India’s book restorers
Saving the past for the future:
In the basement of the University of Mumbai’s Fort Campus library, a
towering Gothic-style cathedral to knowledge built by the British in the
mid-19th century, half-a-dozen people are hard at work, reports AFP.
Some are hunched over computers and a state-of-the-art scanner. Others
busy themselves in an air-conditioned laboratory, surrounded by
fumigation units, bell jars of chemicals, trays of clear liquids and
metal drying racks.
This is the institution’s rare books restoration project, which aims
to return ancient and hard-to-find works to their former glory, so the
scholars of the future can learn from those of the past.
Everyone involved shares the same enthusiasm for the task, making
damaged books fit for another 100 years.
“Future generations should know what our history is,” said Kirti
Joshi, an assistant conservator, wiping her hands on a white apron.
“To do so we have to preserve it.” The 2.5 million rupee project
began early last year and is nearing completion. So far 100,000 pages,
or around 300 books, have been digitised to UNESCO standards and 88,000
pages cut, cleaned, laminated with chemical-free Japanese tissue paper
and rebound in red leather covers with gold-embossed lettering.
Those involved want to extend the project, hoping that if money is
found, 500,000 books from the university’s 800,000-strong collection can
be saved.
Labour of love
Amol Divkar, an academic whose private archival science firm is
undertaking the restoration work, says it has been a labour of love,
with the funding just about covering the cost of materials and labour.
But he said it has a wider significance, to set a precedent for other
institutions around the country.
“We are determined to show that despite all the constraints, we can
do a wonderfully positive project,” the historical researcher told AFP.
India is one of world’s oldest civilisations, home throughout the
years to pre-historic settlements, Mughal invaders, British colonialists
and modern-day freedom fighters.
But bar a few exceptions, the upkeep of the nation’s heritage is
often lacking.
Mumbai’s Anglican cathedral, St Thomas’s, for example, has birth
records dating back to the 17th century, which could be a boon for
family history enthusiasts and historians, said Divkar.
But the piles of hand-written ledgers are gathering dust, mould and
decay. Like many areas of life, funding is a problem, he said, and
getting Government help involves a painfully slow process of tenders and
red tape.
Emergency repairs
Trained book preservation specialists like Joshi and her colleagues
are in short supply, with some of their work correcting that of
well-meaning individuals who have previously attempted emergency
repairs.
“People do preservation but they don’t have the right kind of
knowledge about how books should be treated,” said assistant librarian
Anjali Kale, holding up one tome restored with greaseproof paper. “See,
its pages are curled.
That’s to do with the heat.” With a lack of will, capacity or
knowledge, it’s left to passionate individuals like Tilaka Joseph, the
former assistant librarian who initiated the project, to stubbornly look
for alternatives.
She convinced Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest software
exporter, to provide funding.
The giant Tata Group conglomerate is also involved in helping the
prestigious Asiatic Society of Mumbai restore its 200,000-strong
collection.
Some 3,200 books have been restored there, including a manuscript of
Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, a copy of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of
Species” and delicate illustrated Buddhist palm leaf manuscripts dating
from the 13th century.
An adopt-a-book scheme has been running at the 195-year-old
institution since 1991 for individuals to donate cash towards the cost
of restoration.
Musty basement
Galileo’s 1632 work “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World
Systems”, one of the many volumes gathering dust in the society’s dark,
musty basement, is to be restored with finance from local Italian
business people.
“The main thing is getting donors to adopt books or boosting the
coffers to allow us to restore the books,” said the organisation’s
president Aroon Tikekar. Without consistent funding, Tikekar and Divkar
fear for the disappearance of India’s heritage as misuse, overuse and
the damaging effects of tropical temperatures, monsoon humidity and
insect infestation eat away at old pages.
“It’s important that this information or knowledge is disseminated to
all,” Divkar said.
“Some of the best pieces of information in the world from the 17th
century are available in Mumbai. Very few people are aware of it.” “If
this is not made available for future researchers, it crumbles to powder
and is lost to posterity. Valuable knowledge will also be lost.”
“We have what we have because of what our ancestors have done and
produced for us. If we can’t preserve it, we will have failed.
” AFP |