Theroux, Paul (Kipling, Rudyard)

The White Man's Burden

ISBN: 0241122406
London, England, UK: Hamish Hamilton Ltd, 1987. First Edition. Hardcover. Signed by Paul Theroux. "Paul Theroux's first full-length play concerns (Rudyard) Kipling's humiliating final months as an American resident. The great English writer had toyed with the idea of staying in America for the whole of his life. After all, his wife was American, and from a distinguished family. He had built his own house there, in Vermont, and had fallen in love with the Green Mountains. He was less happy about the townsfolk, whom he regarded as shiftless; and he despaired of his brother-in-law. This man, Beatty Balestier, was just about Kipling's age—thirty-one. But Kipling was the most famous writer in the world, and Beatty was a jolly, drunken fellow whose fictions were confined to the saloon bar of Brooks Hotel in Brattleboro. Inevitably, the two young men clashed head-on and the result was a court action which was reported in all the major newspapers. Kipling had a horror of publicity, and this event was one of the worst experiences of his life." (from front flap) A two-act play by Paul Theroux (b. 1941), the award-winning, most-popular & prolific American travel writer, novelist, short story author & critic. Based on incidents in the life of the canonical British author Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), & titled with Kipling's notorious phrase from the height of the British Empire era, this is Theroux's only work in this genre of playwrighting that we're aware of. Hardcover in clipped dust jacket, first UK edition "First published in Great Britain 1987 by/ Hamish Hamilton Ltd" as stated at copyright page, first printing though not specified as such thereon. On the title page, below his printed name, Theroux has hand-written his signature in black ink. We obtained this volume from Theroux himself, sent from his residence in Hawaii. A most-unusual & scarce collectible in its rarest contemporary form, greatly enriched by Theroux's signature & with his own association & provenance. Book in relatively quite near-fine condition with a touch of wear & a few bumps, creases at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; moderate rubbing & age toning to side & lower edges of text block; more significant & with moderate spotting to upper edge of same. Interior near-fine with moderate-to-significant age toning to blank paste-downs & endpapers esp. the latter where dust jacket flaps appear to have made impressions; moderate age toning to page leaves esp. at blank margins/edges. Dust jacket (again relatively) near-fine with slight rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; a bit of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same & flaps; moderate-to-significant age toning & spotting to flaps esp. near cover-edge of rear flap; small publisher's price sticker (actually two attached stickers) affixed to front flap near lower clip-edge. We note that the degree of age toning & similar points noted above are the probable results of this item's long residency in tropical Hawaii, as it shared the good life there with its distinguished author. Near Fine / Near Fine. [Item #7504]

Price: $400.00