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'Early Prints' to 'Dutch Forts' 'The Dutch Forts of Sri Lanka' is a reprint of a book published on the subject by a Scotsman, William Adair Nelson, in 1984 (now out of print) plus a manuscript given to him by Nelson in 1988 written after visiting Sri Lanka after he published the book. Rajpal has added an 'Update of 2004' having visited what remains of the Dutch forts to see what condition they are in. Sponsored by The Sri Lanka Netherlands Association of Colombo, the book will soon be on the bookstands. I asked him about his interest in writing. "When I was about 14, I developed a keen interest in reading. Those were the days when the poth-karaya would come round with a whole heap of books on his head. In fact, there was also the coin man and the stamp man coming round. The book man would come once a week and we would either borrow books to be read and returned by paying a small fee or buy books. I had a huge collection of Penguin paperbacks - that's all I could afford," he reminisced. Having got his medical degree in 1956, Rajpal proceeded to England for his postgraduate studies in 1964. There he continued his interest in books. And soon he began to concentrate on books on Ceylon. In his library here, I saw a fine collection of original editions. He has several of the English, Dutch and French editions of Knox's 'An Historical Relation of Ceylon'. In one edition, in addition to Knox's text, his biography has also been included. In his collection are a number of manuscripts as well. What made him decide to collect books on Ceylon? "One should concentrate on a single theme. Otherwise it becomes a hotchpotch," he explains. Of course, when he sees something interesting, he buys it but concentrates on writings on Ceylon. How does he collect the books? He goes to book auctions regularly. "One can select the books from the auction catalogues. Precise details of each book including its condition, are given in the catalogue. And if it is mentioned as being in 'fine' condition, you can rest assured that it would be in fine shape. Then there are monthly book sales by dealers. In fact, when you are seen regularly at the sales and you leave your card with the dealer, he would get in touch with you whenever he gets an interesting book," he explained. Books
to paintings It was natural for him to be interested in paintings, with his mother, Maisie de Silva being a well-known painter in her day. Once he had a fair collection, he thought of sharing them with others. Thus the 'Early Prints of Ceylon' (1985) evolved. He was not satisfied just presenting the paintings but wrote elaborate notes thus making the book more meaningful. His own library had enough books from which he could prepare the notes but "it's no easy task," he said. "To prepare one note I had to scan several books and pick up the relevant facts." Three years later he and Mieke Beumer, a librarian in Amsterdam co-authored 'Illustrations and Views of Dutch Ceylon 1602-1796'. He documented everything that was available in Holland about Ceylon. Meanwhile, he picked up old engravings which had been used in newspapers in the pre-photographic era which prompted him to publish '19th Century Newspaper Engravings of Ceylon' in 1998 - a comprehensive compilation (running to 400 pages) of pre-20th century pictorial impressions of the island by foreign artists. Rajpal remains an avid reader. He believes that one doesn't have to read every page to enjoy a book. "In a thousand page book, you may come across some sections which you may feel are irrelevant. You can skip some pages, yet enjoy the book." LECTURE |
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