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Bookplate Index by Library or Collector
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Rudyard Kipling The bookplate above
of Rudyard Kipling, designed by his father John Lockwood Kipling, reflects
not only the influence of Kipling’s father upon his creative life but
also his influence upon the mythological character of his poetry and
stories. What makes this bookplate so interesting and significant, apart
from its aesthetic value, is the relationship from which it came. John Lockwood
Kipling (1837–1911) moved from London to India with his wife in 1865,
accepting an appointment as a teacher in the Jeejeebhoy School of Art in
Bombay (Angus Wilson, The Strange Ride of Rudyard Kipling [New
York: Viking Press, 1978], 15). Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), named after
Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire where his parents first met, was born in
Bombay only a few months after the move (Norman Page, A Kipling
Companion [London: Macmillan Press, 1984], 1). Apart from his teaching
career, John Lockwood Kipling was also a curator at the museum at Lahore
and designed the Dunbar Room at Osborne House (Brian North Lee, British
Bookplates: A Pictorial History, [North Pomfret, Vermont: David
and Charles, 1979], 112). He was the author of Beast and Man in India (1891)
and illustrated many of Rudyard Kipling’s books (Page, 30). The personal
library of Rudyard Kipling currently resides in the Sussex house, known as
Bateman’s at Burwash, in which he lived from 1902 until his death in
1936. After his wife’s death in 1939, the house and its contents,
including Rudyard’s personal library, became part of the National Trust.
Occupying several bookshelves that have been described as standing between
twenty and twenty-five feet high, the collection is a sizable one. The
books cover a variety of topics, from the classics to travel. A large
number of the collection is in English, and volumes in French are also
well represented. Two of the books
from Rudyard Kipling’s personal library found their way into the Harry
Ransom Center for Humanities Research at The University of Texas at
Austin. One is a copy of Frank Thomas Bullen’s Cruise of the
‘‘Cachalot.’’ The second is a copy of Theodore Roosevelt’s National
Strength and International Duty and is inscribed from the author to
Rudyard Kipling. The bookplate,
found on page 113 of Brian North Lee’s British Bookplates: A
Pictorial History, was designed by John Lockwood Kipling for his son
Rudyard in 1909. It was one of four bookplates that Lockwood Kipling, an
accomplished artist, is known to have created. The second was made for
himself. The third and fourth were designed for his grandchildren, Elsie
and John. The bookplate in question was produced in three different sizes
and was inked in both black and brown (Lee, 112). The design features
the profile of a man riding in an ornate carriage upon the back of a
rug-draped Indian elephant. The passenger is reclining with a book propped
upon his lap and is smoking a flexible long-stemmed pipe. In front of the
carriage is a driver who sits astride the elephant’s neck. In back of
the carriage is another servant who is holding and perhaps tending the
base of the passenger’s pipe. All three men are wearing wrapped cloth
hats. The servants appear to be Indian. Not surprisingly, the passenger
bears a striking resemblance to Rudyard Kipling himself, who at the time
of its design would have been forty-four years of age. The elephant,
facing to the left, is draped in three different frayed-edge rugs. The
first rug covers the top of its head and almost hides its only exposed
eye. The second is a larger rug which lies over the animal’s body from
its back to its knees. The third rug is smaller and hangs over the second,
but does not descend beyond the elephant’s hidden belly. On the third
rug are sewn the words ‘‘Ex Libris.’’ A bell hangs on the
elephant’s side by a rope which originates from between the second and
third rug. The elephant is holding a large unidentified flower with its
trunk, and its exposed tusk is capped. The ground below
the elephant is strewn with flowers and exotic leaves. The background
behind the elephant and its riders is completely dark. The whole design is
framed by an archway supported on the sides by two carved pillars, which
stand upon what appears to be a stone platform, with the name
‘‘Rudyard Kipling’’ engraved and centered upon it. Where the
pillar meets the platform on the left side is a rectangle which boasts
John Lockwood Kipling’s signature or monogram. A similar rectangle on
the right side has the year ‘‘1909’’ carved upon it. On the
corners of the archway are matching parrots, holding branches in their
beaks. The level of detail
involved in the work is a testament to the patient and methodical nature
for which John Lockwood Kipling was known (Wilson, 17). Although the
bookplate design matches his son’s stories’ high level of romanticism,
John Lockwood Kipling was ‘‘anxious to point out how unreal [was] the
romantic dream of India that scholars of the old Sanskrit or Buddhist
texts have created’’ (Wilson, 100). His artistically rational sense
appears to have left a lasting impression upon his son. In the first
chapter of Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim, there is a tribute to his
father in the character of the curator of Lahore Museum, who greets the
Lama with both propriety and courtesy (Wilson, 13). The bookplate’s
elephant can be seen as a wonderful symbol of the relationship between the
father and son. In the Indian culture the god of wisdom is the
elephant-headed deity Ganesha. The elephant is symbolically an appropriate
subject for a bookplate, considering the high value placed on books and
learning. However, there is also an Indian myth of the contest between
Ganesha and his brother to see who could circle the world first. The
brother physically circled the world, but Ganesha won by walking around
his parents. The wisdom that parents comprise and with which they shape
one’s world view is significant when examining this bookplate, designed
by a pragmatic father for his fanciful son. The bookplate is an
indication of the significance of John Lockwood Kipling’s influence upon
his son’s work. Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories for Little
Children (1901) is a wonderful example of how he utilized his
father’s sense of the rational in order to create fantastic explanations
for what appeared in nature (Lord Birkenhead, Rudyard Kipling, [London:
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1978], 399). The reason the elephant’s trunk
was so long was to be found not in Darwinism, but in the actions of a
malicious crocodile, who would not let go of the victimized pachyderm’s
nose. It appears that Rudyard had not abandoned his father’s logic of
cause and effect but had transformed it and in doing so created a new
rational mythology. It is interesting
to note that the two books from Rudyard Kipling’s library, which are in
the Harry Ransom Center for Humanities Research, both bear a similar
bookplate, which appears to be an earlier variation of the same 1909
design. The elephant’s rider is bearded and does not look much like the
mustached figure of Rudyard Kipling. The bell on the elephant does not
sway to one side but hangs straight down. On the left rectangle in place
of John Lockwood Kipling’s monogram are the capital letters
‘‘AD.’’ The most perplexing
difference, however, is found on the right rectangle. The year is given as
1894, as opposed to 1909, and beneath the date are the initials ‘‘ULK.’’
If one could be certain that the ‘‘U’’ was actually an over
extended ‘‘J,’’ it would be possible to posit that these were the
initials of John Lockwood Kipling. As it stands, however, there are no
such assurances, and the identity of the artist remains unknown. The
question then becomes ‘‘Did John Lockwood Kipling modify the previous
bookplate design of an earlier artist?’’ And does it matter when one
looks at the personalized nature of the modifications for his son? John Lockwood
Kipling’s bookplate for Rudyard equally demonstrates the influence that
the latter had upon the former. Even though he was sometimes shocked by
what Rudyard wrote, he was always proud of his son’s achievements
(Wilson, 101). He illustrated several of Rudyard’s works and
consequently showed his own appreciation and ability to generate the
fantastic or romantic. The bookplate is a wonderful symbol of the
relationship between this father, his son, and their books. Philip
Randal Jensen The University of Texas at Austin [Originally published in Libraries & Culture, vol. 33, no. 3 (Summer 1998): 317-320.]
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| Last updated June 8, 2001 |
