Australian press to publish complete works of John Lang

rajugusain

Australian press to publish complete works of John Lang

By RAJU GUSAIN
http://www.garhwalpost.com
MUSSOORIE:The Mulini Press, based in Australia, has come up with the noble idea of paying tribute to John Lang, the first Australian born novelist, who died in Mussoorie. This publishing house will republish all the novels and works on John Lang by 2016. As a part of the project, a website dedicated to John Lang, www.JohnLang.net, was launched recently. It will provide the latest information on the literary project.

One or two books will be reprinted annually. Next year, The Mulini Press plans to publish Lang's first novel 'Violet the Danseuse' (1836). It is also producing Indian stories penned by John Lang in book form separately. The planned titles are: 'Legends of India' and 'Sketches of Life in Hindustan'.
The press is collecting copies of all letters by and to John Lang and reviews/criticisms of John Lang's works. It also aims at encouraging research on the life and work of the Australian novelist and to establish Lang memorials.

The Mulini Press series begins by taking out a compilation of short stories published in 'Household Words' and other periodicals. The included stories in this title are those that did not feature in Lang's two books, 'Botany Bay' and 'Wanderings in India'.

John Lang wrote over twenty novels. Most of his work was serialised in his newspaper, 'The Mofussilite'. It is estimated that five of his novels had appeared in serials in the newspaper. The Mulini Press is in the process of publishing these unknown novels.

Lang's writing minutely captures the life of Australia, India and England. The coming week is special for lovers of John Lang as a biography of this unsung Australian novelist is all set for release. Written by Victor Crittenden and published by Mulini Press, the book would be released on 15 September 2005 at the National Library.

Lang is best known in the literary field for his novel 'The Forger's Wife' and short story collection 'Botany Bay or True Tales of Early Australia'.
It will be recalled that John Lang mastered the Hindi and Persian languages during his stay in India. While fighting the case of the Rani of Jhansi, he was able to argue in court and to converse with Rani Laxmi Bai without an interpreter. He also used this talent for his newspaper by translating some 'serious' poetry from Urdu to English. The press would also print these translated poetries in book form in the coming times.

The Mulini Press should be lauded for the effort to preserve and also promote the work of an unsung writer.

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Profile of John Lang



John George Lang was born on 19 December 1816 at Parramatta in Australia. After completing his legal studies at the Middle Temple in England (1841) he returned to Australia to be admitted as a barrister at the Sydney Supreme Court. In 1842 he left for Calcutta in India where he worked for the following few years, writing and running his newspaper 'The Mofussilite'.
Lang literary journey began in 1835-36 when he published his first poems, novel and stories while living in Sydney.

As a lawyer, Lang fought the case for Rani Laxmi Bai against the British rulers and he provides detailed a commentary of his meeting with the Jhansi Ki Rani in his book 'Wanderings in India'. He died under mysterious circumstances in Mussoorie on 20 August 1864.John Lang is buried at the Camel's Back graveyard in Mussoorie.

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iwanttogoback

raju
thanks for your posts on this chap. i might even get around to hunting down his work, there can't be too many australians who have published work on india. sounds like he had a fascinating life.

rajugusain

Photo 1: Masthead of the second issue of the Mofussilite

Photo 2:Portrait of the 'Mofussilite', aka John Lang reproduced in The Mofussilite in 1845

Attached Thumbnails

   

tstan

Raju

Thanks for bringing this matter to the attention of the IM fraternity. I spent a few days at Mussoorie last December and visited Christ Church which looked rather forlorn from the outside. However, the interior was in very good condition and the very heady odour of copper sulphate wood preservative rather than the smell of incense and furniture polish filled the nave. Let's hope that they start working on the exterior in the next few years.

It is great news that Mulini Press is proceeding with publication. Some IMers might be interested to know that John lang is part of the Hebrew diaspora.

rajugusain

Australia’s long-lost writer remembered in India

A U S T R A L I A - I N D I A F O C U S
http://www.dfat.gov.au/aic/australia...ul_sep2005.pdf

A long-neglected cultural link between Australia and India is being revived, with the unveiling of a memorial plaque to thefirst Australian-born novelist, John Lang, in the Indian town where he is buried. Born in Parramatta in 1816, Lang movedto India at 25, and spent most of the rest of his life there. He died in 1864 in the Himalayan hill station of Mussoorie,where a hundred years later his grave was discovered by local resident and celebrated author Ruskin Bond.

As a barrister, journalist, writer, scholar and inveterate traveller, Lang was a friend of India. He was a gifted student ofIndian languages. His travel writings about India for Charles Dickens’ journal Household Words are among the most vivid accounts of the India of his day. Lang founded a popular newspaper, The Mofussilite, which often took a critical line against the East India Company. He also represented some prominent Indians, including the Rani of Jhansi, in their legalfights against the British — which did not earn him friends in the establishment.

He was even imprisoned after beingconvicted of defaming a Company officer in his newspaper.In Australia, meanwhile, John Lang is known more for his works of fiction set in the early decades of the colony, includingthe novel The Forger’s Wife and the collection of short stories Botany Bay. The new Lang plaque is in Mussoorie’s Christ Church, the oldestchurch in the Himalayas. This church was where Lang’s secondmarriage took place in 1861. Three years later, Lang’s funeral rites were performed by the Christ Church Chaplain.

The plaque was commissioned by two Australian Lang scholars, RoryMedcalf — who began his study of the subject during a diplomaticposting to India — and Victor Crittenden, who has been researchingLang for many years.

The Mussoorie plaque is not the only recentboost to Lang’s profile. In September, Victor Crittenden’slong-awaited biography of Lang, John Lang: Australia's Larrikin Writerwas launched in Canberra by the Director-General of the Australian National Library, Jan Fullerton AO. This is the first comprehensive account of Lang’s life in Australia, England and India, and reflects a wealth of in-depth literary detective work onLang’s novels and journalism.

Through his Mulini Press, Mr Crittenden has also commenced a ‘John Lang Project’. This includes developing a dedicated website aswell as plans to republish many of John Lang’s works in the years ahead. In 2006, the Project is due to publish a collection of Lang’sIndian stories edited by Mr Crittenden and Mr Medcalf. T

The Indianpress is also beginning to take an interest in John Lang. A journalist in Dehra Dun, Raju Gusain, is helping to generate publicity about thesubject, while another, Jai Prakash Uttarakhandi, has even namedhis weekly English/Hindi newspaper the Mafasilite in honour of Lang’s journal.

Rick Hosking of the Department of English at Flin-ders’ University, who has a long-standing interest in Lang’s and other English-language literature of India, has welcomed the revival of in-terest in Lang, and the momentum that this reflected for ‘generating cultural connections between Australia and India’.