India News | 'The Book Beautiful': Author Pradeep Sebastian Pens Memoir for Love of Rare, Fine Books
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. In his new book, author Pradeep Sebastian has penned his journey of becoming a serious book collector with a penchant for fine and rare books.
New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) In his new book, author Pradeep Sebastian has penned his journey of becoming a serious book collector with a penchant for fine and rare books.
Published by Hachette India, "The Book Beautiful" is Sebastian's story, who was a contented bibliophile until 2015 when things took a dramatic turn as he chanced upon fine press books.
Printed on a handpress, from metal type pressed into dampened handmade paper, the tactility and typographic beauty of letterpress books instantly captivated him.
In absorbing prose, the author retraces his fulfilling journey of collecting fine books online, his new-found love for modern calligraphic and illuminated manuscripts, and his discovery of the masters of bookmaking -- be it the cloistered nuns who printed impeccable fine press books, or the famous printer who lived in a one-room apartment at a YMCA with his small handpress tucked under his bed.
"Like book collectors everywhere, I too felt – and still feel – that the rare finds you make, the delicious bargains you stumble on, and the kick they give you doesn't feel complete until you've shared these tales of conquests with fellow bibliophiles and collectors.
"Perhaps the deepest impulse to write 'The Book Beautiful' was to introduce the Indian booklover to the typographic beauty of fine press books -- the tactile sensuousness of letterpress books printed on hand-made paper from metal type had been, after all, the very thing that had made me a book collector," Sebastian told PTI.
Peppered with vivid anecdotes and delightful conversations, according to the publishers, the book is as much about the love for fine books as it is about the pleasures of bibliophilia.
"The camaraderie between fellow collectors and dealers, bibliographic connoisseurship, the thrill of the chase, and the joy of striking a juicy bargain," they added.
Sebastian's previous books include a collection of his bibliophile essays, titled "The Groaning Shelf and Other Instances of Book Love" (2012), and a bibliographical romance "The Book Hunters of Katpadi" (2017).
It is currently available for sale across offline and online stores.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)