During 2004, I visited the famed Walden’s Pond in Massachusetts, where famous American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) wrote Civil Disobedience, which inspired Mahatma Gandhi. I had forgotten the visit till meeting a Kerala-born cardiologist, James Mathew, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, again in the U.S.
During the gala annual conference of the Association of Kerala Medical Graduates (AKMG) in Toronto last year, I was invited to the literary session, where author-doctors presented their books. I was to sum up and address the distinguished Keralite doctors and comment on the presentations.
Among the five books presented, Book of Books stood out. I guessed it to be based on the Bible. Watching the presentation for 17 minutes, I was awestruck. The title misled me. The author was Dr. Mathew.
Book of Books is different from any other I had come across. It is a fascinating treasure trove of literary delights with many illustrations, and a guided tour of rare books, manuscripts and historical artefacts in a single collection.
Wide panorama
Its theme runs across cultures and centuries from both East and West, with excerpts from the works of great philosophers like Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Wando Emerson, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Omar Khayyam, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarveppalli Radhakrishnan and a galaxy of celebrities. The apt subtitle of the book is Pearls from the meandering stream of time that runs across continents.
The 340-page book carries photographs of the cover pages of the first editions and the quintessential extracts from the works. Almost all first editions date back to the 19th century and for acquiring them, Dr. Mathew must have spent millions, making him an paralleled bibliophile.
Reading and reflecting on the Book of Books gives the experience of a guided tour through the corridors of time stretching from the ancient to the present, from the East to the West. Along the way, the reader pays obeisance to the ancient sages of India, meets the transcendentalists of America who paid homage to Indian scriptures, reads Buddhist periodicals published in the West, and pays heed to the verses of Omar Khayyam and Sheik Sadi.
We can reflect on the legacy left by Swami Vivekananda in the West, and Annie Besant in India, and veer around the India of Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, and meet some of our contemporary luminaries in Kerala.
One example of first editions featured in Book of Books is Tagore’s Gitanjali. Out of the 750 copies printed in 1912, only 250 were for sale and Dr. Mathew bought one of them spending huge money. He has first editions of all English translations of Tagore used in the book. Forty pages of the book are from Tagore, with covers pictures and extracts. Henry David Thoreau’s writings occupy 70 pages, starting with his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River, with corrections in his own handwriting.
Dr. Mathew is an encyclopaedia on Thoreau and no wonder he kindled my visit to Walden Pond. Mahatma Gandhi’s first edition books, handwritings and autograph fill 30 pages.
We visited Dr. Mathew in Milwaukee to learn the enormous efforts that went into the making of Book of Books. He has a remarkable collection of first editions and original manuscripts at home. Besides, for preserving them for posterity, he has hired space in an archive at incredible costs.
Why first editions? “The true bibliophiles acquire rare books, manuscripts, original editions, and association copies, hoping to save an estate for nations and generations to inherit,” he says.
As a book lover, I feel humbled at a loss for words!
kkunhikrishnan@gmail.com
