TALES FROM A COLLECTOR OF RARE AND FINE BOOKS

Until 2015, Pradeep Sebastian was a contented bibliophile, quite far from being a serious book collector. Things took a dramatic turn when he chanced upon fine press books – printed on a handpress, from metal type pressed into dampened handmade paper. Their beauty captivated him. In absorbing prose, the author traces his journey of collecting fine books, his new-found love for modern calligraphic and illuminated manuscripts, and his discovery of the masters of bookmaking. These include the cloistered nuns who printed fine press books and the famous printer who lived in a oneroom apartment at a YMCA with his small handpress tucked under his bed. Peppered with vivid anecdotes, The Book Beautiful is about a love of fine books and the pleasures of bibliophily; the camaraderie between fellow collectors and dealers; bibliographic connoisseurship; the thrill of the chase; and the joy of striking a juicy bargain.

Pradeep Sebastian

336pp, ~699, Hachette India

We are all descended from migrants. Humans are, in fundamental ways, a migratory species, more so than any other land mammal. Migration is one of the most controversial subjects of our day, but it is not only an issue of our age.

Migrants are expected to assimilate and encouraged to remain distinctive; to defend their heritage and adopt a new one. They are seen as sub-human and super-human; romanticised and castigated, admired and abhorred. This book traces the history of migration – for those who consider themselves migrants and those who erroneously do not.

For most of our existence as a species, we were all nomads. Houses and permanent settlements are a relatively late development,– dating back little more than 10,000 years. Borders and passports are much more recent.

From Neanderthals, to the Ancient Greeks to the African slave trade to modern-day migrations, Migrants shows us that it is only by understanding how migrants have been viewed in the past that we can best frame the terms of today’s debates.

Sam Miller

400pp, ~1,899, Hachette