Wheeler`s Indian Railway Library Series

Rudyard Kipling, Wheeler`s Indian Railway Library Series, Allahabad: Wheeler & Co. / Sampston Low, Marston & Co. Ltd, Circa 1890s

a) Soldiers Three: A Collection of Stories Setting Forth Certain Passages in the Lives and Adventures of Privates Terence Mulvaney, Stanley Otheris and John Learoyd, 1891, eight edition, 93 pages

b) The Story of the Gadsby`s: A Tale Without a Plot, Not dated but Circa 1891, seventh edition, 93 pages

c) In Black and White, Not dated but Circa 1890s, likely first edition in this series, 96 pages

d) Under the Deodars, Not dated but Circa 1890s, likely first edition in this series, 96 pages

e) The Phantom Rickshaw and other Eerie Tales, Not dated but Circa 1890s, likely first edition in this series, 104 pages

f) Wee Willie Winkie and other Stories, Not dated but Circa 1890s, likely first edition in this series, 96 pages

Original wrappers, contained in a custom-made solander box

Book Size: 8.5 x 5.5 in (21.5 x 14 cm) (each)
Box Size: 9.2 x 6.2 in (23 x 15.5 cm)

The Indian Railway Library was an enterprise conducted in Allahabad from 1888. It was a publishing venture of A. H. Wheeler & Co., who "had the monopoly on bookstall sales on Indian railway stations". It was a series of pamphlets intended to catch the interest of railway passengers and offer cheap "throwaway" reading material.

The series began as a result of an initiative by Rudyard Kipling as he sought to assemble funds to return to England from India in 1888. He approached the senior partner of A. H. Wheeler & Co., Emile Moreau, with the proposal to publish his stories in cheap booklet form. The booklets were to have grey-green card covers, with illustrations by Rudyard's father John Lockwood Kipling.

Six booklets were initially produced, which sold at the price of one rupee. They were all by Rudyard Kipling and consisted mainly of reprints of stories that had already appeared in various of the periodicals for which he was already writing in India. They were all published in 1888. (Source: Wikipedia)

This series was launched in the years following the construction of the railways in British India.

(Set of six)

NON-EXPORTABLE