''Many Inventions'' is an 1893 collection of short stories by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

. 11 of the 14 stories appeared previously in various publications, including ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'' and ''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

''. Eight of the stories were written in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, while the other six were written in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

after Kipling had married and settled with Caroline Balestier. The title refers to a verse from

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...

, which is quoted on the title page: "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." ()

The stories

The fourteen stories are preceded by a poem, "To the True Romance", and followed by another poem, "Anchor Song". *The Disturber of Traffic (First published in ''The Atlantic Monthly'', September 1891) *A Conference of the Powers (First published in ''The Pioneer'', May 1890) *My Lord the Elephant (First published in '' The Civil and Military Gazette'', December 1892) *One View of the Question (First published in '' The Fortnightly Review'', February 1890) *'The Finest Story in the World' (First published in ''

The Contemporary Review ''The Contemporary Review'' is a British biannual, formerly quarterly, magazine. It has an uncertain future as of 2013. History The magazine was established in 1866 by Alexander Strahan and a group of intellectuals intent on promoting their v ...

'', July 1891) *His Private Honour (First published in '' Macmillan's Magazine'', October 1891) * A Matter of Fact (First published in ''People'', January 1892) *The Lost Legion (First published in ''The Strand Magazine'', May 1893) *In the Rukh (Not previously published. First appearance of

Mowgli Mowgli () is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Mowgli stories featured among Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' stories. He is a feral boy from the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, who originally appeared in Kiplin ...

, but the last of his stories chronologically) *'Brugglesmith' (First published in ''The Week's News'', October 1891) *'Love-o’-Women' (Not previously published) *The Record of Badalia Herodsfoot (First published in ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper (publisher), Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many su ...

'', November 1890) *Judson and the Empire (Not previously published) *The Children of the Zodiac (First published in ''Harper's Weekly'', December 1891)

References

1893 short story collections Short story collections by Rudyard Kipling {{1890s-story-collection-stub