Born in 1868, Bhavanarao Shrinivasrao, popularly known as Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, was the ruler of the princely state of Aundh from 1909 until 1947. A passionate advocate of physical culture, his name is synonymous with the Surya Namaskar exercise. The sequence of twelve dynamic asanas known as Surya Namaskar was codified by Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, who was a devoted practitioner and proponent of this exercise.
In Balasaheb's perception, the Surya Namaskar in its entirety combined the physical postures along with the recitation of bija-mantras and Vedic hymns.
In the late 1920s, Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi authored a pioneering book — Surya Namaskars — that delved into every aspect of this holistic exercise. Richly illustrated with several photographs of Balasaheb demonstrating the Surya Namaskar, this book was first published in Aundh in 1928 by Ramuanna K. Kirloskar, the co-founder of the house of Kirloskar Brothers who did 100 Surya Namaskars daily! In addition to this rare book, the year 1928 also witnessed the production of a silent film on Surya Namaskar by Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi.
We are now pleased to offer the incredibly rare First Edition of Surya Namaskars. Enriched with several illustrative photographs and diagrams, this rare book also featured the Sanskrit text of the bija-mantras and the Vedic hymns associated with the Surya Namaskar practice.
Several images of this precious rarity, including the complete table of contents and the list of illustrations, are attached herewith for the perusal of those interested.
SURYA NAMASKARS
Author: Bhavanarao Shrinivasrao alias Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, Chief of Aundh
Published by: R. K. Kirloskar, Aundh, 1928 — Extremely Rare First Edition
Published by: R. K. Kirloskar, Aundh, 1928 — Extremely Rare First Edition
Printed by: B. S. Purohit at the Aundh State Press
Format: Hardcover. Professionally bound in black Rexine with the titles debossed in golden lettering on the front cover and on the spine.
Size: 24.8 cm x 16.8 cm
Pages: vi + iv + 1 mounted frontispiece + 21 illustrative plates
Condition: Pre-owned. Very Good+. Pages clean, intact and unmarked. Binding tight and firm. Natural yellowing/foxing and minor spotting on some pages owing to age. Not more than 3 tiny pinholes in the first 11 pages only. Slight creasing on the bottom corner of 13 pages has been meticulously flattened/fortified with a small portion of unobtrusive, archival restoration tape. An 8.7 cm tear on one illustrative plate has been restored with archival restoration tape; please refer to the last image attached herewith.
Note on the binding: This First Edition was originally staple-bound, which invariably led to extensive rusting over the years. It was professionally thread-bound in Rexine hardcovers after carefully removing the heavily-rusted staples for ease of use and future protection.
Remarks: First published in 1928, this rare First Edition was unique in having random typographical errors in the text; these were largely corrected in the "Improved" Second Edition that was published the following year in 1929. Hence, this First Edition is unimaginably rare and hard to find.
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