Rare First Edition of Indian Constitution Sold In Auction At This Price

The national government issued this edition of the constitution in 1950 and it is one of only 1000 copies printed by the Survey of India headquarters in Dehradun. This copy of the Constitution's blueprint is safely stored in a unique case filled with helium in the Indian Parliament's library and it also bears the printed signatures of those who created it, including the Constitution's architect, BR Ambedkar.

The Blueprint of the Constitution bears the signatures of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in English and author Kamla Chaudhary in Hindi. It represents all 284 members of the 1946 Constituent Assembly. It also has the illumination by contemporary artist, Nandalal Bose and calligraphy by Prem Behari Narain Raizada.

This Constitution copy was up for auction as part of a three-day online sale held by Saffronart from July 24 to July 26. The auction featured antiques that represented centuries of Indian history, art, literature, photography, and more. Beyond its visual appeal, Saffronart aimed to showcase and record India's rich cultural legacy.

According to Saffronart co-founder Minal Vazirani, the addition of the Constitution is a crucial marker of their objectives with this auction "because of its deep emotional resonance as a marker of an independent India and the values it stands for."

Over the course of six months, from November 1949 to April 1950, calligraphist Raizada wrote down the laws that would serve as the basis of the nation on sheets of handcrafted Millbourne Loan paper supplied by the controller of printing & stationery. He was awarded Rs 4,000 for the work.

Nandalal Bose and other artists from Shantiniketan's Kala Bhavan eventually embellished and illuminated the sheets of paper, with Nehru suggesting actual gold spray on the margins and illumination on every page's border.

Bose also created 22 pictures, primarily in the miniature style, featuring vignettes from various eras of Indian history, one for each section of the Constitution. It took four years to design and represent India's art and history in the 221-page Constitution, for which he was paid Rs 21,000.