Letters from a Father to His Daughter

Jawaharlal Nehru, Letters from a Father to His Daughter: Being a Brief Account of the Early Days of the World, Written for Children, Allahabad: Kitabistan, 1937

84 pages, illustrated with black and white figures and reproductions in text; rebound in contemporary cloth binding with gilded leather title ticket pasted on the front board and spine
8.7 x 6 in (22 x 15 cm)

Composed as a series of letters to his daughter Indira, the chapters outline a history of the world for an engaged and curious child. "I hope that such as them who read these letters may gradually come to think of this world of ours as a large family of nations" (foreword).

This book is a collection of letters written by Jawaharlal Nehru to his daughter Indira Priyadarshini, originally published in 1929 by Allahabad Law Journal Press at Nehru's request and consisting of only the 30 letters sent in the summer of 1928 when Indira was 10 years old. He arranged a second edition in 1931 and subsequently, further reprints and editions have been published with adapted titles, additional letters and prefaces and forewords by Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The letters were education pieces on the subjects of natural and human history. At the time of the letter's writing, Nehru was in Allahabad, while Indira was in Mussoorie. While original letters written by Nehru were in English, they were translated into Hindi by the Hindi novelist Munshi Premchand under the name Pita Ke Patra Putri Ke Naam. In 2014 was edited a Cuban translation to Spanish of this book, using the tile "Cartas a mi hija Indira" (Letters to my daughter Indira), performed by Rodolfo Zamora. In that edition, other 5 letters were published. An amplified new edition was released in 2018, also in Cuba, honouring the 100th anniversary of the correspondence between Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. (Source: Wikipedia)