As I was reading this piece, I wondered if any of Ghalib's own manuscripts have survived. Would you happen to know? I would love to see his handwriting.
We were in Milan a few years ago and accidentally stumbled upon an exhibition of Da Vinci's original hand written notes/sketches/designs. I cannot tell you the thrill I experienced at seeing those. I was transfixed and could easily have spent a whole lot more time just "exploring" his writing, albeit from behind a sheet of glass.
Just knowing that something like that of Ghalib's exists somewhere would be so pleasing.
I completely understand the thrill of seeing original handwritten material! I experienced the same excitement when I saw, at the British Library, handwritten journals and memoirs of the first Europeans who visited India. There are letters too, from young men and women writing back to families in Europe describing the strange and fabled land of India.Â
Re: Ghalib, much of his original work was lost in the chaos that followed the 1857 uprising in India. Libraries in Delhi were burnt and lotted, with the result that many manuscripts, including those of Ghalib's, were lost or perhaps carried away to safety. A manuscript of Ghalib's 1821 divan was found in 1917 in the library of the Nawab of Bhopal, and in the 1940s, a manuscript of his 1826 divan emerged in a private collection. In 1969, a manuscript of Ghalib's 1816 divan was found, also in Bhopal. This was the most exciting find, because it was in his own handwriting. This subsequently disappeared - but was found again in Delhi in 2016, nearly two hundred years after it was written!Â
The British Library in London holds two letters written by Ghalib. I have contacted them and if I am lucky enough to be able to see or, even better, get scans of those letters from the BL, I will write about them on this newsletter.Â
Thank you for raising this query - it has opened up such exciting possibilities!Â
As I was reading this piece, I wondered if any of Ghalib's own manuscripts have survived. Would you happen to know? I would love to see his handwriting.
We were in Milan a few years ago and accidentally stumbled upon an exhibition of Da Vinci's original hand written notes/sketches/designs. I cannot tell you the thrill I experienced at seeing those. I was transfixed and could easily have spent a whole lot more time just "exploring" his writing, albeit from behind a sheet of glass.
Just knowing that something like that of Ghalib's exists somewhere would be so pleasing.
I completely understand the thrill of seeing original handwritten material! I experienced the same excitement when I saw, at the British Library, handwritten journals and memoirs of the first Europeans who visited India. There are letters too, from young men and women writing back to families in Europe describing the strange and fabled land of India.Â
Re: Ghalib, much of his original work was lost in the chaos that followed the 1857 uprising in India. Libraries in Delhi were burnt and lotted, with the result that many manuscripts, including those of Ghalib's, were lost or perhaps carried away to safety. A manuscript of Ghalib's 1821 divan was found in 1917 in the library of the Nawab of Bhopal, and in the 1940s, a manuscript of his 1826 divan emerged in a private collection. In 1969, a manuscript of Ghalib's 1816 divan was found, also in Bhopal. This was the most exciting find, because it was in his own handwriting. This subsequently disappeared - but was found again in Delhi in 2016, nearly two hundred years after it was written!Â
The British Library in London holds two letters written by Ghalib. I have contacted them and if I am lucky enough to be able to see or, even better, get scans of those letters from the BL, I will write about them on this newsletter.Â
Thank you for raising this query - it has opened up such exciting possibilities!Â
Informative.
Interesting