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