1785
The Bhagvat-Geeta
Charles Wilkins
First English editionStatus on requestPrivate viewings in Switzerland by appointment · Worldwide enquiries welcome
The printed word. The painted image.
Rare books & Indian miniatures
India, in the
Printed Word
and the Painted Image
We are collectors first: neurobiologists by training, scholars by inclination, and students of Indian civilization for more than twenty-five years. We study, preserve and share the rare books and miniature paintings through which India has expressed—and encountered—the world.
Our purpose is to deepen knowledge rather than simply to sell. Selected works are occasionally made available to thoughtful collectors and institutions, and we are always happy to discuss objects, exchange ideas and share what our years of collecting have taught us.
I
A house of connoisseurship
Objects are not possessions.
They are inheritances.
The Eye of the Beholder brings together landmark books through which India was translated, classified and imagined, and miniature paintings in which its courts, devotions and inner worlds found enduring form.
Our collecting philosophy →About the collection
A collection shaped by
knowledge, beauty
and consequence.
The Eye of the Beholder began not as a business, but as a private act of looking. Over more than two decades, Anirban and Rejina Sadhu have assembled works that illuminate India through two of its most intimate and enduring forms: the book held in the hand and the miniature contemplated at close quarters.
The collection is deliberately selective. A work must possess more than age or rarity. It should mark an encounter between civilizations, preserve a decisive moment in the history of ideas, or reveal the refinement of an artistic tradition. Provenance, condition and beauty matter; intellectual consequence matters still more.
Today, the collection is evolving into a specialist maison: a place where significant objects are researched deeply, presented with candour and placed with collectors and institutions who understand stewardship as a privilege.
01Historical importance
Works that altered how India understood itself—or was understood by the world.
02Connoisseurship
Beauty, rarity, condition and provenance considered together, never in isolation.
03Stewardship
Objects placed thoughtfully, with custodians committed to their preservation.
The Custodians
A manifesto for
preserving meaning.
There comes a moment when acquisition gives way to purpose. The pursuit of wealth is replaced by the pursuit of meaning. Rare books and works of art are not merely possessions; they are fragments of civilization entrusted to our care.
The Custodians articulates the philosophy at the heart of The Eye of the Beholder: true luxury is measured not by what we own, but by what we choose to preserve.
Read the full manifesto
Open full size ↗The library
Rare Books
First editions, early translations, illustrated works and landmarks in the transmission of Indian knowledge.
Ten selected worksThe painted world
Indian
Miniatures
Built over more than twenty-five years, the miniature collection is academic in purpose and highly selective in character. Each painting is studied closely within its historical, artistic and devotional context, with attention to attribution, provenance, inscriptions, materials and related works in museum collections.
Important works are documented through scholarly catalogues and publications, allowing the research surrounding them to endure alongside the paintings themselves. Selected miniatures may occasionally be made available to collectors and institutions committed to their continued study and preservation.
Discuss the collectionEvery published work includes
01
Context
Subject, iconography, court, workshop and place within the larger visual tradition.
02
Evidence
Materials, inscriptions, provenance, condition and close institutional comparisons.
03
Scholarship
A fully researched catalogue entry designed to remain valuable beyond the moment of acquisition.
Actual collection images and individual scholarly records will replace this introductory panel as works are prepared for publication.
The reading room
Catalogues & Essays
Our catalogues are conceived as works of scholarship in their own right—deeply researched, extensively illustrated and designed to remain worthy of study long after an individual object has changed hands. Few specialist collections document their works with comparable depth.
THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDERINDIA
INDIA
IN FIRST
EDITIONS
Landmarks from the Collection
Forthcoming catalogue · 2026
India in
First Editions
A considered survey of landmark books through which Indian philosophy, law, literature and visual culture entered the age of print—and travelled into the world.
Register interestEssay 01Wilkins and the Making of the 1785 GītāForthcoming
Essay 02Burton’s Kāma Sūtra: The Secret First EditionForthcoming
Essay 03Why Good Indian Books Are So ScarceForthcoming
The open library
Knowledge becomes more valuable when it is shared.
We welcome collectors, scholars, students and all those curious about India to read and study our publications. Request a complimentary digital copy below; the download link will be sent to your email address.
Complimentary digital edition · 274 pages
Poetry in Pigments
A journey through Indian art
Complimentary digital edition · 186 pages
Notes from an Ancient Future
Reflections on India, civilization and continuity
Private enquiries
For collectors,
custodians and institutions.
We welcome enquiries concerning available works, collection-building, scholarly collaboration and significant books or miniatures you may wish to place.
Make an enquiry