Of Bookshops and Book Fairs
TALKING about old bookshops, one recalls with nostalgia the name of Thacker Spink & Company on Esplanade East. Writing in 1835. Emma Roberts said that 'Next to the jewellers' shops, the most magnificent establishment in the city is that of the principal bookseller, Thacker & Co.: there are others of inferior standard, which have circulating libraries attached to them, but the splendid scale of this literary emporium, and the elegance of its arrangements, place it far above all competitors. We, who had an opportunity to visit the shop in its sunset years, saw some of its past splendour clinging to it. The shop was spread over two floors. The ground floor was devoted to books and stationery. An ornamental lift took one to the first floor where one was ushered into a large hall, carpeted from wall to wall, with books displayed conveniently on shelves and tables. It had the right ambience for a bookshop: quiet and intimate, which allowed one to browse undisturbed.’ Of the other bookshops, one whose loss old book-lovers mourn, was S. C. Auddy and Company on Wellington Street which dated back to the days of Vidyasagar. In its earliest days, it was recorded as one of the principal bookshops in the city judging from the scattered references to it in old books and journals. The only time I visited it was when the shop was in the process at dissolution and books dating back to the 18th century, or earlier, were being offered at throwaway prices. The passing of such civilized shops is a loss. A greater loss has, however, been the closure and decay of the few antiquarian shops that specialized in old books mainly of Indian interest. Up to World War II, apart from limited local supplies, these shops got their main stocks by ordering them from many antiquarian book-dealers in England such as Bernard Quaritch, Blackwells, Maggs Brothers, Mcleish & Company C. J. Sawyer, Hatchards, Luzacs & Company, and others. One of the old and rare book sellers in Calcutta was Cambray Co., through which Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee gathered a substantial part of his stupendous collection of about 80,000 rare books on many subjects and his unrivalled collection of Anglo-Indiana, ranging from huge elephant folios of plates to histories, travel diaries, journals, memoirs, which now repose in the Ashutosh Collection of the National Library, Calcutta. Many of these books carry on their fly leaves marginalia in Sir Ashutosh's own hand describing from where he bought them, comments on their rarity, and how much he paid for them, to which he often added the word 'cheap'. Until about 25 years ago, this shop, now located in Mission Row, had some volumes of rare books. Today, it deals only in law and technical books. Of the others Kumars, in a road off Lower Circular Road, near Jora Girja, and Ranjan Gupta in Galiff Street still survive while Sushil Gupta's closed down in the early sixties. Firma K. L Mukherjee began its career with old hooks but later switched over to the re-printing and distribution of scholarly books of Indian interest. My favourite among these shops was Kumars whose proprietor, the late Nirmal Kumar, was a gentle person with a passion for old books. The shelves of his book-lined drawing room were filled, literally, with hundreds of square feet of gold-tooled vellum-bound volumes that shone like new-minted gold and included tall folios, large quartos and tiny duodecimos which were a joy to behold and a pleasure to handle.
OLD BOOKS. Sir. — The article "Of Book-Shops and Book Fairs" by R. P. Gupta in the supplement on the Book Fair (February 4-5) depicts well the scene of antiquarian books, but its tone suggests that these establishments are no longer there. While some of them have shifted to "reprinting and distribution of scholarly books of Indian interest" and others who still have some stock of antiquarian books along with new publications, KUMARS (and not KUMAR'S. as reported in the article) continue to specialize in antiquarian books and printed matter only. It , is true that much of the past grandeur is gone but one can still] find books such as Bishop Heber's Journal in 2 volumes of 1828 with original engravings, Thomas Pennant's 2-volume; "Views in Hindoostan" printed in 1798 and Balt Solvyns "Costumes of Hindoostan" with 60 hand-coloured engravings 'printed in 1804 in their collection. I bought six small volumes, of Daniell's "Oriental Scenery" and three tiny duodecimos of Shobrel's "Costumes of Persia" as recently as last year.—Yours, etc., S. RAY. Calcutta.