Plum Park Press
Rudyard Kipling is mostly remembered for his poetry and his children's stories, yet he left a legacy of many books and short stories for adults, and many other authors have praised his work. In fact, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907: he was the first to win for English-language literature, and was the youngest to receive the prize at that time.
Relatively little known are Kipling's few science fiction stories, one of which is this Plum Park Press release, With the Night Mail. The story takes place in the year 2000, and describes an overnight trip in an airship carrying mail from England to Canada. What is remarkable is that the story was written in 1905, when heavier-than-air flight was still unknown (the Wright brothers had flown, but it was still a secret), and airships were still very much experimental. Yet much of this story came true in many respects: by the 1930s airships were making regular transatlantic trips, carrying mail and passengers.
With the Night Mail is an adventurous story, and the book includes several paintings illustrating key points.
Incidentally, based on this story and a sequel (Easy as A.B.C.), Kipling has been described as "a grandfather of steampunk".
With the Night Mail consists of 128 pages, and has overall dimensions of 75 x 60 mm (2-15/16 x 2-7/16 inches). It is bound in night-sky-blue cloth printed with the cover art from an early edition. The book is priced $45, plus $7 for packing and shipping.
