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They even had a lot of new ideas to pull the aspiring mind from many directions, like giving a little lovely slip with a book to write a gift.. .. "
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
(previously Calcutta), West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, is a publishing house established by Dilip Kumar Gupta (popularly known as D. K.) in 1943. Located at the famous book arcade of College Street in front of Sanskrit College
The Sanskrit College and University (erstwhile Sanskrit College) is a state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It focuses on liberal arts, offering both UG and PG degrees in Ancient Indian and world history, Bengali, English, Sa ...
. The famed film-director Satyajit Ray worked as a visual designer in this publishing house at the onset of his career and many of the books don the covers designed by him. The press has published many renowned books like Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
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* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
's '' Discovery of India'', Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay () (12 September 1894 – 1 November 1950) was an Indian writer in the Bengali language. His best known works are the autobiographical novel, '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road''), ''Aparajito (Undefeat ...
's ''Pather Panchali
''Pather Panchali'' (; ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and produced by the Government of West Bengal. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's 1929 Bengali novel of the same na ...
'' and ''Chander Pahar
''Chander Pahar'' () is a Bengali adventure novel written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and published in 1937. The novel follows the adventures of a young Bengali man in the forests of Africa. The novel is one of the most-loved adventure nove ...
'', Jibanananda Das
Jibanananda Das () (17 February 1899 – 22 October 1954) was an Indian poet, writer, novelist and essayist in the Bengali language. Popularly called "Rupashi Banglar Kabi'' ('Poet of Beautiful Bengal'), Das is the most read poet after Rabindr ...
's '' Rupasi Bangla'' and '' Banalata Sen'', Saat-ti taarar timir etc.By the end of the 70s though, D. K had fallen sick and soon followed by his death, The Signet Publishing house closed. It was revived back later after its purchase by the Ananda Publishers, thus giving the old historic publishing house a new pulse. Many of the classic signet publications are now once again available to the common readers, Be it the Samar Sen
Samar Sen ( bn, সমর সেন; 10 October 1916 – 23 August 1987) was a prominent Indian Bengali language, Bengali poet and journalist in the post-Independence era.
Education
Samar Sen was a graduate of the Scottish Church College, at t ...
's Poem, Sukumar Roy
Sukumar Ray (; 30 October 1887 – 10 September 1923) was a Bengali writer and poet from the Indian subcontinent. He is remembered mainly for his writings for children. He was the son of children's story writer Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury and ...
's works or Sudhindranath Dutta's Sangbarta and Bishnu Dey
Bishnu Dey ( bn, বিষ্ণু দে; 18 July 1909 – 3 December 1982) was a Bengali poet, writer and academician in the era of modernism, post-modernism. Starting off as a symbologist, he won recognition for the musical quality of his p ...
's Naam rekhechi Komol Gandhar.
Significance in the history of Bengali publication
The significance of Signet Press' arrival in College street, can be rightly found in the lines ofShankha Ghosh
Sankha Ghosh (born Chittapriya Ghosh; 5 February 1932 – 21 April 2021) was an Indian poet and literary critic. He was born in Chandpur District of the then Bengal Presidency, present day Bangladesh. His ancestral home was at Banaripara Upazila ...
, from his book 'Boiyer Ghor". He writes:
"Then came the store of Signet press. That is, it came to College Street. Even in the forties, many books were published from Signet, with its infallible mark of elegance, its selection and printing. But with the opening of its new store on Bankim Chatterjee Street, we no longer had to wander from place to place looking for books of poetry, be it Jibanananda Das
Jibanananda Das () (17 February 1899 – 22 October 1954) was an Indian poet, writer, novelist and essayist in the Bengali language. Popularly called "Rupashi Banglar Kabi'' ('Poet of Beautiful Bengal'), Das is the most read poet after Rabindr ...
or Sudhindranath Dutta. Dilip Kumar Gupta's diligent work on the neatness of printing (everyone knows him as DK), Satyajit Ray's excellent taste of aesthetics illustrating its covers, and the writings of modern poets - all these combined to create a dream world for all of us.
The years of fifty-two and fifty-three, when we were at our twenty-one years of age, we saw the publication of new books from Signet, coming before our eyes one after the other; 'Banalata Sen', 'Sanvarta', 'Parapar', 'Naam rekhechi Komal Gandhar', 'Amavasya'!.
Then came the new edition of 'orchestra'
with a brand new, changed, introduction of which we began to return to our mouths: ‘I am rooted in darkness, rising towards the light’. ‘Samar Sen’s Poems’, The new versions of 'Swagata' and 'Kulaya O Kalpurush'to be released from Signet in their new attire were still a few years away.
It is safe to say that Signet also brought a lot of courage to modern poetry. They also started publishing books by young poets like Naresh Guha
Naresh Guha (1923/24-2009) was a Bengali poet. He was born in 1923 (March) in Binnafoir village of Mymensingh district in undivided Bengal. His original name was Nareshchandra Guha Bakshi. He was son of Rameshchandra Guha Bakshi and Indumati devi ...
and Nirendranath Chakravarti
Nirendranath Chakravarty (19 October 1924 – 25 December 2018) was a contemporary Bengali poet, Translator, Novelist.
He lived in Bangur Avenue, Kolkata.
Biography
He was born in Faridpur district of undivided Bengal in 1924. After graduati ...
. Besides, new versions of 'Prothoma' and 'Samrat', or 'Winter Prayer: Answer to Spring' appeared in different houses. We no longer have any thoughts for poetry books. Signet's organization was ubiquitous, with a liberal call for "read poetry, read poetry."
They even had a lot of new ideas to pull the aspiring mind from many directions, like giving a little lovely slip with a book to write a gift.. .. "
References