens dotter', signed.

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Tove Jansson, "Kometjakten".

SEK10,000

Lot offered by Bukowskis, part of the Bonhams network

Tove Jansson, Booklet, A Tale of Moomintroll for Föreningsbanken, Helsinki 1956.

EUR400

ARCHITECTURE - ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL
Manuscript planning brief for work under the supervision of Inigo Jones, [c.1631]

ADVERTISING POSTER
for 'The Suffragette' newspaper, [c.1913-1914]

ARCHITECTURE - STUART (JAMES) AND NICHOLAS REVETT
The Antiquities of Athens, 4 vol. bound in 2, 1825-1830

£600 - £800

ILLUMINATED ADDRESS – CLARA CODD
Illuminated printed address signed by Emmeline Pankhurst, [1909]

ARMENIAN - HISTORY, THEOLOGY AND PRINTING
. Group of books/a map in Armenian, c.1825-1901 (12)

£800 - £1,200

MUSIC & RECORDINGS – ETHEL SMYTH
Collection of printed music, song sheets and records, [c.1911-1912]

£400 - £600

BANK NOTES - MANUFACTURING
BRADBURY (HENRY) On the Security and Manufacture of Bank Notes, FIRST EDITION, Bradbury and Evans, 1856