In collection of books, memorabilia, a tribute to Tagore

New delhi Can you believe it? Tagore touched the book that you are now holding,” says B N Uniyal, former journalist and avid collector of antique books, as he sits leafing through the pages of a red hardbound copy of Rabindranath Tagore’s Geetanjali in Bangla in his misty underground study.

The yellow but crisp pages erroneously comprise more ‘songs’ than the contents list mentions, points out Uniyal, for this was printed in an age where the pagination could not be changed at the last minute. The first edition copy, published by Kartik Press in 20, Cornwallis Street, Calcutta in 1910 and priced at Re 1, found its way to Uniyal’s study around eight years ago from a publisher in Kolkata.

At a time when literary circles and the Bengali community are observing the Nobel Laureate’s 150th birth anniversary, Uniyal, 70, pays perhaps the best homage in what could arguably be the largest private collection of Tagore’s memorabilia. “The Geetanjali in Bangla barely sold then. In fact, the English translation did better and sales picked up after Tagore was awarded the Nobel,” says Uniyal.

The collector’s library, which houses well over 10,000 books collected over 50 years from across the globe, also flaunts the first edition copy of Geetanjali in English, printed in 1912 for the Indian Society by the Chiswick Press in London. “This is one of the 750 copies printed. Only 250 went for sale, the others were for Indian Society members,” explains Uniyal.

He also owns the Golden Book of Tagore, printed in 1931 as tribute to the poet on his 70 th birthday, copies of Harriet Monroe’s early 20 th century journal ‘Poetry’ that first published songs from the Geetanjali in 1913, an autographed copy of ‘Geetanjali and Fruit Gathering’ printed by Macmillan in 1919 and yet another autographed picture of the poet bought from a dealer in Wiltshire, all carefully preserved.  

The collection is complete with handwritten notes by the Nobel Laureate. One of them, addressed to his ‘boys of Shantiniketan’, that came from the renowned British manuscript dealer John Wilson has Tagore writing in flowing cursive letters on an yellowed scrap of paper. “I dedicate this book to my boys of Shantiniketan who have freed the fantasies of youth that was hidden in the heart of this old poet and to Divendranath who is the guide of those boys in their festivals and treasurer of my songs,” it says. The other had come as ‘in gratia’ with the first edition copy of the Golden Book of Tagore printed in 1931.

Uniyal is keen to contribute for an exhibition of Tagore memorabilia as part of the anniversary celebrations.

By 

Sweta Dutta