Signet Press

Last updated

Signet Press
Founded1943;81 years ago (1943)
Founder D. K. Gupta
Country of origin India
Headquarters locationCollege Street, (in front of Sanskrit College), Kolkata, West Bengal
Publication types Books

Signet Press is a publishing house that was established in 1943 in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), West Bengal, India, by Dilip Kumar Gupta (popularly known as D. K.) and his mother-in-law Neelima Guha Thakurta. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Located at the famous book arcade of College Street in front of Sanskrit College. The 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 covers designed by him. [3] The press has published many renowned books like Jawaharlal Nehru's Discovery of India , Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's Pather Panchali and Chander Pahar , Jibanananda Das'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 later after its purchase by the Ananda Publishers. Many of the classic signet publications are now once again available to the common readers, Be it the Samar Sen's Poem, Sukumar Roy's works, or Sudhindranath Dutta's Sangbarta and Bishnu Dey'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 of Shankha Ghosh , 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 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 and Nirendranath Chakravarti. 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."

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feluda</span> Bengali fictional detective created by the Indian film director, Satyajit Ray (1921-1992)

Feluda, or Prodosh Chandra Mitra [Mitter], is a fictional detective, private investigator created by Indian director and writer Satyajit Ray. Feluda resides at 21 Rajani Sen Road, Ballygunge, Calcutta, West Bengal. Feluda first made his appearance in a Bengali children's magazine called Sandesh in 1965, under the editorialship of Ray and Subhas Mukhopadhyay. His first adventure was Feludar Goendagiri. Feluda is one of the most impactful Bengali characters of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali poetry</span> Bengali-language poetry

Bengali poetry is a rich tradition of poetry in the Bengali language and has many different forms. Originating in the Bengal region of South Asia, the history of Bengali poetry underwent three successive stages of development: poetry of the early age, the Medieval period and the age of modern poetry. All ages have seen different forms of poetry and poetical tradition. It reached the pinnacle during the Bengali Renaissance period although it has a rich tradition and has grown independent of the movement. Major Bengali Poets throughout the ages are Chandidas, Alaol, Ramprasad Sen, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Nabinchandra Sen, Rabindranath Tagore, Dwijendralal Ray, Satyendranath Dutta, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jibanananda Das, Jasimuddin, Sukanta Battacharya, Al Mahmud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jibanananda Das</span> Bengali poet (1899–1954)

Jibanananda Das is a Bengali poet, writer, novelist and essayist in the Bengali language. Popularly called "Rupashi Banglar Kabi'', Das is the most read poet after Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam in Bangladesh and West Bengal. While not particularly well recognised during his lifetime, today Das is acknowledged as one of the greatest poets in the Bengali language.

Bengali Brahmos are those who adhere to Brahmoism, the philosophy of Brahmo Samaj which was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. A recent publication describes the disproportionate influence of Brahmos on India's development post-19th Century as unparalleled in recent times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballygunge</span> Neighbourhood in Kolkata in West Bengal, India

Ballygunge is a locality of South Kolkata in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudhindranath Dutta</span>

Sudhindranath Dutta was an Indian poet, essayist, journalist and critic. Sudhindranath is one of the most notable poets after the Tagore-era in Bengali literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lalmohan Ganguly</span> Fictional character

Lalmohan Ganguly, alias Jatayu is a fictional character in the Feluda stories written by Satyajit Ray. He writes pulp crime thrillers, but is quite weak and nervous in real life. He is fairly wealthy due to the immense sales of his books. He writes at a frequency of two books a year. His crime fiction stories have interesting and catchy names, often characterised by alliterations like 'Sahara-ey Shiharan', 'Honduras-e Hahakar', 'Borneo-r Bibhishika', 'Durdharsh Dushman', 'Vancouver-er Vampire', 'Himalaye Hritkampo', 'Atlantic-er Atanka', 'Anobik Danob', 'Naroker Naam Karakoram', 'Bidghute Bodmash', 'Arokto Arab' etc. The names of several Feluda stories also exhibit this feature, for example 'Joto Kando Kathmandute', 'Gangtok e gondogol', 'Royal Bengal Rahasya', 'Robertson-er Ruby', 'Gosaipur Sargaram', 'Bombay-er Bombetey', 'Gorosthan e sabdhan', 'Kailash e kelenkari', 'Bhusworgo bhoyonkor', etc. The detective of Jatayu's novel, Prakhar Rudra, is a character with incredible intellect and power. Lalmohan's grandfather gave his name "Sarbogya Gongopadhyay" but Lalmohan does not use that name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddhadeva Bose</span> Indian writer

Buddhadeva Bose, also spelt Buddhadeb Bosu, was an Indian Bengali writer of the 20th century. Frequently referred to as a poet, he was a versatile writer who wrote novels, short stories, plays and essays in addition to poetry. He was an influential critic and editor of his time. He is recognised as one of the five poets who moved to introduce modernity into Bengali poetry. It is said that since Rabindranath Tagore, there has not been a more versatile talent in Bengali literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chidananda Dasgupta</span> Indian Bengali filmmaker

Chidananda Das Gupta —family name sometimes spelled 'Dashgupta' and 'Dasgupta'—was an Indian filmmaker, film critic, a film historian and one of the founders of Calcutta Film Society with Satyajit Ray in 1947. He lived and worked in Calcutta and Santiniketan.

The little magazine movement originated in the 1950s and 1960s in many Indian languages like Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Hindi, Malayalam and Gujarati, in the early part of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishnu Dey</span> Indian poet and academician (1909–1982)

Bishnu Dey was a leading Bengali poet, writer, essayist, academician, art appreciator, and connoisseur in the era of modernism and post-modernism.

Kavita, also spelled Kobita, is a Bengali poetry magazine that, from the 1930s until 1961, played a central role in introducing modernism into Bengali poetry. It was edited and published by poet Buddhadeva Bose.

Banalata Sen is a poetry volume containing 31 poems by the Bengali poet Jibanananda Das (1899–1954). The volume reflects the contextual struggles experienced by the poet in terms of love, liberty and loss during the Post-Tagore period. This book has been named "Banalata Sen" after Das's most popular poem, which explored human fulfillment through the personification of a vaidya caste woman. This pattern of progressively exploring human fulfillment through hyperbolising a character is common within this volume.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atul Prasad Sen</span> Bengali composer

Atul Prasad Sen was a Bengali composer, lyricist and singer, and also a lawyer, philanthropist, social worker, educationist and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinmoy Guha</span>

Chinmoy Guha is Professor Emeritus at the University of Calcutta, a Bengali essayist and translator, and a scholar of French language and literature. He has served as the Vice-Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University and Director of Publications, Embassy of France, New Delhi. Earlier he taught English at Vijaygarh Jyotish Ray College in Kolkata for more than two decades, and French at the Alliance Française and the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture for eleven and five years respectively.

The 34th Annual Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards were held on 1971, honoring the best Indian cinema in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phulrenu Guha</span> Indian politician

Dr Phulrenu Guha was an Indian activist, educationist and politician, belonging to the Indian National Congress. She was a member of the Rajya Sabha the Upper house of Indian Parliament from April 1964 to April 1970 from West Bengal. She was the Minister for Social Welfare in the Indira Gandhi Ministry from 1967 to 1969. She was elected to the Lok Sabha the Lower house of Indian Parliament from Contai constituency, West Bengal in 1984. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1977.

References

  1. Bandyopadhyay, Jagori (27 February 2022). "সিগনেটের ম্যাডাম". Anandabazar (in Bengali). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. Chattopadhyay, Sohini (1 March 2023). "How Satyajit Ray and 80-year-old Kolkata firm Signet Press changed publishing in India". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  3. Robinson, Andrew (2004). Satyajit Ray: the Inner Eye. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN   1-86064-965-3.