Realm of the Absurd / Adbhut Lok (in Bangla script)

a) Gaganendranth Tagore, Realm of the Absurd / Adbhut Lok (in Bangla script) , Calcutta: Vichitra Press, 1917

Rebound in contemporary cloth binding with gilted leather title ticket pasted on the front board and spine
17.8 x 11.8 x 0.6 in (44.5 x 29.5 x 1.5 cm)

A rare book printed by Gaganendranath Tagore at his home on his private hand press. It has 16 large full-page lithographs including the cover page of satirical pictures or caricatures, 7 of them in colour, published in Calcutta in 1917. These poke fun at the Bengali and Anglo-Bengali culture, customs and hypocrisy.

Each caricature is printed on one side of the page only, has the title lithographed below it in English and Bangla and carries the artist's initials [G.T.].

The cover carries the title in Bangla and English, the artist's name [GOGONENDRO NATH TAGORE], the year of publication [1917], the name of the press [VICHITRA PRESS, 5, DWARKANATH TAGORE'S STREET, CALCUTTA], and the name of the lithographer [LITHOGRAPHED BY HARI CH. MANDAL].

Tagore had purchased a lithographic hand press around 1915 which he installed in his house at 5, Dwarkanath Tagore Street [address of the press on the cover], part of Jorasanko Thakurbari, the palatial house of the Tagores. He named the press as Vichitra Press after Vichitra Bhavan, the part of the house where Rabindranath Tagore stayed when he visited Calcutta from Santiniketan. Here, he sometimes drew, coloured and printed cartoons, managing to do everything on the same day, according to Sanjukta Sunderason, a scholar who has studied Tagore's caricatures. As the cover shows, he was helped on the printing side by a lithographer, Hari Mandal, while the publication side was handled by a professional establishment [Indian Publishing House, Cornwallis Street, Calcutta].

This is one of the few examples where, like Picasso, Chughtai and Sadequain, an Indian artist of repute got down to personally overseeing the production side of his work.

The bottom of the back of the page carrying "List of Pictures" reads as follows:
Letter Press printed by Haricharan Manna at the Kantik Press - 22, Sukea Street, Calcutta / Published by Preonath Das Gupta from the Indian Publishing House - 22, Cornwallis Street, Calcutta.

A complete copy with 15 plates inside and the cover constituting the 16th plate, as stated in the "List of Pictures".

A RARITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE BENGAL SCHOOL ART PUBLICATIONS.

b) Amit Mukhopadhyay, Lalit Kala Contemporary: Number 39, 1994

pp.64 including a 12-page article "Focusing on Print Making in India" titled Gaganendranath Tagore: The Pioneer of Modern Indian Caricature in Print, paperback.br.11.2 x 8.6 x 0.4 in (28 x 21.6 x 1 cm)

NON-EXPORTABLE