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Lot 32

Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

ASN013a
Auction Type: live
A beautiful 1916 antiquarian book set of Tagore's works (with one volume signed by Tagore himself)
THE GARDENER
THE HUNGRY STONES and Other Stories
GITANJALI: Song Offerings
CHITRA: A Play in One Act
SADHANA: The Realisation of Life FRUIT GATHERING
SONGS OF KABIR
THE CRESCENT MOON: Child-Poems
THE POST OFFICE
THE KING OF THE DARK CHAMBER

8 x 5.50 in (each)
Estimate: ₹2,00,000₹2,50,000
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Details

Complete 10 volume set of the Bolpur edition of Tagore's works (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916).
The Post Office has been signed by Tagore himself, beneath several lines of verse he has written on the half-title: The bud waits / for the breath of Spring / to claim its Sacrifice. Signed and dated, Rabindranath Tagore / 20th March 1929. Items signed by Tagore are uncommon on the market, but the length of this inscription renders it even more unusual. Gitanjali and The Gardener also have one or two discreet inscriptions from previous owners.
The Bolpur edition remains the most beautiful edition of Tagore's works ever produced, published in celebration of his visit to America in 1916. So named after Tagore's famous school in West Bengal, the set features an unusual patterned binding chosen by Tagore himself with his initials in monogram on the cover. Each volume contains a frontispiece portrait of Tagore with the title page printed in a blue decorative border.
The present set also features the first English edition of two of Tagore's works: Hungry Stones and Other Stories and Fruit Gathering (a sequel to the celebrated Gitanjali).