THE MAKING AND AFTERLIFE OF A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: SEVEN PROVENANCE CORRESPONDENCE UNITS DOCUMENTING THE ORIGIN, COMPOSITION, TRANSMISSION AND PUBLICATION OF GANDHI’S 688 DAILY THOUGHTS, 1945–1952
A group of seven principal correspondence units relating directly to Mahatma Gandhi's celebrated series, A Thought for the Day, addressed principally to Anand T Hingorani between 10 June 1945 and 17 September 1946.
Comprising six autograph communications by Gandhi, together with associated correspondence from Jairamdas Doulatram and Sushila Nayar and a later typed letter signed by Nayar, the documents trace the origin, proposed publication, translation, editorial supervision, serial dispatch, continued composition and physical preservation of the 688 daily thoughts written by Gandhi for Anand T. Hingorani between 20 November 1944 and 10 October 1946.
The correspondence of 1945–1946 provides a contemporary record of the series as it was being written and transmitted. The final letter, written by Sushila Nayar in 1952, supplies an important retrospective account of its original purpose. She records that the Daily Thoughts were written by Gandhi at Anand’s request to bring him consolation and peace following his wife’s death, and that Gandhi also intended them to help Anand overcome the sorrow caused by his deafness. Nayar further confirms that Anand had asked her to revise his English translation of the series, then being considered under the title Bapu-ke-Ashirvad.
Correspondence unit comprising Letter No. 166 from Mahatma Gandhi and an associated letter from Jairamdas Doulatram, Panchgani, 10 June 1945
Envelope and paper: Gandhi’s letter in Hindi, handwritten in black ink and signed "Bapu", accompanied by a substantial English-language letter from Jairamdas Doulatram, signed “Jairam”, present in facsimile.
Gandhi acknowledges Anand’s letter, states that Jairamdas is with him and has been asked to write, and urges Anand to recover his health. Jairamdas’s accompanying letter, written at Gandhi’s direction, discusses whether “A Thought For the Day” should be published in Hindi alone or simultaneously in English, Gandhi’s wish to examine any English rendering personally; the possibility of his supplying a preface for a Hindi edition; Anand’s proposed To the Statesmen of the World; discussions concerning Navajivan and the Gandhi Series, and the availability and governmental quota of paper for future publications. It concludes by recording that Gandhi’s own note is enclosed.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 87, Letter No. 166, p. 96.
Correspondence unit comprising Letter No. 35 from Mahatma Gandhi and an associated letter from Sushila Nayar, 1 September 1945
Envelope and paper; Hindi; handwritten in black ink; Gandhi’s autograph letter signed “Bapu”; accompanied by a letter from Sushila Nayar.
Gandhi explains that lasting peace cannot be derived from his letters, his physical presence or even from Vidya. Peace arising from an external source is necessarily transient; true peace must be discovered within and ultimately in God. Nayar’s accompanying communication records that A Thought for the Day had already been sent to Anand up to 5 July and that further thoughts up to the fifteenth accompanied the letter, providing direct evidence of the serial transmission of the manuscripts.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 88, Letter No. 35, p. 16.
Letter No. 348, from Mahatma Gandhi to Anand T. Hingorani, 16 October 1945
Postcard; Hindi; handwritten in black ink; autograph letter signed “Bapu”.
Gandhi expresses satisfaction that Anand’s faith and peace have increased and records: “I am writing the daily thoughts. I hope to complete what is left.” The letter preserves the project as an active undertaking that remained in progress almost a year after its commencement.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 88, Letter No. 348, p. 165.
Correspondence unit comprising Letter No. 112 from Mahatma Gandhi and a letter from Sushila Nayar, written on the train from Santiniketan, 20 December 1945
Paper; handwritten in black ink; Gandhi’s autograph postscript to Sushila Nayar’s letter.
Gandhi records: “I daily write the Thoughts.” Nayar’s accompanying communication discusses the availability of paper, confirms Gandhi’s intention to continue writing the thoughts every day and supplies information concerning his movements and the forwarding of correspondence. Together, the two communications document both Gandhi’s sustained daily authorship and the practical arrangements required for the project’s continuation.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 89, Letter No. 112, p. 71.
Letter No. 151, from Mahatma Gandhi to Anand T. Hingorani, New Delhi, 2 September 1946
Envelope and paper; Hindi; handwritten in black ink; autograph letter signed “Bapu”.
Gandhi records that he continues to write A Thought for the Day, enquires after Mahadev’s illness and Anand’s injured foot, and notes that an expected album has not yet arrived. The reference to the album documents the material form in which Anand sought to receive and preserve Gandhi’s continuing reflections.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 92, Letter No. 151, p. 105.
Letter No. 288, from Mahatma Gandhi to Anand T. Hingorani, New Delhi, 17 September 1946
Envelope and paper; Hindi; handwritten in black ink; autograph letter signed “Bapu”.
Gandhi acknowledges receipt of a notebook sent by Hingorani specifically for A Thought for the Day and records that he is writing the letter at three o’clock in the morning. He enquires after Anand and Mahadev and urges happiness despite continuing difficulties. Written during the final month of the series, the letter documents the transition from the earlier album leaves to the notebook supplied for the preservation of the concluding thoughts.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 92, Letter No. 288, p. 202.
Typed letter signed from Sushila Nayar to Anand T. Hingorani, Minister for Health, Delhi State, 14 May 1952
One page; English; typed on official “Minister for Health, Delhi State” stationery bearing the State Emblem of India; signed “Sushila” in blue ink, with a manuscript correction in the same hand. Addressed at the foot to “Shri Anand T. Hingorani, Editor-Publisher, ‘Gandhi Series’, Pratapnagar, Udaipur (Rajasthan).”
Responding to Anand’s request for her opinion regarding Bapu-ke-Ashirvad, Nayar supplies an important retrospective account of the genesis and intended purpose of Gandhi’s Daily Thoughts. She records that they “were written for you at your request by Bapu” to bring Anand consolation and peace following his wife’s death. She further states that Gandhi intended the thoughts to help Anand overcome the sorrow caused by his deafness and observes that what began as a personal source of consolation had since become “a source of consolation and inspiration to all mankind".
Nayar also confirms that Anand had asked her to revise his English translation of the Daily Thoughts. Acknowledging that she had not yet made sufficient progress, she adds in the manuscript, “so far, but”, before expressing the hope that Anand’s reminder would have the desired effect. The letter therefore extends the history of the project beyond Gandhi’s lifetime and documents Anand’s continued efforts to translate, edit and publish the complete series.
Seven dated provenance correspondence units, comprising six autograph communications by Gandhi, associated correspondence from Jairamdas Doulatram and Sushila Nayar, and Nayar’s later typed letter signed. Collectively, the documents record the personal circumstances from which A Thought for the Day arose and the editorial, linguistic, material and human networks through which its 688 reflections were composed, transmitted, preserved, translated and prepared for publication.
“WRITTEN FOR YOU AT YOUR REQUEST”: THE ORIGIN, MAKING AND AFTERLIFE OF GANDHI’S 688-THOUGHT SPIRITUAL ARCHIVE
Among Gandhi’s surviving manuscript projects, few are as extensive or as intimately connected to a single recipient as A Thought for the Day. Composed between 20 November 1944 and 10 October 1946, the series comprises 688 daily reflections written for Anand T. Hingorani. The seven correspondence units offered here document the project from its composition and serial transmission to its translation and contemplated publication. Sushila Nayar’s letter of 14 May 1952 also reveals, in unusually direct terms, the personal circumstances that brought the series into being.
Writing to Anand in 1952, Nayar recalls that the Daily Thoughts had been written by Gandhi at Anand’s request to bring him consolation and peace following his wife’s death. Gandhi, she adds, also intended them to help Anand overcome the sorrow associated with his deafness. This testimony transforms the understanding of the archive: the series did not originate as an abstract literary or philosophical exercise, but as an extended act of personal care. A reflection written each day allowed Gandhi to accompany Anand through bereavement, illness and isolation across a period of nearly two years.
Nayar’s observation that the thoughts had subsequently become “a source of consolation and inspiration to all mankind” captures the project’s movement from private communication towards public spiritual literature. What began as an intimate exchange between Gandhi and Anand gradually acquired a wider purpose, and the surviving correspondence records the practical process by which that transformation was contemplated.
The letter of 10 June 1945 preserves the earliest surviving discussion of the series as a publication. Gandhi acknowledges Anand’s letter, explains that Jairamdas Doulatram is with him and has been asked to reply, and urges Anand to recover his health. Jairamdas’s accompanying communication expands upon Gandhi’s brief note, considering whether A Thought for the Day should be published in Hindi alone or simultaneously in Hindi and English.
The correspondence demonstrates the care with which Gandhi approached translation. Any English rendering was regarded not as a mechanical transcription but as a separate editorial undertaking that Gandhi wished to review personally. Jairamdas recognised that Gandhi’s workload might make such supervision difficult and suggested that Gandhi could perhaps more readily provide a preface if the work were first issued in Hindi. The letter also discusses Anand’s wider publishing plans, including To the Statesmen of the World, Navajivan, the Gandhi Series and the availability of paper. These details place the project within the material realities of wartime and immediate post-war publishing. A Thought for the Day depended not only upon Gandhi’s authorship but also upon translators, editors, publishers, supplies of paper, albums, notebooks and a reliable postal network.
The correspondence of 1 September 1945 moves the history from editorial planning to the physical circulation of the manuscripts. Gandhi writes of the inward source of peace, while Sushila Nayar records that the thoughts had already been sent to Anand up to 5 July and that a further instalment accompanied her letter. Her communication demonstrates that the series was dispatched sequentially rather than retained by Gandhi as a complete manuscript.
On 16 October Gandhi confirms: “I am writing the daily thoughts. I hope to complete what is left.” In December he writes again, “I daily write the Thoughts”, while Nayar reports that paper is available and that Gandhi intends to continue composing them each day. These brief statements are especially significant when read beside the surviving manuscript sequence: they preserve Gandhi’s own contemporary acknowledgement of the discipline required to sustain the project.
The two letters of September 1946 document its final material phase. On 2 September Gandhi states that he continues to write A Thought for the Day and notes that an expected album has not arrived. On 17 September he acknowledges receipt of a notebook sent by Anand specifically for the series and records that he is writing at three o’clock in the morning. The notebook allowed Gandhi to continue after the leaves of the original album had been exhausted, explaining why the concluding thoughts were written on both sides of its pages.
The 1952 letter completes the documentary history. It identifies Anand as the person at whose request the thoughts were written, explains their original consolatory purpose, connects the project with the proposed title Bapu-ke-Ashirvad and confirms that Anand had prepared an English translation which Nayar had agreed to revise. It therefore shows that Anand’s involvement extended far beyond that of a recipient. He was the project’s instigator, custodian, organiser, translator and prospective publisher.
The correspondence also defines the contributions of those around Gandhi. Gandhi was the author and spiritual interlocutor; Anand was the recipient and organising force; Jairamdas Doulatram advised upon language, editing and publication; and Sushila Nayar facilitated the transmission of the manuscripts before later becoming involved in the revision of their English translation.
Read alongside the 688 surviving thoughts, these documents preserve an exceptionally complete history of the series. They trace its development from an act of personal consolation to an archive intended for a wider readership: from Gandhi’s daily discipline and the serial dispatch of individual thoughts to questions of language, paper, translation, preservation and publication. Together, they reveal how one of the largest manuscript projects of Gandhi’s later years emerged from an intensely private relationship and gradually assumed a universal spiritual purpose.
This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.
A group of seven principal correspondence units relating directly to Mahatma Gandhi's celebrated series, A Thought for the Day, addressed principally to Anand T Hingorani between 10 June 1945 and 17 September 1946.
Comprising six autograph communications by Gandhi, together with associated correspondence from Jairamdas Doulatram and Sushila Nayar and a later typed letter signed by Nayar, the documents trace the origin, proposed publication, translation, editorial supervision, serial dispatch, continued composition and physical preservation of the 688 daily thoughts written by Gandhi for Anand T. Hingorani between 20 November 1944 and 10 October 1946.
The correspondence of 1945–1946 provides a contemporary record of the series as it was being written and transmitted. The final letter, written by Sushila Nayar in 1952, supplies an important retrospective account of its original purpose. She records that the Daily Thoughts were written by Gandhi at Anand’s request to bring him consolation and peace following his wife’s death, and that Gandhi also intended them to help Anand overcome the sorrow caused by his deafness. Nayar further confirms that Anand had asked her to revise his English translation of the series, then being considered under the title Bapu-ke-Ashirvad.
Correspondence unit comprising Letter No. 166 from Mahatma Gandhi and an associated letter from Jairamdas Doulatram, Panchgani, 10 June 1945
Envelope and paper: Gandhi’s letter in Hindi, handwritten in black ink and signed "Bapu", accompanied by a substantial English-language letter from Jairamdas Doulatram, signed “Jairam”, present in facsimile.
Gandhi acknowledges Anand’s letter, states that Jairamdas is with him and has been asked to write, and urges Anand to recover his health. Jairamdas’s accompanying letter, written at Gandhi’s direction, discusses whether “A Thought For the Day” should be published in Hindi alone or simultaneously in English, Gandhi’s wish to examine any English rendering personally; the possibility of his supplying a preface for a Hindi edition; Anand’s proposed To the Statesmen of the World; discussions concerning Navajivan and the Gandhi Series, and the availability and governmental quota of paper for future publications. It concludes by recording that Gandhi’s own note is enclosed.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 87, Letter No. 166, p. 96.
Correspondence unit comprising Letter No. 35 from Mahatma Gandhi and an associated letter from Sushila Nayar, 1 September 1945
Envelope and paper; Hindi; handwritten in black ink; Gandhi’s autograph letter signed “Bapu”; accompanied by a letter from Sushila Nayar.
Gandhi explains that lasting peace cannot be derived from his letters, his physical presence or even from Vidya. Peace arising from an external source is necessarily transient; true peace must be discovered within and ultimately in God. Nayar’s accompanying communication records that A Thought for the Day had already been sent to Anand up to 5 July and that further thoughts up to the fifteenth accompanied the letter, providing direct evidence of the serial transmission of the manuscripts.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 88, Letter No. 35, p. 16.
Letter No. 348, from Mahatma Gandhi to Anand T. Hingorani, 16 October 1945
Postcard; Hindi; handwritten in black ink; autograph letter signed “Bapu”.
Gandhi expresses satisfaction that Anand’s faith and peace have increased and records: “I am writing the daily thoughts. I hope to complete what is left.” The letter preserves the project as an active undertaking that remained in progress almost a year after its commencement.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 88, Letter No. 348, p. 165.
Correspondence unit comprising Letter No. 112 from Mahatma Gandhi and a letter from Sushila Nayar, written on the train from Santiniketan, 20 December 1945
Paper; handwritten in black ink; Gandhi’s autograph postscript to Sushila Nayar’s letter.
Gandhi records: “I daily write the Thoughts.” Nayar’s accompanying communication discusses the availability of paper, confirms Gandhi’s intention to continue writing the thoughts every day and supplies information concerning his movements and the forwarding of correspondence. Together, the two communications document both Gandhi’s sustained daily authorship and the practical arrangements required for the project’s continuation.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 89, Letter No. 112, p. 71.
Letter No. 151, from Mahatma Gandhi to Anand T. Hingorani, New Delhi, 2 September 1946
Envelope and paper; Hindi; handwritten in black ink; autograph letter signed “Bapu”.
Gandhi records that he continues to write A Thought for the Day, enquires after Mahadev’s illness and Anand’s injured foot, and notes that an expected album has not yet arrived. The reference to the album documents the material form in which Anand sought to receive and preserve Gandhi’s continuing reflections.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 92, Letter No. 151, p. 105.
Letter No. 288, from Mahatma Gandhi to Anand T. Hingorani, New Delhi, 17 September 1946
Envelope and paper; Hindi; handwritten in black ink; autograph letter signed “Bapu”.
Gandhi acknowledges receipt of a notebook sent by Hingorani specifically for A Thought for the Day and records that he is writing the letter at three o’clock in the morning. He enquires after Anand and Mahadev and urges happiness despite continuing difficulties. Written during the final month of the series, the letter documents the transition from the earlier album leaves to the notebook supplied for the preservation of the concluding thoughts.
Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 92, Letter No. 288, p. 202.
Typed letter signed from Sushila Nayar to Anand T. Hingorani, Minister for Health, Delhi State, 14 May 1952
One page; English; typed on official “Minister for Health, Delhi State” stationery bearing the State Emblem of India; signed “Sushila” in blue ink, with a manuscript correction in the same hand. Addressed at the foot to “Shri Anand T. Hingorani, Editor-Publisher, ‘Gandhi Series’, Pratapnagar, Udaipur (Rajasthan).”
Responding to Anand’s request for her opinion regarding Bapu-ke-Ashirvad, Nayar supplies an important retrospective account of the genesis and intended purpose of Gandhi’s Daily Thoughts. She records that they “were written for you at your request by Bapu” to bring Anand consolation and peace following his wife’s death. She further states that Gandhi intended the thoughts to help Anand overcome the sorrow caused by his deafness and observes that what began as a personal source of consolation had since become “a source of consolation and inspiration to all mankind".
Nayar also confirms that Anand had asked her to revise his English translation of the Daily Thoughts. Acknowledging that she had not yet made sufficient progress, she adds in the manuscript, “so far, but”, before expressing the hope that Anand’s reminder would have the desired effect. The letter therefore extends the history of the project beyond Gandhi’s lifetime and documents Anand’s continued efforts to translate, edit and publish the complete series.
Seven dated provenance correspondence units, comprising six autograph communications by Gandhi, associated correspondence from Jairamdas Doulatram and Sushila Nayar, and Nayar’s later typed letter signed. Collectively, the documents record the personal circumstances from which A Thought for the Day arose and the editorial, linguistic, material and human networks through which its 688 reflections were composed, transmitted, preserved, translated and prepared for publication.
“WRITTEN FOR YOU AT YOUR REQUEST”: THE ORIGIN, MAKING AND AFTERLIFE OF GANDHI’S 688-THOUGHT SPIRITUAL ARCHIVE
Among Gandhi’s surviving manuscript projects, few are as extensive or as intimately connected to a single recipient as A Thought for the Day. Composed between 20 November 1944 and 10 October 1946, the series comprises 688 daily reflections written for Anand T. Hingorani. The seven correspondence units offered here document the project from its composition and serial transmission to its translation and contemplated publication. Sushila Nayar’s letter of 14 May 1952 also reveals, in unusually direct terms, the personal circumstances that brought the series into being.
Writing to Anand in 1952, Nayar recalls that the Daily Thoughts had been written by Gandhi at Anand’s request to bring him consolation and peace following his wife’s death. Gandhi, she adds, also intended them to help Anand overcome the sorrow associated with his deafness. This testimony transforms the understanding of the archive: the series did not originate as an abstract literary or philosophical exercise, but as an extended act of personal care. A reflection written each day allowed Gandhi to accompany Anand through bereavement, illness and isolation across a period of nearly two years.
Nayar’s observation that the thoughts had subsequently become “a source of consolation and inspiration to all mankind” captures the project’s movement from private communication towards public spiritual literature. What began as an intimate exchange between Gandhi and Anand gradually acquired a wider purpose, and the surviving correspondence records the practical process by which that transformation was contemplated.
The letter of 10 June 1945 preserves the earliest surviving discussion of the series as a publication. Gandhi acknowledges Anand’s letter, explains that Jairamdas Doulatram is with him and has been asked to reply, and urges Anand to recover his health. Jairamdas’s accompanying communication expands upon Gandhi’s brief note, considering whether A Thought for the Day should be published in Hindi alone or simultaneously in Hindi and English.
The correspondence demonstrates the care with which Gandhi approached translation. Any English rendering was regarded not as a mechanical transcription but as a separate editorial undertaking that Gandhi wished to review personally. Jairamdas recognised that Gandhi’s workload might make such supervision difficult and suggested that Gandhi could perhaps more readily provide a preface if the work were first issued in Hindi. The letter also discusses Anand’s wider publishing plans, including To the Statesmen of the World, Navajivan, the Gandhi Series and the availability of paper. These details place the project within the material realities of wartime and immediate post-war publishing. A Thought for the Day depended not only upon Gandhi’s authorship but also upon translators, editors, publishers, supplies of paper, albums, notebooks and a reliable postal network.
The correspondence of 1 September 1945 moves the history from editorial planning to the physical circulation of the manuscripts. Gandhi writes of the inward source of peace, while Sushila Nayar records that the thoughts had already been sent to Anand up to 5 July and that a further instalment accompanied her letter. Her communication demonstrates that the series was dispatched sequentially rather than retained by Gandhi as a complete manuscript.
On 16 October Gandhi confirms: “I am writing the daily thoughts. I hope to complete what is left.” In December he writes again, “I daily write the Thoughts”, while Nayar reports that paper is available and that Gandhi intends to continue composing them each day. These brief statements are especially significant when read beside the surviving manuscript sequence: they preserve Gandhi’s own contemporary acknowledgement of the discipline required to sustain the project.
The two letters of September 1946 document its final material phase. On 2 September Gandhi states that he continues to write A Thought for the Day and notes that an expected album has not arrived. On 17 September he acknowledges receipt of a notebook sent by Anand specifically for the series and records that he is writing at three o’clock in the morning. The notebook allowed Gandhi to continue after the leaves of the original album had been exhausted, explaining why the concluding thoughts were written on both sides of its pages.
The 1952 letter completes the documentary history. It identifies Anand as the person at whose request the thoughts were written, explains their original consolatory purpose, connects the project with the proposed title Bapu-ke-Ashirvad and confirms that Anand had prepared an English translation which Nayar had agreed to revise. It therefore shows that Anand’s involvement extended far beyond that of a recipient. He was the project’s instigator, custodian, organiser, translator and prospective publisher.
The correspondence also defines the contributions of those around Gandhi. Gandhi was the author and spiritual interlocutor; Anand was the recipient and organising force; Jairamdas Doulatram advised upon language, editing and publication; and Sushila Nayar facilitated the transmission of the manuscripts before later becoming involved in the revision of their English translation.
Read alongside the 688 surviving thoughts, these documents preserve an exceptionally complete history of the series. They trace its development from an act of personal consolation to an archive intended for a wider readership: from Gandhi’s daily discipline and the serial dispatch of individual thoughts to questions of language, paper, translation, preservation and publication. Together, they reveal how one of the largest manuscript projects of Gandhi’s later years emerged from an intensely private relationship and gradually assumed a universal spiritual purpose.
This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.