I am a bookbinder and have received an old copy of the Kama Sutra to
bind. I would like to find out about the history of the Kama Sutra,
how old it is, how was it originally bound etc? Is there information
on the web about how books of that period were bound?

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Request for Question Clarification by hummer-ga on 17 May 2003 06:44 PDT

Hi maxb,

Can you provide more information about the book, for example, the full
title, the publisher, and the date of publication?  Thanks, hummer

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Clarification of Question by maxb_max-ga on 17 May 2003 07:49 PDT

Hi there

The book is handbound ie. no publisher. It is simply pictures of
sexual positions. Each page has a piece of glass over it. It may be
19th century, but it could have been created in the 18th century
though. It seems that it has been re-bound a few times. I believe that
it may be North Indian in origin. Is there a tradition of bookbinding
in North India perhaps? Or Indian bookbinding in general?

Thanks

Max

Hi Max,

Sorry to say, I haven't had much luck finding anything about how the
book was originally bound, but here are three interesting links.

Vatsyayana Kama Sutra online:
http://www.bibliomania.com/2/1/76/123/frameset.html

T.L. Winslow's Eighth (8th) Century Timeline 700-799 C.E.
http://www.tlwinslow.com/timeline/time7xx.html

Hindustan Literary Links
http://www.hindustan.org/index/literature.htm

Hopefully another researcher will have better luck.
hummer

Hi Hummer

That's good start for me. 

Many thanks

Max

And another snippet:

"The exact origins of the Kama Sutra are vague, but it was written
between the 1st and 4th Centuries AD by a man called Vatsyayana, who
lived in the North Indian city of Benares - now called Varanasi, in
Uttar Pradesh.
It was first translated into English by the 19th Century British
explorer Sir Richard F. Burton in 1876... In 1883 Burton risked
prosecution and imprisonment under the Obscene Publications Act after
publishing 250 copies of the Kama Sutra privately in Britain. The book
did not become legal in Britain until 1963.... It was written in the
ancient Sanskrit language. In Sanskrit, Kama means desire and Sutra
means rules. In the context of the book "desire" includes singing,
reading, poetry and dancing as well as sex."
http://www.geocities.com/Axiom43/kamasutra.html

A first edition of the Burton translation is being offered for £6,500
(Approx $ 10,130)
The binding is described as: "contemporary half red calf over marbled
boards"
http://www.worldbookdealers.com/books/book.asp?id=352398

Thanks Tehuti. There doesn't seem to be much on how these books were
put together, but this is all good background.

Regards

Max

Hi Max,

This maybe of some use to you
http://homepages.uc.edu:8000/~hatfierw/New_Kamasutra.htm


Regards,
Prashant
Kamasutra Paintings: http://www.ishopindia.com