Page 10 - A brief note on calligraphy of the Constitution of India in English and Hindi

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worth doing inasmuch as the illuminated manuscript
will be treasured by the nation and by the future
generations as a monument not only of our political
and intellectual labours but also of the nation's artistic
achievements. It is for this reason that I approach
you for your kind cooperation.
I am sending you a specimen page indicating the
size of the manuscript. The inner rectangle is for the
written portion which will be executed by calligraph-
ists. The margins are for illuminated decorative
designs. It has been suggested that significant scenes
from Indian history, legend and life should be incorpo­
rated in the designs. It is an excellent suggestion and
I should be very happy if it could be done. While it
is possible to secure the services of good calligraphists
in English by advertising, we may not succeed in get­
ting the artistic portion executed that way. Moreover,
it is obvious that even if several artists are commis­
sioned to design and illuminate the pages—the work is
too big for one man and the time at our disposal is
short—a master-artist must plan the whole scheme, set
the pattern of the illuminated designs and generally
supervise the work. Who but you can do it better?
You have many artists working with you and such of
them as you think competent to help in the work could
lie commissioned to do under your guidance and direc­
tion. We shall of course pay for such work, though
the rate of remuneration can only be fixed after a full
estimate is prepared and passed by the Committee. As
the work concerned is of the nature of a national
monument, I have every hope that your kind coopera­
tion will be available to us.
If, for any reason, you are unable to accept the res­
ponsibility of supervising the work of other artists,
I would still ivqurst you to set the pattern of the
general designing by doing the title page and the few
first pages of rli'nl 1^1 iinfi and illuminating the manu-
festing yourself. ( would ;ilso like to have your valuable
regarding the scheme in general as also
th e nam e o f othe r artist s wh o i n you r Opinion are