Leaves from history: Auction of texts dating back to the freedom struggle

An unusual online auction will allow us to understand the creation of our country at source

At a time when history is being maimed and twisted to suit perceptions and agendas, it may be a good idea to turn to original sources for an authentic understanding of the creation of our country. A forthcoming auction — “No Reserve Nationalism Book Auction” — of books, documents and posters dating back to India’s freedom struggle offers an opportunity to do so. 

The texts, made available by Mumbai-based auction house Prinseps, include The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, 70 rare volumes of his letters, essays, notes and interviews from 1884 to 1948 compiled over 40-odd years; and the complete volumes of Gandhi’s weekly newsletter Harijan Sevak, first published in 1933. Also on offer: old editions of Jawaharlal Nehru’s autobiography Towards Freedom (1942) and Subhas Chandra Bose’s Netaji’s Life and Writings (1948).

The Calcutta Municipal Gazette: 23rd Anniversary and Independence Commemoration Number, Amal Home, December 1947. Picture: Courtesy Prinseps

A first edition of The Springing Tiger — A Study of Subhas Chandra Bose (1959), a rare historical account of the Indian National Army by British intelligence officer Colonel Hugh Toye who was tasked with interrogating its captured soldiers, will also go under the hammer.

Many of the texts have been sourced from private collectors, while some have come from Rathindranath Tagore and Mira Chatterjee’s collection. “Starting the bidding at Rs 1,000 was a challenge, given that it is unclear what the realisations would be,” says Indrajit Chatterjee, founder-director, Prinseps. “Single first-editions of The Collected Works of Gandhi are, for example, selling at Rs 60,000 — making the set currently in auction worth over Rs 40 lakh. Similarly, the Satyagraha in South Africa (1928) is available from one seller at Rs 9 lakh.”

Mahatma: Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Dinanath Gopal Tendulkar. Picture: Courtesy Prinseps

Towards Freedom: Autobiography of Jawaharlal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, 1942. Picture: Courtesy Prinseps

The Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, 1946. Picture: Courtesy Prinseps

The Springing Tiger: A Study of Subhas Chandra Bose, Hugh Toye, December 1959. Picture: Courtesy Prinseps

Indian Independence Movement in East Asia, K S Giani, 1947. Picture: Courtesy Prinseps

Among the items are two Cawnpore Prints of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Sarojini Naidu by Shyam Sunder Lal Agrawal, a Kanpur-based publisher who put out many nationalist posters in the 1940s to unite the masses against the British. Considered seditious material, many were confiscated and destroyed. But the voices of dissent prevailed despite the crackdown. In these old pages and pictures is the story of that exceptional time and of extraordinary people — a story we must remember as it was.

Online bidding from January 20, 10 am to January 26, 7 pm. 

For details, visit www.prinseps.com