CHENNAI: Amid the hustle-bustle of College Road in Nungambakkam lies the quaint 200-year-old Madras Literary Society (MLS). With over 80,000 books, including Aristotle’s Opera Omnia in Greek and Latin published in 1619, it’s the oldest lending library in South India. Despite its rich heritage, MLS is struggling to survive. Mohan Raman, admiral from Navy (Retired) and honorary general secretary of MLS, talks about the historical role of MLS in the South Indian ‘orientalism’ and on reviving it to match its legacy as part of Madras Week.
Raman, also an alumnus of National College Delhi, shares, “This is where it started…site of the college of Fort St George. We would like to think that the college of Fort St George and MLS started together. But, many say that it started a few years later. In those days we didn’t form a society with memorandum and memberships. It was just a tag on,” he says pointing to a vintage picture of the library.
Initially established in 1812 as Asiatic Society of Madras, MLS was started with Bengal Asiatic Society, Kolkata and Bombay Asiatic Society. “Before establishing it here, East India Company’s employees in Madras received instruction on administration, law and local customs from its sister institutions. Later after its establishment, MLS became a repository of documents and data here,” says Mohan.
The society went on to publish a journal — Madras Journal of Literature and Science. “Literature and science had a different meaning in those days. It was far more liberated than it is today…from geology, culture, scripts to customs and Hindu laws it had everything,” he says.
In the 1840s, the college of Fort St George closed as an economic measure and MLS lost solid support. “During this period, many manuscripts were given away to several institutions including the University of Madras and also the Museum. Almost 55,000 books mainly in English, Greek, Latin, Dutch and Arabic were given away because they didn’t have a choice,” he reveals. “But, this was not the case in Bombay and Kolkata. They still have their collections unperturbed.”
Now with 300 members, Mohan says that the Society’s lost foundations, on which it once thrived, have to be revived. “Over 300 books were added to the collection every year and we have a Dewey decimal classification,” he says. The library has original documents of the Buckingham Canal project (1898), Sethusamudram project, documents on a lost script — the rustic Nagari (which was documented in Mahabalipuram tiger caves)and the most prominent and old pictures of Pudukkottai, Thanjavur and Madurai, shot by Captain Tripe (official photographer of the government).
“We have had readership of prominent people including Annie Besant, TT krishnamachari and CP Ramaswami Iyer,” he says showing a picture of a preserved letter to the society by Annie Besant. Having a unique open shelf repository of old and new books, the library is working towards focusing on senior citizens. “We feel the library can prosper as a lending library if special touch is offered for senior citizens. Also, we are looking for more volunteers,” he adds.