[Boer War]. Kipling, Rudyard. — The Absent-Minded Beggar.

London, Daily Mail Publishing Co., Printed by Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1899, 1st ed., fold-out three-panel poem in facsimile handwriting of Kipling, centered by a sepia portrait titled “A gentleman in kharki” by R. Caton Woodville, printed in green and sepia ON CREAM SILK, the 3 panels having a card stiffener between the 2 silk facings, the verso side shows title and illustrated portrait in sepia of Kipling, printer’s colophon, quarto, (29,5 x 57 (folded open)/ 29,m5 x 19 (folded). = Finely preserved copy. From the backcover: “The whole proceeds from the sale of this poem will be devoted by the “Daily Mail” in the name of Rudyard Kipling, to the benefit of the wives and children of the reservists.” "The Absent-Minded Beggar" is an 1899 poem by Rudyard Kipling, set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan and often accompanied by an illustration of a wounded but defiant British soldier, "A Gentleman in Kharki", by Richard Caton Woodville The song was written as part of an appeal by the Daily Mail to raise money for soldiers fighting in the Second Boer War and their families. The fund was the first such charitable effort for a war.