Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s notebook of Bengali poems and songs, which he had gifted to a close family friend in 1930s, has been put on sale by a descendant of that family in New York.
The previously unknowns notebook, which has been dated to autumn of 1928, is estimated to sell for up to $250,000 by Sotheby’s, which will auction it on December 12.
Born in Calcutta in 1861, Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, making him the first Asian Nobel laureate. Multi-talented Tagore wrote fiction, plays, poems, songs, and composed music for his songs, and painted. He also was an educator, social reformer, and a philosopher.
Tagore, who died in 1941, was a prolific writer and the notebook contains handwritten versions of 12 poems and lyrics for 12 songs in Bengali, some of whom were used or published later. Mon je bale chini chini is one of the songs of particular significance in the notebook.
“Two of the song lyrics in the notebook were later included in the dance drama Chitranggada, first performed in 1892 and then modified and extended in 1936. Three other song lyrics were included in Tagore’s three-volume song collection entitled Gitabitan (Garden of Songs), published in 1931,” Sotheby’s said.
Each of the poems in the notebook is a draft version of piece and were later included in a collection of poems, Mohua, in 1929.
“Tagore once predicted that he would be best remembered for his songs, and the notebook contains many examples, along with his stunning poetry. Among a range of influences were Bengali folk tunes, Indian classical music as well as Western music particularly Irish, Scottish and British tunes,” Sotheby’s said.
The seller was not identified by the British auction house, but it revealed that the “friendship between the Tagore family and that of the present owner of the notebook can be traced back to the mid-1800s.”
“The notebook was presented by the poet and artist in the mid-1930s to his close family friend and an early patron and this was brought to North America in the 1950s. It has been consigned by a descendant of the original owner,” Sotheby’s said.
The auction of the notebook comes as Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary is being celebrated with exhibitions and dance dramas in the UK.
The Dartington Hall Trust in Devon, which was set up in 1925 by Tagore’s friends Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst as a copy of his Santiniketan experiment, hosted a series of events throughout the year to celebrate his birth anniversary. Dartington Hall had last year sold 12 previously unseen paintings by Tagore for £1.6 million.
An innovative multi-media piece, which combined Bharatanatyam, ballet and contemporary dance, was the tribute to Tagore by Akademi, the South Asian dance company. The piece, Song of the City, had spoken English translations of the original Tagore songs and Rabindrasangeet.
The V&A Museum in London will hold exhibit some 50 of Tagore’s paintings from the period 1928 to 1939 to pay tribute to the Indian artist.
The exhibition, Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Painter, will be shown at the V&A from December 12 till March 4 next year.