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Collecting Rare Books and First Editions: Rudyard Kipling
In the middle of his career, well before the Nazi party was formed, Kipling chose the swastika as a personal symbol because of its ancient Indian connotations of good luck and well-being ...
By Tom Congalton
In the middle of his career, well before the Nazi party was formed, Kipling chose the swastika as a personal symbol because of its ancient Indian connotations of good luck and well-being. Before his death (and even before Hitler was elected Chancellor) he dissociated himself from the symbol and condemned the Nazi party. However, editions of his books published in the 1910s and '20s bear the symbol and confuse novice collectors into thinking Kipling had a political affiliation that was in fact abhorrent to him.
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