170-year old Shakespeare book could fetch Rs One Crore

StarBuzz Weekly, Toronto- November 1st, 2011 - An antique 170-year-old book – the complete works of William Shakespeare, which is up for sale could fetch up to Rs One Crore, said Dj Jenny D who is anchoring a show for a TV channel that talks about such exotic and esoteric items.

The original owner of the book – an advertising professional and a resident of Lokhandwala in Mumbai preferred to remain anonymous, but said that he was the proud owner of the book which has been handed down to him from generations. “In all probability this book is a family heirloom and my great grandfather must have purchased it almost over a 100 years ago, says the 50 plus collector who has a huge collection of old newspapers having historical headlines like a copy of the Times of India the day Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. He has a collection of various other old newspapers like the first landing of man on the moon, Jawaharlal Nehru’s death, Indira Gandhi’s assassination, etc. He also owns copies of all Femina editions of the Miss India pageant and various other old copies of Time and Newsweek.

The super book though is not in a pristine condition. “Unfortunately, its cover is torn and the pages have faced the wear and tear of time. The pages have become brittle which is not surprising given the fact that the book was printed in 1841 and has seen the changes in the weather, atmospheric changes and pollution which has taken a great toll on this antique piece of literature which can almost be considered as a relic,” said Dj Jenny D, explaining that the book has original lithographic prints and designs which were used during that period. The owner of the book is trying to officially authenticate the actual age of the book by using a Carbon dating technique, but though has he has knocked on the doors of many laboratories they have all turned down his request. The Forensic and Chemical Laboratory at Kalina in suburban Mumbai which does such tests refused to test the book on the grounds that they only work on Government assignments (like murder cases or drug testing and identification in Narcotics cases) and cannot take on assignments from civilians, said Dj Jenny D.

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre or BARC which is also equipped to test such samples also refused to entertain the book collector on some what similar grounds. His last recourse seems to be the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and he is hopeful that the IIS will help him.

Source: MumbaiWire