The Antiquarian Bookworm opened on Church Street on Monday.
Credit: DH Photo/ Pushkar V
A store of old, rare, and signed books opened on the first floor of The Bookworm on Church Street on Monday. It is called The Antiquarian Bookworm.
Krishna Gowda, proprietor of The Bookworm, and author and book collector Pradeep Sebastian are part of the initiative.
The store has nearly 2,000 titles currently. Some of these have been donated by Sebastian, Gowda, and bibliophile V R Ferose, all based in Bengaluru. The rest is sourced from the larger network of book dealers.
A set of six books on Turkey, published in 1825, is among the oldest works in the inventory. These are part of the ‘World in Miniature’ series. Gowda counts ‘The Prince of Wales’ Tour In India’ by W H Russell, dated 1877, among the “rare ones”. The 1891 edition of ‘The Strand Magazine’ where stories of Sherlock Holmes first appeared, and a facsimile copy of ‘The Chaurapanchasika: An Indian Love Lament’, handwritten by English poet Edwin Arnold, are also available.
The wooden shelves, Victorian chairs, and chandeliers at the store complement the stately look of books, many of which are bound in red and green leather covers with gilded lettering. Gowda doesn’t divulge the price of these books because he wants people to browse through the “treasured pieces” with an open mind. There are no more than four antiquarian bookshops in India, Sebastian pitched in.
There is a section of books autographed by author Salman Rushdie, sports personalities Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid, and band Coldplay. “Gifting signed books during birthdays and weddings is an emerging trend,” said Gowda. Signed copies by Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, B R Ambedkar, and Sigmund Freud are strictly for viewing.
On our visit on Tuesday, Sebastian drew our attention to a section about book lovers, collectors, and dealers. ‘84 Charing Cross Road’ is a collection of letters exchanged between a writer in New York and a used-book dealer in London over the course of 20 years, he pointed out.
Sebastian also walked us through “fine books” — these are works of great craftsmanship. ‘The Happy Prince’ has been printed by letterpress on handmade Japanese paper and its cover is stamped with gold. The ‘Marbled Papers’ boasts 22 pages of swirling marble-like patterns, done by Christopher Weimann.
Coming up
Sebastian has around seven leaves of manuscripts from the period 1455-1500, and other prized ephemera. He plans to display them in a cubby hole-like table at the store. They also want to expand their collection of rare books about India and the subcontinent. These are difficult to find because we’ve never had the culture of preserving and restoring books, Sebastian said.
Open all days. 10 am-8.30 pm, on Church Street. Call 98450 76757