The tome measures 3.5 feet in length and 2.5 feet in breadth, and has been authored by Hermann Adolphe and Robert Schlagintweit. It provides a graphic account of the Indian geographical terrain.

The pages were laminated using Japenese butter paper, the university librarian in-charge at Fort, S S Potdar, told Express Newsline. Quite a few rare library books have been restored since the past two years, but much more work needs to be done in this area, she added.

``Of the four lakh books in the Fort library, there are more than 1,200 rare books and manuscripts. In fact, the number of odd-sized books itself is over 750,'' she informed, adding that more funds are needed to restore the books.

The yearly budgetprovided by the varsity for special binding is reportedly Rs 25,000 and Rs one lakh for ordinary binding of the books. ``However, we do need more money for the meticulous restoration of the rare books, wherein every page has to be treated separately. But some progress is being made in this direction: the oldest book in here, the Latin Travelogue, published in 1490, was similarly restored two years ago,'' said Potdar.