Nāthūrām Premī excelled in the field of literature as a poet, editor, writer and publisher earning respect and affection of his contemporaries like Munshi
Premchand, Mahaviraprasad Dwivedi, Rahul Sankrityayan,
Pandit Sukhlalji, Muni Jinavijayaji, Ganeshprasadji Varni, Pandit Becharadasji Doshi, Pandit Agarchand Nahata and Dr Dalsukh Malvania. Premiji and Munshi Premchand were close friends, and he published the first edition of Munshi Premchand's classic novel,
Godān. He also published Premchand's short story collections entitled Nava Nidhi and Sapta Saroj.
A budding poet Under the inspiration of his guru Syed Amir Ali Mir, Nathuram became a budding poet, writing in Urdu and Braj under the nom de plume of "Premi". Since then he was affectionately called Premiji by his friends and contemporaries. His poems were published in the literary magazines of the time, Rasika Mitra, Rasika Vātikā and Kāvya Sudhākara.
Editor and writer Establishment of Hindi Granth Karyalay On 24 September 1912 Premiji founded the publishing house
Hindi Granth Ratnākar Kāryālay (now known as
Hindi Granth Karyalay) at C.P. Tank, Mumbai. It was to become the foremost Hindi publishing house in India and is also the oldest bookstore of
Mumbai. The first publication was a Hindi translation of John Stuart Mill's
On Liberty, titled
Svādhīnatā translated by Mahavira Prasad Dvivedi. He published almost the entire oeuvre of
Sharat Chandra Chatterji, the Bengali writer, and some works of
Rabindranath Tagore, such as
Ānkh kī Kirkirī, and
Naukā Dūbī. Premiji also published Hindi translations of the Gujarati writer KM Munshi, such as
Gujarāt ke Nāth and
Pātan kā Prabhutva. Other famous works published include Munshi
Premchand's classic novel,
Godān and short story collections titled
Nava Nidhi and
Sapta Saroj. He also published works of then new writers such as Hajariprasad Dvivedi, Jainendrakumar, Yashpal, Acharya Chatursen, and Pandit Sudarshan. He also published the Bengali plays of Dvijendra Lal Rai for the first time in Hindi. In memory of Seth Manikchandra, Premiji established the
Manikacandra Jain Granthamālā wherein he published Jain scriptures, for the first time systematically edited by philologists. The
Manikacandra Jain Granthamālā published over 48
Digambara Jain texts, mostly written in
Prakrit,
Apabhramśa or
Sanskrit. He ran the Manikacandra Jain Granthamālā on an honorary basis between 1915 and the 1950s selling all the books at cost price. When his health began to fail, it was decided to hand over the series to
Bhāratīya Jñānapītha in
Varanasi.
A non-sectarian Jain scholar Premiji was non-sectarian in his attitude and shared a good rapport with many
Śvetāmbara scholars. Besides many Digambara scriptures, he published and translated many Śvetāmbara scriptures. He once remarked to Sukhlalji that he wished that the learned
Digambara scholars would give up their sectarian views. During those times there used to be heated debate whether Acarya
Umāsvāti (Umāsvāmī) belonged to the Śvetāmbara or the Digambara tradition. Premiji, although a Digambara himself, went against views of Digambara community and opined that he was neither, but belonged to the
Yāpanīya tradition.
Pt. Sukhlal Sanghvi, a Śvetāmbara Jain scholar observed Premiji's non-sectarian attitude: :"He was considered to be a Pandit – a scholar of Jain tradition. To me it was a surprise! How could his writings be so impartial and audacious? I had come in contact with many Jain friends and scholars, but until then, excepting a few, I had not come across any scholar who was as non-sectarian or fearless as Premiji. So I had developed the perception that it was impossible to find a Jain scholar who was non-sectarian as well as fearless. Premiji's writings gradually made me realise that I had the wrong notion. This was the foremost reason for me to be attracted towards him. :[...] :We had an excellent understanding of traditions of one another but we had no sectarian complicities."
Contribution to other Indian languages Social reformer ==Premiji's legacy==