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Lot 260

GANDHI (M.K., 'MAHATMA')
Series of five typed letters signed and two autograph postcards signed ("MK Gandhi"), to Harold K. Hales, MP, Stayagraha Ashram, Yeravda Central Prison and elsewhere, the postcards 7 February 1931 and 9 October 1932; the letters 5 September, 12, 20, 31 October, and 1 November 1933

24 June 2015, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £37,500 inc. premium

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GANDHI (M.K., 'MAHATMA')

Series of five typed letters signed and two autograph postcards signed ("MK Gandhi"), to Harold K. Hales, MP, giving his views of imprisonment ("...I assure you that I have no desire to court imprisonment for the sake of it, but if imprisonment comes in my way, even whilst I am seeking peace, I accept it cheerfully..."), of government and terrorist violence ("...Even a confirmed peace-maker like me can have no chance whatsoever if I have to address only one party of violence. I regard both the Government and the terrorists as representing violence; that of the terrorists is unorganised, insane and wholly ineffective from my standpoint, and that of Government is organised, deliberate and blasting, though, also wholly ineffective..."), the nature of true peace ("...A living peace cannot be and will never be brought about at the point of the bayonet. The plan of the Government is, at any rate, seems to me to be after that of a physician who seeks to remove a deadly disease without probing and dealing with the causes...") and the Hindu-Muslim divide ("...I would be the first person to congratulate anybody who brings concord out of the present discord, and I would wish you all success in your effort. Undoubtedly the Hindu-Muslim tension is bad. I simply do not know how it can be removed. I am making all individual effort that I am capable of, but that is saying very little..."), 7 pages, some slight spotting and dust-staining but in good condition, 8vo, Stayagraha Ashram, Yeravda Central Prison and elsewhere, the postcards 7 February 1931 and 9 October 1932; the letters 5 September, 12, 20, 31 October, and 1 November 1933

Footnotes

'A LIVING PEACE CANNOT BE AND NEVER WILL BE BROUGHT ABOUT AT THE POINT OF A BAYONET' – a fine series of letters by Mahatma Gandhi touching on some of his core beliefs. They were written, rather improbably, to Harold Keates Hales (known locally as 'HK'), who had been a school contemporary of Arnold Bennett's and claimed to be the model for 'the Card' of Bennett's eponymous comic novel. Gandhi's letters were written to him during his brief tenure as Conservative MP for Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, during which he devoted much energy to touring the Empire promoting manufacturing industries and trade. Those written in October 1933 are published in Gandhi's Complete Works; we have not traced publication of the others.

Additional information

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