KIPLING, Rudyard (1865-1936) & William NICHOLSON (1872-1949, illustrator). An Almanac of Twelve Sports, London, 1898 [but 1897], 4to, 12 full-page coloured woodblock illustrations by Nicholson, original pictorial boards. FIRST EDITION.

KIPLING, Rudyard (1865-1936) & William NICHOLSON (1872-1949, illustrator).  An Almanac of Twelve Sports. London: William Heinemann, 1898 [but November 1897]. 4to (311 x 255mm). Woodcut publisher's "windmill" device by William Nicholson on the title, 12 full-page coloured woodblock illustrations by William Nicholson, full-page advertisement for "An Alphabet" with an illustration by Nicholson at the end. Original cloth-backed coloured pictorial paper boards (inner hinges broken, some fraying and minor loss to the rear of the lower backstrip). FIRST EDITION, first impression. The Artist & the Book 1860-1960 217: "Nicholson brought a simplification of design to English illustration. His windmill drawn for Heinemann's device on the title-page [of An Almanac] is still used by the firm"; "... The illustrations ... were boldly cut in linoleum and hand-coloured. The books [illustrated by Nicholson] had an immediate success. A contemporary reviewer writing in the St James's Gazette said: 'You must turn to your best specimens of Japanese of Japanese colour-printing to get anything better than these boldly constructed blacks and reds'" (John Lewis, The 20th Century Book (1967, reprinted 1984), p.139; Richards Rudyard Kipling: A Bibliography A105; Stewart Rudyard Kipling: A Bibliographical Catalogue pp.156-158.