Another Conversation With Nauman Niaz

Martin Chandler | 9:15am BST 01 October 2023

Having scratched the floor of the beautiful private museum of Nauman Niaz in my previous post, an additional go to was lengthy overdue. However this time there will probably be little point out of cricket . The bibliography of our nice recreation is one thing I do know a very good deal about, and though my information of different points of cricketana is extra rudimentary it’s nonetheless a topic I perceive.

Nauman’s museum incorporates round 7,000 cricket books, so he and I may discuss for hours on finish with out the necessity to stray outdoors my consolation zone, however that gained’t alter the truth that in complete his library extends to round 19,000 objects, so there’s a nice deal extra to study.

However first an perception or two into Nauman. His tutorial achievements alone are outstanding. He started his schooling at St Mary’s Academy in Rawalpindi earlier than transferring on to the well-known Aitchison Faculty in Lahore. 

From there Nauman did his first diploma, again in Rawalpindi on the Rawalpindi Medical Faculty, earlier than he unfold his wings and undertook additional levels on the Royal Faculty of Physicians in London, Edinburgh, Eire and Glasgow, a PhD from the College of Western Australia and a Submit Doctorate from Oxford College. Combining as he has his stellar careers in drugs and journalism/broadcasting I used to be not stunned to study that Nauman is a person who exists on three hours sleep an evening!

The calls for his professions place on him however Nauman has nonetheless had loads of time to interact along with his ardour for cricket and his overarching need to attach with the previous, significantly 18th and nineteenth century Britain.

Nauman additionally acknowledges a substantial debt to his lineage. His late father was Lieutenant Common Hamid Niaz of the Pakistan Military, so there may be warrior blood in him. While Nauman’s father was not a collector as such, he nonetheless handed on to Nauman quite a lot of objects that type a part of his assortment right this moment, not least amongst these being two signed cupboard playing cards of Abraham Lincoln that have been offered to Hamid on a visit to the US.

So what are Nauman’s non-cricketing bibliographical passions? Many and assorted is the brief reply to that one, and each fiction and non-fiction are nicely represented in his assortment.

Charles Dickens is likely one of the most well-known names in English literature and printed 15 novels. Nauman’s assortment incorporates copies of all of them, 9 second second editions and 6 first and, amongst these, a replica of Oliver Twist signed by Dickens.

A more moderen space of fertile floor for collectors are what are referred to on the whole phrases as ‘trendy firsts’. Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels are as collectable as any. There are 13 of all of them collectively and Nauman has signed copies of all of them full, after all, with their authentic mud jackets.

Transferring on to non fiction Nauman is a good aficionado of Winston Churchill, and his assortment homes a replica of every of Churchill’s 72 printed works, all first editions and round half of them signed. Not essentially probably the most priceless, however maybe probably the most fascinating are his signed set of the seminal six quantity Historical past of the Second World Conflict.

One significantly attention-grabbing merchandise within the Niaz assortment is a replica of Gandhi’s eight quantity assortment of his personal writings. Naturally it’s a first version (1953), and one on the volumes is signed. Particular sufficient however there was additionally a restricted version printed in South Africa that was certain in fabric taken from Gandhi’s dhoti, a conventional merchandise of apparel for male Hindus, and Nauman’s copies come from that version.

As a ten 12 months outdated I recall vividly sitting with my father while he watched a information programme on the tv concerning the demise of Bertrand Russell, and my father defined me to me that Russell was a person with a mighty mind, primarily a thinker and mathematician, who had simply died on the age of 97.

Later in life I grew as much as perceive extra about Russell, whose bibliography is immense. His most well-known work is A Historical past of Western Philosophy, first printed in 1945. Nauman has a signed first version of that one in its authentic mud jacket, and the identical applies to lots of Russell’s different books. However his prized possessions in that a part of his museum are the three volumes of Principia Mathematica, printed between 1910 and 1913 and, after all, writer signed.

However what’s the one factor that Nauman doesn’t have however want to personal above all others? The reply to that one is the signature of William Shakespeare. That the Bard’s autograph could be an costly one doesn’t shock, however till Nauman wistfully defined the scenario to me I hadn’t realised that solely six examples are identified. 5 of these are owned by British establishments, and the solitary instance in non-public arms final modified arms in 2006, for the small matter of $4,600,000. 

So the acquisition of a Shakespeare could show problematic, so for my part Nauman could be nicely suggested to stay to a few various ambitions, the comparatively straightforward one in all a full set of Wisden in authentic situation, or the better problem of including the opposite fourteen editions to his presently considerably lonely copy of Britcher’s Scores, however that brings us again to cricket, and a topic for an additional day, however for now an additional number of pictures from the gathering ……