Sumati Morarjee :: First Lady of Indian Shipping

Widely acknowledged as the First Lady of Indian Shipping, Sumati Morarjee was the only lady swadeshi ship-owner at the executive helm of the largest private sector shipping enterprise in India — the Scindia Steam Navigation Company. Born in 1909, she was a staunch patriot and a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. The locality of her bungalow in Juhu (Palm-Bun) came to be known as "Gandhigram" as Gandhiji stayed extensively at her home after his appendicitis operation in 1924, and after his release from detention in the Aga Khan Palace in 1944. In addition to her expertise in the shipping trade, Sumati Morarjee was well-versed in history & philosophy and was a discerning art collector.

We are now pleased to offer an extremely rare book on Sumati Morarjee that was published on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday. This rare book was published for private circulation in 1970 and is extremely hard to find. It contains several chapters narrating the story of her illustrious life & career followed by several illuminating tributes. Richly illustrated with numerous rare historical photographs, this book also contains an entire section featuring special articles on shipping and Sumati Morarjee's writings on a variety of subjects including Indian shipping, art & culture etc.

Several images of this precious rarity (including the complete table of contents & list of illustrations) are attached herewith for the perusal of those interested.

SUMATI MORARJEE — FELICITATION VOLUME

Foreword by: Jayaprakash Narayan

Edited by: N. G. Jog

Publisher: I. M. Choksi on behalf of the Smt. Sumati Morarjee Shashti-Abdi-Poorti Celebrations Committee, Bombay, 1970 — Highly Rare & Out-of-Print First Edition — for private circulation

Printed in: Tata Press Ltd., Bombay

Format: Hardcover with dust jacket.

Size: 24 cm x 16.5 cm

Pages: xviii + 250 pages of text + 37 plates featuring numerous historical images.

Book Condition: Pre-owned. Excellent — Near Pristine. Pages clean & unmarked. Original tight binding. A couple of negligible minute pinholes in some of the pages. The entire book has been professionally scrutinized for future protection.

Dust Jacket Condition: Excellent. The dust jacket is completely intact with slight minor spotting owing to age. Slight shelf-wear near the corners/edges has been professionally restored. The dust jacket is neatly wrapped in an acetate film for future protection.

Remarks: This rare & hard-to-find Collector's Item has been sourced from a carefully-maintained private collection and is particularly elusive in such excellent condition as the one we are offering.

Please email us on kumarclassicbookpoint@gmail.com for cost and availability, or for any further queries in order to serve you better. Delivery in Mumbai is free.

Devika Rani :: rare vintage collectibles

Devika Rani was one of the early superstars of Indian cinema. Widely acknowledged as the First Lady of Indian Cinema, Devika Rani studied film-making at the UFA Studios in Berlin along with her first-husband Himanshu Rai, who went on to establish the Bombay Talkies film studio in 1934. Some of the most successful blockbusters of the 1930s were produced by Bombay Talkies, and several great actors such as Ashok Kumar marked their debut in Bombay Talkies films.

We are now pleased to offer three extremely rare song-synopsis booklets of the 1930s featuring Devika Rani during the golden era of Bombay Talkies. These three films were directed by the German filmmaker Franz Osten. These vintage song-synopsis booklets include the complete cast & crew details, the story of the film as well as the lyrics of all the songs along with the classical raga on which they are based. These song-synopsis booklets are multilingual i.e. with text in English, Hindi, Gujarati & Urdu. In two of these films, Devika Rani was paired opposite Ashok Kumar; these booklets feature several rare vintage photographs of both these actors amongst many others.

We are also pleased to offer three high-quality original prints of Devika Rani's portraits by the great Russian artist Svetoslav Roerich, her second husband. These were published to mark the birth centenary of the artist in 2004 and are highly collectible. The package of these three beautiful portrait prints also includes a Special Cover on Bombay Talkies issued by the Indian Postage Department.

Several images of these precious rarities are attached herewith for the perusal of those interested.

1] JEEVAN PRABHAT — original vintage song-synopsis booklet

Year of release: 1937

Studio: Bombay Talkies

Director: Franz Osten

Format: Softcover

Size: 23.5 cm x 17.6 cm

Text in: English, Hindi, Gujarati & Urdu

Pages: 24 pages. Richly illustrated with several rare b&w photographs of Devika Rani et al.

Condition: Excellent. Small minor creases on the covers. Natural yellowing and slight negligible shelf-wear on the corners/edges of some pages owing to age. All the pages are fully intact, clean & unmarked.

2] NIRMALA — original vintage song-synopsis booklet

Year of release: 1938

Studio: Bombay Talkies

Director: Franz Osten

Format: Softcover

Size: 23.6 cm x 17.6 cm

Text in: English, Hindi, Gujarati & Urdu

Pages: 24 pages. Richly illustrated with several rare b&w photographs of Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar et al.

Condition: Excellent. Small minor creases on the covers. Natural yellowing and slight negligible shelf-wear on the corners/edges of some pages owing to age. All the pages are fully intact, clean & unmarked.

3] VACHAN — original vintage song-synopsis booklet

Year of release: 1938

Studio: Bombay Talkies

Director: Franz Osten

Format: Softcover

Size: 23.6 cm x 17.8 cm

Text in: English, Hindi, Gujarati & Urdu

Pages: 18 pages. Richly illustrated with several rare b&w photographs of Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar et al.

Condition: Excellent. Small minor creases on the covers. Natural yellowing and slight negligible shelf-wear on the corners/edges of some pages owing to age. All the pages are fully intact, clean & unmarked.

Remarks: These vintage original booklets of the 1930s are extremely rare and hard to find, especially in such excellent & fully intact condition as the ones we are offering.

4 — 6] DEVIKA RANI — three collectible portrait prints of Devika Rani from S. N. Roerich's paintings.

Artist: Svetoslav N. Roerich

Publisher: International Roerich Memorial, 2004 — Rare First Edition S. N. Roerich Centenary Celebration Prints.

Medium: High-quality prints on textured art paper (not framed).

Size of each portrait print: 39 cm x 28.5 cm

Condition: Pristine — Near Immaculate.

7] SPECIAL POSTAL COVER — BOMBAY TALKIES

Empty Envelope: featuring images of two films & an image of the Bombay Talkies Studio on the front side.

Envelope size: 22.3 cm x 11.2 cm

Produced by: Department of Posts, India (Maharashtra Circle).

Condition: Pristine — Near Immaculate.

Please email us on kumarclassicbookpoint@gmail.com for cost and availability, or for any further queries in order to serve you better. Delivery in Mumbai is free.