Kipling, RudyardBiblio.com
Sheet music: The Absent-Minded Beggar No. 1 in C
1899583068London: Enoch & Sons / The Daily Mail 1899. Softcover. Very Good. First edition. Folio. 9pp. Wrappers. Notched along the spine with the pages numbered in ink by hand from once being bound within an album music shop stamp on the front wrapper rubbing to the exterior still a very good and complete copy. For voice and piano. Plate imprint "E & S 2703." "For every copy sold of this song one shilling goes to The Daily Mail fund for the relief of the sufferers by the war" from the front cover. This charitable effort by The Daily Mail to raise money for soldiers and their families during the Second Boer War was reportedly the first of its kind. Kipling wrote the lyrics specifically to be used in this fashion and is quoted as saying "It's catchpenny verse and I want it to catch just as many pennies as it can" going on to remark that it is not something he would ever care to reprint "so there is no need of copyrighting it in America. If anyone wants to sing it take care that the proceeds go to our men" Victoria and Albert Museum. The song was an enormous hit and though the exact amount raised is unknown it certainly succeeded in catching a lot of pennies. Enoch & Sons / The Daily Mail unknown
