The Publication Board, Assam has so far published more than 1000 titles of which around 550 titles are in circulation at present.
Ancient Literature
In the category of rare books published by the Board, the first publication that received national as well as international recognition was Hastividyarnava (1976). This perpetual classic was released by the then President of India, Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi on 8th of January, 1976.This book was awarded the first prize for excellence of production in the category of Art Book in an All India competition organized by the Govt. of India in 1976. The Board won another National level prize for ‘Asomiya Viswakosh’ and ‘Loka kalpa Dristi’ in 1979.
In 1978, Publication Board won the Best Desplay award in the Double Stall category in the World Book Fair, New Delhi. After a decade, the Board published another important classic Gita-Gobinda in the Assam School of Painting. This book was released on 18th of November, 1986 by the then President of India, Giani Zail Singh at Rabindra Bhawan in Guwahati. Other important books in this category include Prachya Sasanavali (1974), Kamrupa
Sasanavali (1981) and Dharma Pustak (2012).
Books with Archival Value
The Publication Board, Assam had taken initiative to publish the compilation of the 19th Century famous Assamese periodicals years back. The Board has been successful in publishing Arunodoy, Abahaon and Banhi in big volumes which have gained great reverence from the reading fraternity.
Tribute to Great Writers
The Publication Board, Assam has paid apt tributes to almost all the distinguished litterateurs of Assamese language and literature by bringing out centenary commemorative volumes or the compilations of their complete works. The major works in this category are Rachanavali or complete works of
Padmanath Gohain Baruah (1971), Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla (1981), Kamalakanta Bhattacharyya (1982), Ambikagiri Rai Choudhury (2007), Hemango Biswas (2008), Jagneswar Sarmah (2008), Dimbeswar Neog (2012), Chandra Prasad Saikia (2012), Laksminath Bezbaroa (2014), Raghunath Choudhury, Benudhar Sarma, Munin Borkataki, Mamoni Raisom Goswami, Binanda Chandra Baruah and Trailukya Nath Goswami.
The Board reprinted the old classics of the great Sanskrit scholar Anundoram Borooah years back. In 2007, it published all these works of Borooah, except his English- Sanskrit Dictionary, in one volume.
Children’s Literature
The Board has been taking initiative to promote children’s literature since long. Since establishment, the Board has encouraged the publication of children’s books.
This include popular mythological and historical stories, novels, books on popular science, biographies etc. The Stories of Panchatantra, Aesop, Ramayana
and Mahabharata, etc and biographies of Galileo, Gandhiji, Abraham Lincoln, Lachit Borphukan, Maniram Dewan, etc, are some popular and best-selling children’s books published by the Board.
Dictionary
The Adhunik Asomiya Abhidhan (Modern Assamese Dictionary) published by the Board has been regarded as one of the most trusted dictionaries by the students, teachers and others for its comprehensive nature, compact size and reasonable price. It has been a bestseller in this category since its publication.The board has also published Bodo and Dimasa dictioneries with an eye to promote the language and dialects of linguistic communities.
The Board is going to publish an Anglo-Assamese Dictionary too with an eye to serve the purpose of students and writers very soon.
Translated Works
The Board has taken the lead to bring out translated versions of world’s best literature for the Assamese readers. Till date, a good number of books have bee
translated into Assamese. Among those, Mur Satya Anwesanor Kahini (Translation of Mahatma Gandhi’s My Experiments with Truth),Ramayana, Kotha-Mahabharata, Jataka (in 5 volumes), Raghubansha, Robin Hood, Dr Zivago, Botahe Kapuwa Sikha, Sagar Siloni, Lilawati, Harsha Charita etc are worth mentioning.
Science Books :
The Board has paid special attention to publishing various books of science. A number of books in this category have been published as aided publications,
while there are other publications on science which are the Board’s own publications. Among these we may mention ‘Manabar Adikatha’, ‘Aviskarar Kahini’, ‘Viswa Rahasya’, ‘Apekshikatavad’, ‘Bivartanar Pathat Manab’, ‘Mahakash Abhijan’, ‘Rahasyamay Biswa’. Besides these, other science books which have been out are ‘ Padartha Bijnanar Navatam Vikash’, ‘Einstein Aru Padartha Jagaat’, Biswa Brahmanda’, Chandra Abhijan’, and ‘Prani Jagatar Bismoi’, etc.
Publication of Buddhist Literature in Assamese :
It has been planned to translate into Assamese the Buddhist stories of Jataka in thier original and also to prepare and publish the Assamese version of the Pittakas. As a first step, the work of translating the six volumes of the ‘ Digghanikaya’ and ‘Majjhimnikaya’ has been assigned to eminent scholars. The translations have been mostly received and are being revised. Among these,, ‘Abhidhammartha Sangraha’ has been published.
History of Assam in English :
The ambitious publication of a Comprehensive History of Assam in English in five volumes have been published. The work covers the entire history of Assam not only in its political aspects but also in its cultural and social aspects. Dr. H. K. Barpujari is the General Editor of the history and the contributors are from within and outside Assam.