Lost in time! LU library to reissue rare treasures from 1930s | Kolkata

Some of the 2000 books added to Lucknow University century-old Tagore Library a few years after it was established, may soon become accessible for students again.

Dubbed ‘the Banerjee collection’ for they were gifted by DN Banerjee—who, many believe, was a professor in the university and an art connoisseur—in the 1930s, the impressive range of books are presently resting in the stack room of the library and may soon be provided to students after their refurbishing and barcoding.

Meanwhile, former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Rooprekha Verma said Banerjee was a scholar of philosophy and the collection could be accessed after special permissions. “He was a scholar of philosophy and donated several books to the library,” said Verma.

Honorary librarian, Keya Pandey said the collection was meant to help poor students. New books were added to the collection year after year till they were no longer fit for use.

“The collection included 1936 books in the early 1930s, which increased further with time. It has a rich collection of textbooks that cover a range of subjects. After the collection became dysfunctional the books were not issued to students. Now, we are getting some of them refurbished and planning to make them available for students,” said Pandey.

Some of the prominent books that are part of the collection are ‘The Holy Roman Empire’ by James Viscount Bryce and published in 1928, ‘The Way of Peace’ by Viscount Cecil, which was added to the collection in 1932, and a few volumes of Patanjali’s Mahabhashya.

“There are over 2000 books which are presently part of the Banerjee collection. Some of them may soon be added to the existing reference section of the library. The collection is rich in some rare books. Banerjee also donated some rare paintings from Jaipur school to the Tagore library,” said Pandey.