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Ramananda Chatterjee
(1865 - 1943)

The Golden Book of Tagore [along with a Signed Letter by Tagore]



Ramananda Chatterjee, The Golden Book of Tagore: A Homage to Rabindranath Tagore from India and the World in Celebration of His Seventieth Birthday, Calcutta: Golden Book Committee, 1931

xx, (2), pp. 374, (2), 30 plates including 1 Frontispiece [Photogravure portrait of Tagore, after a photograph by Martin Vos], 29 plates, many of them tipped-in colour plates [with tissue guards carrying title and artist's name] by Abanindra Nath Tagore, Nanda Lal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar, A D Thomas, Gogonendra Nath Tagore, Samarendra Nath Gupta, Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Ramendra Nath Chakravarti. Others are reproductions of works by a Chinese and a Japanese artist, portraits of Tagore done by eminent Indian and Western artists and early photographs of Tagore; original full leather with a gilted roundel of the vegetal design on the front board and gilt leather title ticket pasted on the spine, most pages remain uncut along the top edge, new end papers
11.75 x 9 x 2 in (30 x 23 x 5 cm)

This copy is numbered 31 out of a limited-edition of 1500 copies.

The last page states that the blocks for the illustrations in the book were engraved and printed at U. Ray & Sons, Calcutta, a firm that was owned by the family of Satyajit Ray. There is a complete list of Founders and Subscribers at the end. Many from the USA including Thomas J. Watson (IBM) and others.

Rare tribute to the Indian polymath with tributes from numerous luminaries of the day including Gandhi, Nehru, Einstein, Yeats, André Gide and Theodore Dreiser. Tagore during his life interacted with many notable contemporaries, including Henri Bergson, Albert Einstein, Robert Frost, Thomas Mann, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells and Romain Rolland. The book contains many beautiful tipped in painting/photos and there are sections from various countries and individuals from around the world many in their native language.

This book comes along with Rabindranath Tagore's hand written 2 page letter on the letterhead of Uttarayan from Santiniketan, Bengal measuring 19.5 x 14.5 cm (each), Signed on 2nd page by Tagore in Bengali. The letter is written in Bengali, dated 10 January 1926 to Babu Syama Prasad Mukherjee, 77 Russa Road, Ballygunge. Syama Prasad Mukherjee was a very prominent public figure from Bengal of that time.

Translation of the script:-
Your father gave shelter to Sreeman Nagendra Nath from there denying shelter has put him in distress. To my mind this is not right. Had he received the notice when he was sent to Europe it would have been better. When he was there he was not advised about the new arrangement. In a time of starting a good work is it correct to deprive him of his right? He was sent abroad for the work of your university. Since he was sent abroad his absence caused you anxiety but he dealt with the situation admirably. In this has he done anything for which he can be considered worthy of the punishment and the insult?







  Lot 20 of 65  

SIGNED, FIRST AND LIMITED EDITION BOOKS
16-17 MAY 2023

Estimate



Winning Bid
Rs 6,00,000
$7,407

(Inclusive of Buyer's Premium)


Category: Books


 









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