Would you like to set your eyes upon a book signed by Mahatma Gandhi and presented to Rabindranath Tagore? Or maybe an autographed copy of BR Ambedkar’s Who Were The Shudras? Well, if you are a bibliophile living in or even visiting Bengaluru, head straight for Bookworm on Church Street to catch a glimpse of or thumb through thousands of rare and antique books and maybe even add one to your collection.
The dedicated space, on the first floor of the store, has been named The Antiquarian Bookworm, and it opened last Monday (November 18). The project is the brainchild of Bookworm’s owner Krishna Gowda, author Pradeep Sebastian, and VR Ferose, a technologist from Bengaluru now based in San Francisco.
The rarest of all
There is an exquisite rare, autographed, and antique books in the collection. And, some of these are up for sale too, though the rarest of them all, including the copy of Songs From Prison signed by Gandhi and presented to Tagore, Ambedkar’s autographed copy of Who Were The Shudras?, or a similarly autographed copy of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, are protected in a locked glass display case.
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There are signed copies by Tagore, Jawaharlal Nehru, Swami Vivekananda, Sigmund Freud, John F Kennedy, and several Nobel laureates (apart from Tagore), too, in this list. Apart from Gandhi’s present to Tagore, there is another that Tagore presented to Gandhi as well.
Bookworm’s owner Krishna Gowda thumbs through a book in their rare collection
History on every page
The books that are not for sale have come from personal collections, primarily of Ferose. Sebastian and Gowda have also donated from their collections, while the rest have been sourced from book dealers across the country. There are limited edition books, too, and those with historical value.
For instance, there is an account of the then Prince of Wales’s travels in 1877, including India, in a book by WH Russell titled The Prince of Wales’ Tour In India. The Prince of Wales concerned was Albert Edward, who went on to be crowned King Edward VII.
There is a two-volume history of Mysuru compiled for the government by British epigraphist and Kannada scholar BL Rice. Among the oldest works is a set of six books on Turkey, published in 1825, a part of the World in Miniature series. There is also the first edition of Nehru’s The Discovery of India.
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Gems of the bookstore
Another gem is the 1891 edition of The Strand Magazine, which was the first to publish the stories of Sherlock Holmes. There is also a facsimile of The Chaurapanchasika: An Indian Love Lament, handwritten by English poet Edwin Arnold. A collection of letters, exchanged between an author in New York and a used-book dealer in London over 20 years, and published as 84 Charing Cross Road, is another unique addition to this collection.
Some books are simply an ode to craftsmanship. One of them is a copy of The Happy Prince, printed by letterpress on handmade Japanese paper, with a cover stamped with gold. Another treasure is the Marbled Papers by Christopher Weimann, consisting of 22 pages of stunning marble-like patterns.
Also among Sebastian’s collection are some seven leaves of manuscripts from 1455–1500.
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(Clockwise from above left) An autographed copy of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, a copy of Songs From Prison signed by Mahatma Gandhi and presented to Rabindranath Tagore, an autographed copy of BR Ambedkar’s Who Were The Shudras?, and the first edition of Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of India
Buy an autographed book
Looking for autographed books you can buy? Well, there is a collection of books signed by eminent personalities such as author Salman Rushdie, cricketers Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid, and British rock band Coldplay.
“This is an idea that had been in my mind for long, and it feels good that, finally, we could do it. Not that we did not have some of the rare books earlier, but then we thought of having a dedicated space for them. It’s a great opportunity for bibliophiles, booklovers and researchers to find rare books. It’s the first-of-its-kind store in the city,” Krishna Gowda told The Federal.
Gowda said the prices are comparable to rare book markets around the world but you don’t have to pay the hefty shipping costs unlike if you had to order them overseas. So, you can bag a rare book for as low as Rs 1,000 though the pocket pinch can go up to Rs 10 lakh!
It’s just a week, and the response has been phenomenal. “I am not surprised by the huge response because Bengaluru is known for such a vibrant book culture,” said Gowda, who is now spending most of his time in the Antiquarian section, explaining the history and other nuances of his enviable collection.
In more good news, they may also expand their collection of rare books about India and the subcontinent.
This post was originally published on here
