Oxford University Press completes 100 years in India

With a series of new publishing initiatives, which includes releasing of Jim Corbett’s unpublished writings, the Oxford University Press (OUP) is celebrating 100 years of operations in India this year. “As a department of the University of Oxford, OUP will celebrate by showcasing its rich history in India through re-issues of classics and by launching major new centenary year publishing initiatives in 2012,” OUP India’s Managing Director Manzar Khan said. One of the most awaited books of the year from their stable will be the unpublished writings of British conservationist Jim Corbett sourced from OUP archives. “For the centenary, we will have books by acclaimed authors including Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, Girish Karnad, Sudhir Kakar, Ashis Nandy, Sunil Janah, Valmik Thapar, and UR Ananthamurthy—authors who have continued to publish with us over several decades,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_196835” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”]  [/caption] Here to participate at the ongoing Kolkata Book Fair, they will soon come out with ‘Rabindranath Tagore: An Illustrated Life’ written by Uma Das Gupta. The illustrated biography of the bard focuses on his personal life to expose the larger forces that moulded his personality and thought. ‘Tales from Thakurmar Jhuli: Twelve Stories from Bengal’, a classic collection of Bengali folktales and fairy tales originally brought together by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder’s in 1907, will be released in English later in the year. A book on Kolkata is being specially planned in 2012: ‘Redeeming Calcutta: A Portrait of India’s Imperial Capital’ by Steve Raymer, renowned National Geographic photojournalist. He takes the readers through the streets, ghats and corridors of Kolkata with around 200 photographs including historic black-and-white images. The book captures the imperial and historical city, the maelstrom of the streets, the city in motion, commerce and business, the practice of faith, the country’s cultural hub, and politics. Another significant book would be Sunil Janah’s ‘Photographing India’. With around 400 black and white photographs covering the years 1942 to 1978, it captures important events in Indian history - from eminent political leaders, writers, and artists to India’s rich heritage and traditions to the socio-cultural life of ordinary people. A centenary edition of N Horsburgh’s New Oxford Modern English, one of the oldest yet most successful school courses, will also be published in 2012. “We will also reissue the first academic book published in 1912 - S Radhakrishnan’s ‘Essentials of Psychology’. And will have a special edition of the Oxford School Atlas first published in 1915,” the OUP official said. Publish over 400 titles annually in India, the leader in the academic and scholarly books category, will have additional centenary editions and will also publish new series like the Oxford India Short Introductions and Oxford India Perennials. The publishers are also looking to increase investment and double their turnover in the next 3-4 years. “We plan to substantially increase our investment in human resources and infrastructure and aim to double our turnover in the next 3-4 years,” Khan said adding that they publish the largest number of academic and scholarly books and are the market leaders in school publishing. Globally, OUP is the largest university press and publishes more than 4500 new books annually. Their diverse portfolio includes scholarly works, school and higher education textbooks, dictionaries and reference books, as well as journals. PTI