Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet and novelist born in India, which inspired much of his work. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries he was among the UK's most popular writers and was seen as an innovator in the art of the short story, whilst his children's books have become classics. In 1907 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature as the first English-language writer to receive the prize and, at 41, its youngest recipient to date. This collection of vignettes of Calcutta life, which takes its title from the poem by James Thomson (1834-82), was based on Kipling's explorations of the city. The eight individual chapters were originally serialised in the journal Pioneer from 2 March to 9 April 1888, and later collected in From Sea to Sea, Vol II. This edition published by Alex. Grossett & Co, New York, in 1899 includes two full-page illustrations by Charles D Farrand and a photographic portrait of the author.