Scope and Contents Note

   The Cushing Memorial Library collects books, manuscripts, and other items relating to the life and works of Rudyard Kipling. The core of the collection was acquired by the Library from Dr. A. W. Yeats in the late 1980's. Yeats, who earned a Ph.D. in literature from the University of Texas in 1961, worked as a bookscout for the University of Texas, first under the direction of Fannie Ratchford, then director of the Rare Books Collection, and later for Harry Ransom and the Humanities Research Center. His dissertation was the Kipling Collections in the James McG. Stewart and the University of Texas Libraries: An Appraisal of Resources for Literary Investigation. He also edited the monumental and pioneering Rudyard Kipling: A Bibliographic Catalogue (Toronto: Dalhousie University Press and the University of Toronto Press, 1959), by James McG. Stewart. After receiving his Ph.D., Yeats taught for many years at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.

   The collection, through a large display of original and reproduced letters, gives a peek at the kind of everyday tasks that Rudyard, as a famous author, and his wife Caroline had to contend with. Through its many newspaper clippings and articles written about him, the collection shows how eminent Rudyard Kipling was as a writer both in the 19th and the 20th centuries. It also serves as an introduction to the Kipling Society, its founding and difficulties therein, as well as the struggles legal and otherwise that surrounded Kipling's work during his life, continuing many years after his death. The collection contains interesting facts about the Kipling family, including some light genealogy, the places they lived and visited, and the people they knew.

   There are some 36 Rudyard Kipling autograph pieces, all of which are letters excluding a few poems and miscellaneous items. The collection contains many original letters of Alice Fleming, Caroline Kipling, Elsie (Kipling) Bambridge, J.H.C. Brooking, A.W. Yeats and various others as well as many copies of letters from other Kipling collections throughout the country. In addition to any personal correspondence, there are many letters and notes, several minutes, member lists and other paraphernalia of the Kipling Society founded by J.H.C. Brooking in 1926 (?). There is an assortment of page-proofs, galleys, original drafts, and copies of Kipling's poems, short stories, and manuscripts, along with a wide range of newspaper clippings dealing with all aspects of Kipling's life and influences on society. In addition, the collection has several original and copied catalogs from bookseller's and auction houses holding Kipling material.

   Along with the letters, clippings, and many books in the Rudyard Kipling Collection at Texas A&M University, the collection contains items such as an autograph copy of "The Foreloper" framed with an illustration by an unidentified artist, the manuscript for "The Maltese Cat," and the ledger book of Mr. T.E. Elwell, an early member of the Kipling Society, who made many notes and collected numerous clippings towards a Kipling bibliography.

Brief Note on Box Contents

Box 1

Contains general correspondence dating 1882-1927, primarily from or to Rudyard Kipling.

Box 2

Contains general correspondence dating 1928-1950, primarily about Rudyard Kipling.

Box 3

Contains copies of Rudyard Kipling and Rudyard Kipling related correspondence from other Kipling Collections.

Box 4

Contains material by Rudyard Kipling including page proofs, galleys, photocopies and original drafts of poems and short stories (folders 4-20 through 4-320); sale and auction catalogs of Kipling material (folders 4-330 through 4-390); material relating to A.W. Yeats including letters, notes, drafts of speeches, etc. (folders 4-400 through 4-460); material relating to Alice Fleming including letters, articles written by her about Rudyard Kipling, a transcription of a BBC broadcast, and her Will (folders 4-470 through 4-530); material relating to Rudyard Kipling's funeral and grave site in Westminster Abbey (folders 4-540 through 4-560).

Box 5

Contains articles, poems, encounters, writings about Rudyard Kipling (folders 5-20 through 5-170); Rudyard and Caroline Kipling's Last Will and Testaments; miscellaneous material including legal agreements, original dust jackets, advertising material, photographs and illustrations, and University inventories of Kipling material (folders 5-180 through 5-490).

Box 6

Contains material relating to J.H.C. Brooking including notes, articles, letters (folders 6-20 through 6-60); correspondence and miscellaneous material of the Kipling Society (folders 6-70 through 6-400).

Box 7

Contains newspaper clippings by Rudyard Kipling (folders 7-20 through 7-50) and about Rudyard Kipling (7-60 through 7-490).

General Notes

In the Contents, bold folder numbers indicate an autograph Rudyard Kipling piece.

An index of people and works is located at the end of the contents. There is a separate index for Box 3 due to the nature of its contents.

Notes on people

Alice (Trix) Fleming: Rudyard Kipling's sister.

Caroline Kipling: Rudyard Kipling's wife.

Elsie (Kipling) Bambridge: Rudyard Kipling's youngest daughter.

Alice Kipling: Rudyard Kipling's mother.

Joseph Lockwood Kipling: Rudyard Kipling's father.

J.H.C. Brooking: the Founder of the Kipling Society.

A.W. Yeats: Rudyard Kipling bibliographer and donor of the Texas A&M Rudyard Kipling Collection.