This book cover is from the 1991 magazine Women Writing in India: 600 BC to the present, Volume 1: 600 BC. This outstanding body of writing and significant documentary resource deepens our understanding of literature, feminism, and the development of contemporary India by shedding light on the lives of Indian women through 2,600 years of change. Both volumes' introductions, which Anita Desai calls "intellectually rigorous, challenging, and analytical," are accompanied by biographical, critical, and bibliographical headnotes that situate the authors and their choices in the context of Indian history and culture. Cover art: Detail from an eighteenth-century painting from Nal Daman, manuscript collection of the Victoria Memorial Museum, Calcutta, reproduced by permission of Hiren Chakrabarti, Secretary and Curator

The intricate artwork featured on the cover is a mesmerizing detail taken from an exquisite eighteenth-century painting found in the Nal Daman manuscript collection at the Victoria Memorial Museum in Calcutta. The thoughtful text design that complements the artwork is skillfully crafted by Paula Martinac, adding a harmonious visual harmony to the overall cover presentation.