Autograph book and Report from the Thirtieth Indian National Congress, featuring the signatures of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, and Dadabhai Naoroji. INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS Report of the Thirtieth Indian National Congress held at Bombay on 27th, 28th & 29th December 1915. Bombay: [The 'Commercial' Press / Printed by The Bombay Art Printing Works], 1916. 4to (320 x 200 mm). Illustrated with original halftone photographic plates. Bound in plain burgundy leatherette. Staining, marginal tears, and fraying primarily to the first and last few leaves; lacks title page/wrapper as often. [with] Autograph Album of Darabshaw Dossabhoy Umrigar.Oblong 12mo (102 x 133 mm). Inscribed by the owner on the decorative flyleaf. Original molded composite boards. Covers detached, several leaves loose. SALIENT HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: GANDHI, MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND 'MAHATMA' (1869-1948). Monumental dual autograph signature, penned in both Gujarati and English scripts. Signed during his historic first active participation at an Indian National Congress session following his permanent return to India from South Africa in 1915. TAGORE, RABINDRANATH (1861-1941). Autograph Signature: 'Rabindranath Tagore / 8th April 1923.'NAOROJI, DADABHAI (1825-1917). Autograph Signature: 'Dadabhai Naoroji / 8th August 1910 [or 16].' The 'Grand Old Man of Indian Politics,' co-founder of the Indian National Congress, and the first British Indian MP. NAIDU, SAROJINI (1872-1949). Autograph Poetic Sentiment Signed: 'Nought shall conquer or control / The heavenward hunger of our soul / Sarojini Naidu / 29th Dec: 1915 / Congress Pandal.' A defiant two-line quotation from her poem 'To a Buddha Seated on a Lotus,' penned on-site in the main pavilion mid-debate. MALAVIYA, PANDIT MADAN MOHAN (1861-1946). Autograph Signature. Freedom fighter, four-time INC President, and founder of Banaras Hindu University. ANDREWS, CHARLES FREER 'DEENABANDHU' (1871-1940). Autograph Signature: 'C. F. Andrews / April 8, 1923.' Signed on the exact same day as his close friend Rabindranath Tagore. PRESIDENTS OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS: A remarkable gathering of early party leadership, including Satyendra Prasanna Sinha (1915 President), Sir Dinshaw Edulji Wacha (co-founder and 1901 President), Sir Surendranath Banerjee (co-founder and 1895/1902 President), Bhupendranath Basu (1914 President), R. N. Mudholkar (1912 President), and Sir Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar (1900 President). PETIT, JEHANGIR BOMANJEE (1879-1946). Autograph Signature, dated 1915. The elite Parsi philanthropist who famously financed Gandhi's return and hosted the historic 600-person reception for him in Bombay in January 1915. ADDITIONAL CIVIC SIGNATURES including Indian polymath and scientist J.C. Bose, Diwan P.D. Pattani, industrialist Sir Dinshaw Petit, Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, Punjab leader Harkishenlal, and Bombay educator D. MacKichan. A UNIFIED PATRIOTIC SNAPSHOT OF FOUNDATIONAL AMENDMENT AND RECONCILIATIONThe 1915 Bombay Session of the Indian National Congress is universally recognized as the critical pivot point where the modern independence struggle was forged. It was at this specific meeting that the constitutional rules were altered to allow the extremist faction, led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, to reunite with the moderates, forming a single national front. Compiled by Darabshaw Dossabhoy Umrigar, scion of an influential Parsi merchant family with unfettered VIP access, this album is an intimate record of the Congress Pandal's inner circle. It captures the precise moment Gandhi transitioned from his South African civil rights campaigns into the undisputed leader of the Indian home-rule movement. Combined with signatures spanning from the older guard of the 19th-century nationalist awakening (Naoroji, Wacha, Banerjee) to the interwar cultural giants of the 1920s (Tagore, Andrews), this lot represents an uncommonly rich archive of modern South Asian history. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing