Snēhagīta, Koccunōval. Gr̲anthakarttā Vallccir̲a Mādhavan. Kunnaṅkuḷaṃ : Ecc. & Si. St̲ōl̲s, 1963. From the University of Chicago Library.

സ്നേഹഗീത Snehageetha by വല്ലച്ചിറ മാധവൻ Vallachira Madhavan.

Madhavan was popular Malayalam romance novelist, publishing more than 400 works in his lifetime. I couldn’t find a translation of സ്നേഹഗീത is in Malayalam, but I know that Sneha in Hindi means “love” and Gita, the “song of God” (or Bhagavad Gita), is a long scripture from the Mahabharata. Could this have any relation? Could this title be Love Song? Although, I’ve also seen a lot of Christian imagery when searching for Snehageetha… would love to know why!

The Malayalam title lettering is drawn with pointed curves, resembling lotus petals, a flower that is a symbol of divine beauty. Quite a nice, simple cover. I also enjoy seeing this rendition of മ, showing the handwritten construction that looks a bit different than in type designs.