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Books are a uniquely portable magic. The book collection of a person reveals intrinsic details about his or her personality that are not otherwise visible. Each book on the bookshelf has a story of its own. If one tries to listen a bit attentively, one can surely hear a voice— narrating the story of the day the book was bought or perhaps gifted by a friend. Maybe it was a book desired for a long time, and the precise moment it finally reached the collector's hand was marked by immense happiness. It is no less than a moment of a dream coming true.
Scroll down to view the presentation of a modest portion of the whole collection, which consists of books encompassing a huge range of subjects from indoor and outdoor sports, law and literature to world history and quizzes. The volumes included here mainly throw a light upon Shyamal Kumar's interests. Shyamal Kumar Majumdar (1942-20), a bank employee by profession, nurtured a keen interest in the study of the world wars, especially the Second World War, and ordered several rare books from within India and abroad, creating a rich collection.
The Ain-i-Akbari by Abu l-Fazal Allami.Reprinted edition March 1993. Published by The Asiatic Society.
Volume I- Translated into English by H. Blochmann, edited by Lieutenant Colonel D.C. Phillott. Volume II and III- Translated into English by Colonel H.S. Jarrett, corrected and further annotated by Sir Jadunath Sarkar.
The Illustrated History of the Third Reich by John Badley. Published by Bison Books Ltd. Reprinted 1985.
First Edition 1978.
The History of World War II. By Lieutenant Colonel Eddy Bauer. Published by Galahad Books NY. Revised Edition 1979.
First edition 1966.
World War II. By Ronald Heiferman. Published by Cathay Books. 1978.
First Edition 1973 by Hennerwood Publications Ltd.
The Goebbels Diaries. Edited, translated, and with an Introduction by Louis P. Lochner. Published by Popular Library Inc. Double day Edition April 1948.
First Edition March 1948.
The oldest book in our collection is 'The Goebbels Diaries'. This is the First Edition, edited, translated, and with an Introduction by Louis P. Lochner. It was published by Popular Library Inc., a New York paperback book company established in 1942 by Leo Margulies and Ned Pines, who at the time were major pulp magazine and newspaper publishers. This edition was published in March 1948. The Double Day Edition of the volume came out in April 1948.
Goebbels Diaries offers an insider's perspective into the politics of the Reich and the nitty gritty of the functionality of the Fascist Regime. This edition, with a bright black and red cover, is extremely rare and carries historical value since the volume has been out of print for many decades now. This book definitely signifies the collector's deep interest in the History of the Second World War, and the markings and notes on several pages are evidence of his intensive reading.
Current condition: The book has been affected by age and insects and has been restored with care by Srilagna Majumdar. The pages have turned yellow and a little curved. There are several insect tunnels.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer. A Crest Book published by arrangement with Simon and Schuster Inc. Third Crest Printing June 1962.
First Simon and Schuster Printing August 1960. First Crest Printing May 1962.
William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. A new edition edited with an introduction and glossary by Peter Alexander. Published by The English Language Book Society (TELBS) and Collins. ELBS Edition first published 1964.
Tudor Edition first published in 1951.
The Poems and Plays of Alfred Lord Tennyson. Published by The Modern Library, Random House, Inc.
John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley: Complete Poetical Works (With the explanatory notes of Shelley's poems by Mrs. Shelley.Published by The Modern Library, Random House, Inc.
Password Victory: The 1941- 1945 Great Patriotic War. Published by Raaduga Publishers. 1985.
Normandy to the Baltic. By Field Marshal The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. Published by Arrow Books. Published by Hutchinson Publication.
The Last Days of Hitler: The Classic Account of Hitler's Fall From Power. By H.R. Trevor Roper. Published by Pan Books. 1947.
Rommel. By Amitava Ray.
Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. By Allan Bullock. Published by Penguin Books.
The Second Great War: A Standard History. Edited by Sir John Hammerton. Volumes II, III, IV, V, and VII.
Published by The Waverly Book Company in association with The Amalgamated Press, London.
Books are more important when the next generations look back at their ancestor's collection. It need not be a lot of books. It can be few. Sifting through the volumes is like flipping through the pages of a person's life, the day-to-day joys and sorrows travelling through space-time and coming right in front of us, just like a movie.
As we turn the dusty pages of the books, we feel a curious nostalgia, a longing to discover more of our grandfather's personality and a deep sense of regret for not being able to do this while he was still around. However, somewhere, a flicker of happiness also peeps in. It is the joy that we encounter in being able to see a very well-known person in a new, different light. As the proverb goes — better late than never!
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