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-----Original Message----- From: John Radcliffe <[log in to unmask]> To: Richards, David A. <[log in to unmask]>; Kipling Mailbase <[log in to unmask]> Date: Sunday, May 16, 1999 7:39 AM Subject: Fw: The Phantom 'Rickshaw >Any guidance for WBarea51 ? >----- Original Message ----- >From: <[log in to unmask]> >To: <[log in to unmask]> >Sent: Sunday, May 16, 1999 2:55 AM >Subject: The Phantom 'Rickshaw > > >> I receantly found a book entitled The works of Rudyard Kipling, The >> Phantom Rickshaw, and I was wondering if you could tell me some thing >about >> it, like when it was published, and how to tell if mine was a reprint. >> >> >> >> Thank You, >> >> WBarea51 In the summer of 1885 the Kipling family- Lockwood,Alice, Trix and the 20 year old Rudyard spent a season in Simla - Rudyard as Special correspondent for the Civil and Military Gazette. Simla at that time was a stimulating hotbed of eccentrics,influential members of the Government,Conmen,sychophants,drunks, philosophers, missionaries, nymphomaniacs,mystics, hypnotists,psychopaths as well as the honest and hardworking members of the Indian Civil Service and the Military - in short a stimulating environment for a talented young writer.Stories 'from the Hills' just begged to be written ! I think it important to note that The Phantom Rickshaw was written during the season of 1885 by a talented , impressionable and very observant 20 year old against the backdrop of Simla with its contemporary acceptance of seances and 'spooky' tales of haunted bungalows. The story was first included in the production of a family magazine called Quartette , which was issued as a Christmas annual. The Phantom Rickshaw - which Charles Carrington thought was written markedly in the style of Edgar Allan Poe(1809-49) - was thought by Kipling to be worthy of preserving and issuing in the collected edtitions of his work in later life. The Phantom Rickshaw was also published in the Indian Railway edition (price One Rupee) - the title: The Phantom Rickshaw & other Eerie Tales by Rudyard Kipling -.(c 1888) I hope this helps to answer a part of Wbarea51's question. Only an examination of his book would determine the second part of his query. Regards Michael Jefferson %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%