Just So Song Book, The
London: Macmillan and Co., 1903. Item #00136
The Songs from Rudyard Kipling’s “Just So Stories”
KIPLING, Rudyard. The Just So Song Book. Being the Songs from Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. Set to Music by Edward German. London: Macmillan and Co., 1903.
First edition. Large quarto (12 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches; 311 x246 mm). [2], 62 pp. Music.
Original dark red cloth pictorially stamped in black on front cover and lettered in gilt on front cover and spine. Small area of slight discoloration on back cover. Front hinge hints at starting. Title tissue guard slightly browned and with a short tear at lower margin. Otherwise a fine copy.
A charming and scarce musical companion to Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories, issued at the height of his popularity and designed for domestic performance. Edward German’s settings - by turns playful, lyrical, and theatrically assured -translate Kipling’s rhythmic verse into songs intended for both children and adults, reflecting the Edwardian taste for cultivated family entertainment.
Books combining Kipling’s texts with original musical settings were produced in relatively small numbers and were often heavily used, making clean copies increasingly difficult to find. This first edition of The Just So Song Book survives as an appealing example of early twentieth-century literary music publishing and an important adjunct to Kipling’s most beloved work.
“The texts of the twelve poems contained in the Just So Stories (1902) are here set to music by Edward German. The last song, ‘Rolling down to Rio,’ is substituted for ‘I’ve never sailed the Amazon,’ which is here omitted” (Stewart).
Livingston 270 (describing the first American edition). Stewart 269-A.
Price: $250.00