Dear Tim,
Hodder and Stoughton's editions of Song of the
English with W. Heath Robinson's illustrations are not uncommon
in second-hand bookshops so they should be generally known amongst those
who collect Kipling's works. However, getting a good copy is rare, as H
& S regular editions were printed on soft, almost 'light sensitive'
paper which browns and foxes easily. There are a number of limited editions even
rarer, the first, November 1909, edition had no less than three 'limited'
versions; 500 bound in vellum on hand-made paper signed by W Heath Robinson, an
unspecified number of the same edition without the signature and
50 bound in full pigskin and signed by Rudyard Kipling - then the regular
edition mentioned above. A similar hand-made paper edition was also
published by Doubleday, Page & Co, New York, and the regular edition also
appeared with a Toronto imprint. All these are quarto and have 30 coloured
prints, so the edition that has been used as the basis for the
description on the Victorian Web page you quoted must be from one of the
later editions.
The first with the 16 coloured prints mentioned on the web
appeared in 1915 in support of the Daily Telegraph National Bands Fund and
has an appropriate title page with a copy of Kipling's speech in support of
that Fund inserted at the back. Then came an undated small quarto
edition with twelve coloured plates, followed in October 1919 by another regular
quarto edition with the 16 coloured plates. This was reprinted twice, in 1920
and 1930, both undated but with identifiable differences.
The scene that you have doubts about is a Boer War scene, not
WW1, and Kipling is acknowledging England's debt to the 'Younger Nations'
- having castigated the English in 'The Islanders' with " Ere - ye fawned on the
Younger Nations for the men who could shoot and ride". The hat
is Heath Robinson's idea of a broad-brimmed bush hat, as also shown in
the small cuts of 'Man contemplating the sea' and 'Man waving hat at ship' shown
on the website.
W.Heath Robinson also illustrated a
special edition of the American Collected Verse of Rudyard Kipling,
Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, 1910. This has 8 coloured
prints tipped in (including one with the same hat) and 8 large black and white
illustrations. All are very similar in subject and style to his work for
Song of the English and a couple of small black and white
illustrations used to top or tail sections of the book came directly from its
predecessor. The Victorian Web appears unaware of these examples of Heath
Robinson's work.
Yours, Roger
Roger Ayers
Membership Secretary
The Kipling
Society
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 8:59
PM
Subject: Kipling and Heath Robinson
Is it generally known that Heath Robinson
illustrated Kipling's "Song of the English"? I for one had not realised that
his illustrations go far beyond his celebrated machinery! (And it appears that
his first illustrated volume was Don Quixote.)
One thing I don't quite understand - there is a note
that this was published by Hodder in 1909, but the illustration for "We that
were bred overseas" quite clearly shows a World War One scene with a New
Zealand infantryman wearing one of their characteristic "lemon squeezer"
hats.
Can anyone cast light on this?
Tim Connell