The Light That Failed.
“Leave him alone, he's as mad as a hatter!”: First Edition of Rudyard Kipling's The Light that Failed
The Light That Failed.
KIPLING, Rudyard.
$2,000.00
Item Number: 121637
London: Macmillan and Co, 1891.
First edition of Kipling’s first novel. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine, publisher’s gilt emblem to the front panel. In very good condition.
Written when Rudyard Kipling was 26 years old, The Light That Failed is semi-autobiographical; being based upon his own unrequited love for Florence Garrard. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events throughout the story occur in Sudan and Port Said. It follows the life of Dick Heldar, an artist and painter who goes blind, and his unrequited love for his childhood playmate, Maisie. Though it was poorly received by critics, the novel has remained in print for over a century. It was also adapted into a play, two silent films as well as a drama film.
