Print Culture and the Modern World

• 1. The First Printed Books

  • East Asia: Origin of print technology
  • China:
    • Woodblock Printing: Hand printing on paper from 593 AD
    • Accordion Book: Folded and stitched traditional book
    • Imperial Bureaucracy: Major sponsor; printed textbooks for civil service exams
    • Urban Culture: Reading for leisure; Shanghai became hub of mechanical print
  • Japan:
    • Introduced by Buddhist missionaries from China (768-770 AD)
    • Diamond Sutra (868 AD): Oldest Japanese printed book
    • Ukiyo-e: Visual art form by Kitagawa Utamaro ("pictures of the floating world")

• 2. Print Comes to Europe

  • Marco Polo: Brought woodblock printing knowledge from China to Italy (1295)
  • Vellum: Luxury manuscripts printed on calfskin for elites
  • Gutenberg's Innovation:
    • Johann Gutenberg: Developed first mechanical printing press in Mainz, Germany (1430s)
    • Adopted olive press mechanism and metal movable type
    • Gutenberg Bible: First printed book (~1455)

• 3. The Print Revolution & Impact

  • New Reading Public:
    • Reduced book costs, created reading class
    • Shift from Oral Culture to Reading Culture (ballads and folktales sung in taverns)
  • Religious Debates:
    • Martin Luther: Wrote 95 Theses (1517) criticizing Catholic Church; triggered Protestant Reformation
    • Menocchio: Italian miller reinterpreted Bible; executed for heresy
    • Index of Prohibited Books: Created by Catholic Church (1558) to control rebellious ideas

• 4. The Reading Mania (18th Century)

  • Literacy rates soared across Europe (40% to 80%)
  • New Book Types:
    • Penny Chapbooks: Cheap books sold by Chapmen in England
    • Bibliothèque Bleue: Cheap blue-covered books in France
    • Almanacs: Astronomical data and calendars
  • Enlightenment Thinkers:
    • Voltaire & Rousseau: Ideas widely read; promoted reason and critical thinking
    • Louis-Sébastien Mercier: Declared "The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress"
    • Created conditions for the French Revolution

• 5. 19th Century Innovations & Readers

  • New Readers:
    • Children: Grimm Brothers collected folk tales in Germany
    • Women: Penny magazines; guides on behavior and housekeeping
    • Workers: Lending libraries educated self-taught working class
  • Technological Advances:
    • Richard M. Hoe: Power-driven cylindrical press (8,000 sheets/hour)
    • Offset Press: Printed up to six colors at once
    • Electrically operated presses, cheap paperback editions

• 6. Print Comes to India

  • Manuscript Era:
    • Handwritten on Palm Leaves or handmade paper; fragile and expensive
    • Written in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and vernacular languages
  • Introduction of Printing:
    • Brought by Portuguese Missionaries to Goa (mid-16th century)
    • First Tamil book printed in 1579 (Cochin)
  • English Print:
    • James Augustus Hickey: Published Bengal Gazette (1780) - first independent weekly newspaper
    • Commercial ventures and political satire against East India Company

• 7. Religious Reform & Public Debates in India

  • Hindu Reforms:
    • Raja Rammohun Roy: Published Sambad Kaumudi (1821) advocating social reform
    • Hindu Orthodoxy: Published Samachar Chandrika to oppose reforms
    • Ramcharitmanas: First printed edition came out in Calcutta (1810)
  • Muslim Reforms:
    • Deoband Seminary (1867): Published thousands of Fatwas on daily conduct
    • Urdu print countered fears of colonial conversion
  • Printing Presses: Naval Kishore Press (Lucknow), Shri Venkateshwar Press (Bombay)

• 8. New Forms of Publication & Social Groups

  • Literary Genres: Novels, short stories, essays, lyrics
  • Visual Culture:
    • Cheap prints and calendar art by Raja Ravi Varma
    • Caricatures and cartoons satirized Westernized Indians and social changes
  • Women and Print:
    • Rashsundari Debi: Wrote Amar Jiban (1876) - first full autobiography in Bengali
    • Kailashbashini Debi: Highlighted women's domestic struggles
    • Tarabai Shinde & Pandita Ramabai: Wrote about upper-caste Hindu women's oppression
  • Print and Lower Castes:
    • Jyotiba Phule: Wrote Gulamgiri (1871) against caste injustice
    • B.R. Ambedkar & E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar): Wrote powerfully on caste
    • Kashibaba: Published Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal (1938) on class/caste exploitation

• 9. Print and Censorship

  • Early Colonial Rule: Focused on censoring Englishmen critical of Company rule
  • Metcalfe Act (1835): Relaxed press regulations temporarily
  • Vernacular Press Act (1878):
    • Modeled on Irish Press Laws
    • Empowered government to censor vernacular news, seize presses, and track nationalist sedition
  • Nationalist Resistance:
    • Bal Gangadhar Tilak: Wrote critically in Kesari (Marathi newspaper)
    • Imprisonment of journalists fueled nationwide protests and Swadeshi Movement