Book Title: Makaranda Madhukar Anand Mahendale Festshrift
Author(s): M A Dhaky, Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre
________________
244
B. V. Shetti
Makaranda
Pandit by his daughter, Mrs. Kshamabai Row. Further additions were made by D. P. Podar and others.
In 1919, a Sub-Committee had been appointed to prepare for a list of manuscripts in the Society's possession and to recommend steps necessary for their careful preservation. A catalogue of these collections which had been a desideratum all these years was at long last completed in 1931, albeit in parts-the Sanskrit, Jaina and Vernacular sections in four volumes by Prof. H. D. Velankar after an assiduous labour of ten years, and the Arabic, Persian, and Urdu sections by Mr. A A A Fyzee rendering a service of love. Velankar's catalogue includes 2093 MSS. and Fyzee's work includes 28 MSS. Velankar's catalogue which became out of stock is now being reprinted. At present the Society has 356 MSS. which are yet to be Studied and catalogued.
In recent years not much effort has been made to collect manuscripts. Through the media, an appeal can be made to the public to donate manuscripts in their possession for study and preservation for posterity.
In 1820, Mountstuart Elphistone, Governor of Bombay, and President of the Society, presented a number of books in foreign languages, which included, amongst others, the Dante Manuscript, one the most precious possessions of the Society, The Dante Ms. is a quinternion, 12"x 8" of great beauty and excellence. It has wide margins and is in single columns. The calligraphy is large, attractive and clear. The title of the cantos are done in beautiful red and gold. The initial letter of each canto is blue, embellished by scrolls and beautifully illuminated, while each terzina begins with a simple ornament alternating in gorgeous blue and red. The inside of the leather binding has an inscription in Italian which says: "Magnificient book in parchment of the Divina Commedia of Dante Aleghieri, which equals in preservation and beauty those existing in the leading libraries of Europe, especially those in the Ambrosian Library of Milan, with which it has been compared. The form of the characters shows that the date is near the middle of the fourteenth century, that is thirty years after the death of Dante, which took place in A. D. 1321 at the age of fifty-six. The miniatures at the head of each canto allude to the contents of each canto and indicate the style of the art of the fourteenth century in a way that renders the book highly precious."
