‘The Philosopher’s Stone’: Amitav Ghosh unveils book on Sir Daniel Hamilton

KOLKATA: On Monday, renowned author Amitav Ghosh launched ‘The Philosopher’s Stone: Speeches and Writings of Sir Daniel Hamilton’ edited by Alapan Bandopadhyay and Anup Matilal by Deep Prakashan at Birla Academy of Art and Culture as part of the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet.

Matilal shared the intriguing journey of the Scotsman’s early initiation into business at the tender age of 12.

Bandopadhyay, an officer of IAS batch 1987 from West Bengal, recalled his days as the district land and lands reform officer in South 24-Parganas, where Dr Gopinath Burman, an elderly country doctor, regularly presented loose papers attributed to Sir Hamilton. Dr Burman urged Bandopadhyay to take action. The mystery deepened as Bandopadhyay wondered about the doctor’s obsession with Sir Hamilton. Then the West Bengal government reposted Bandopadhyay as the district magistrate of South 24-Parganas. Previously a private trust, Bandopadhyay and Dr Burman transformed the estate into a public trust.

“I requested Mr Matilal for the book because we had worked in Howrah together and even published a book on the ghats of Howrah. So, we were already experienced in amateurish publications. So, the first thing we did after the private trust became a public one was to come out with a publication on Sir Daniel Hamilton. Also, we understood that people were interested in Sir Hamilton and there should be a revised proper second edition,” said Bandopadhyay.