Print Culture and the Modern World

Print Culture and the Modern World  

                                                                                                   R.Ayyappan

                                                                                                                          UNIT I 1.Printing in China Or The first Printed Books

Ø AD 594 onwards books in china were printed by rubbing paper – against the inked surface of woodblocks.

Ø The traditional Chinese “Accordian books” was folded and stitched at the side.

Ø The Chinese government recruited the employees through the civil service examinations.

Ø So the demand for the books increased in the country.

Ø During the 17^th century print was not only used by scholar officials but also been used by merchants and ordinary people.

Ø Fictional stories, Poetry, Autobiographies, anthologies were published.

Ø Rich women began to read and publishing their writings.

Ø Shanghai became the hub of the new print culture.

2.Print in Japan

Ø Buddhist monks of China, introduced the print to Japan around AD768 -770.

Ø The oldest Japanese book, “The Diamond Sutra” with six pages was printed.

Ø Pictures were printed on Textiles, Playing cards and Paper money.

Ø Edo (Tokyo) became the hub of the print.

Ø Painting  depicted an elegant urban culture.

Ø Libraries and bookstores were packed with various types of books on women, Music, calculations, tea ceremony, flower arrangement etc.,

Unit 2

3.Print comes to Europe

Ø In 1295, Marco Polo a great explorer, took the woodblock printing to Italy.

Ø Producing books with woodblock spread from Italy to other parts of Europe.

Ø Cheap editions were published for students.

Ø Luxury editions were still handwritten on very expensive Vellum.

Ø The demand for the books increased in Europe.

Ø More than 50 Scribes often worked for one bookseller.

Ø Woodblock printing became more popular in Europe.

Ø Woodblock were being widely used in Europe to print textiles, playing cards and religious pictures.

Ø There was a great need for even quicker and cheaper reproduction of texts.

4.Demerits of Manuscripts

Ø Handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the ever increasing demand for book.

Ø Copying was an expensive, laborious and time consuming business.

Ø Manuscripts were fragile, and awkward to handle.

5.Johann Gutenberg and Printing Press

Ø Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew up in agriculture estate in German.

Ø He had seen Olive Press from the childhood and he was a master of gold smith.

Ø He created mould of alphabets and olive press provided the model for the printing press.

Ø By 1448 Gutenberg perfected the system.

Ø The first book published was the BIBLE. 180 copies were printed and it took three years to produce them.

Ø By the standards of the time this was fast production.

Ø The printed books were closely resembled the written manuscripts. Borders were illuminated with foliage and other patterns.

Ø Printers from Germany travelled to other country seeking work and helping start new press.

Ø By 15^th century 20 million books flooded in the markets of Europe. By 16^th century it was 200 million copies.

Unit 3

5.New Reading public

Ø Printing reduced the cost of books.

Ø The time and labour required to produce the book came down, and multiple copies could be produced with greater ease.

Ø Access to books created a new culture of reading.

Ø Earlier, reading restricted to the elite. Common people lived in a world of oral culture.

Ø People heard sacred text read out, Ballads recited.

Ø New books reach out wider sections of people.

Ø Hearing public became a reading public.

6.Religious Debates and the Fear of Print. (or) “Not Everyone welcomed the Printed books.”

Ø Religious authorities and Monarchs were feared of printed books.

Ø They feared that if there is no control over what was printed and read, than rebellious and irreligious thoughts might spread.

Ø If that happened the authority of “Valuable literature” would be destroyed.

Ø In 1517 the religious Reformer Martin Luther King wrote 95 Theses criticizing the practices and rituals of Roman Catholic Church.

Ø A printed copy was posted in the church doors of Wittenberg.

Ø Martin Luther writings were reproduced and spread very fast.

Ø The New Testament sold 5000 copies in three months.

Ø Finally it leads to new division of Protestant.

Ø Luther said “Printing was the ultimate gift of god and greatest one.”

7.Print and Dissent

Ø Menocchio a miller in Italy, reinterpreted the Bible and formulated a view of God and creation.

Ø It enraged the Roman Catholic Church.

Ø When Roman Catholic Church began its inquisition to repress heretical ideas, Menocchio was executed.

Ø Roman Catholic Church, imposed severe controls over publishers and booksellers.

Ø Church began to maintain Index of Prohibited Books from 1558.

Unit 4

8.The Reading Mania

Ø During 17^th and 18^th century, Churches set up schools in villages.

Ø Literacy rates were as high as 60 to 80 percent in Europe.

Ø Due to increase in schools there was increased demand of books in Europe.

Ø Booksellers employed PEDLARS who roamed around the village carrying the little books for sale.

Ø In England Penny Chap books were sold for one penny, so even poor could able to purchase the book.

Ø In France Biliotheque Bleue, were low priced books printed in poor quality paper, in four to six pages.

Ø Periodic press developed from early 18^th century in Europe, published current affairs with entertainment.

Ø Scientist like Isaac Newton began to publish discoveries, influence scientifically minded readers.

Ø The writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau were also widely printed and read.

9. “Tremble therefore, tyrants of the world”

Ø There was a common conviction that books were a means of spreading progress and enlightenment.

Ø Many believed that books could change the world.

Ø Books could liberate the society from despotism and tyranny.

Ø Louise-Sebastian Mercier a novelist said “The Printing Press is a most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away.”

Ø In many of Mercier’s novel, the heroes are transformed by act of reading.

Ø Mercier proclaimed “Tremble therefore, tyrants of the world! Tremble before the virtual writer.”

10.Print Culture and the French Revolution

Many historians have argued that print culture created the conditions in for a revolution.

Three types of arguments

Ø First: Print popularized the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers.

Ø There writings provided critical commentary on tradition, superstition and despotism.

Ø They demanded that everything be judged through the reason and rationality.

Ø They attacked the sacred authority of church and monarch.

Ø Those who read the writings of Voltaire and Rousseau they saw the world through the rational and critical.

Ø Second:Print created a new culture of dialogue and debate.

Ø All values and institutions were re-evaluated and discussed by the public.

Ø Third: The literature of 1780 mocked the royalty and criticized their morality.

Ø Cartoons and caricatures suggested that monarchy involved in sensual pleasures, while common people suffered immense hardship.

Unit 5 The 19^th Century- New Readers like Children, Women and Workers.

11.Press for Children

Ø A  children press devoted to literature for children alone was set up in France in 1857.

Ø They published old fairy tales and folk tales.

Ø The Grimm Brothers in German gathered folk tales from peasants and published their collection I 1812.

12.Print and women

Ø Women became readers as well as writers.

Ø They wrote about proper behavior of women and women as a powerful personality.

Ø Jane Austen, Bronte sisters, George Eliot were the famous novelist.

13.Print and workers

Ø Lending libraries in England helped the middle class people and workers.

Ø After the working day was shortened the workers find time to read.

Ø Some of them turned into writers and they wrote autobiographies.  

14.Innovation in Printing press

Ø By 19^th century Richard M.Hoe of New York had perfected the power driven cylindrical press.

Ø This was capable of printing 8000 sheets per hour.

Ø This press was particularly useful for printing news papers.

Ø In the late 19^th century the offset press was developed which could print up to six colours at a time.

Ø In the 1920 in England popular works were sold in cheap series, called Shilling Series. This books were cheap so that people could able to buy books during Great depression in 1930.

Unit 6 India and the world of Print

15.Demerits of Manuscripts.

Ø Manuscripts were expensive and fragile.

Ø Very difficult to handle.

Ø They could not be read easily as the script was written in different styles.

Ø Manuscripts were not used in everyday life.

Ø There was an Oral culture even in pre colonial schools of Bengal.

16.How Print came to India?

Ø Portuguese missionaries brought printing press to Goa.

Ø By 1674 about 50 books had been printed in Konkani and in Kanara Language.

Ø Catholic priests printed first Tamil book in 1579 at Cochin.

Ø In 1713 First Malayalam book was printed.

Ø By 1710 Dutch Protestant missionaries has printed 32 Tamil texts.

17.Why Warren Hastings persecuted Hickey?

Ø In 1780 James Augustus Hickey published the Bengal Gazette, a weekly magazine.

Ø It described as a commercial paper open to all, but influenced by none.

Ø Hickey published lot of advertisement on import, export and even slaves trade.

Ø Hickey also published gossip about the company’s senior officials.

Ø It enraged the Governor – General Warren Hastings, so he persecuted Hickey.

Ø East Indian Company encouraged the publications which supported the company.

Ø Gangadhar Bhattacharya, who was close to Rammohan Roy brought first weekly Bengal Gazette.

 Unit 7

Religious Reform and Public Debates

18.How print culture created debates and discussions in India.

Ø Debates  and Discussions took place over the matters like widow immolation, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and idolarity.

Ø Raja Rammohan Roy published his religious reforms in his magazine “SAMPTH KAUMUDI”(1821)

Ø Hindu orthodoxy published “SAMACHAR CHANDRIKA” oppose the opinions of Rammohan Roy.

Ø Persian newspapers like JAM – I – JAHAN NAMA and SHAMSUL AKBHAR were published in 1822.

Ø Gujarati newspaper BOMBAY SAMACHAR was also appeared.

Ø Muslims were feared that colonial rulers would encourage conversions which could spoil the religion.

Ø Ulama’s published the FATWA telling that how Muslims should conduct themselves in thousands of copies.

Ø RAMCHARITHA MANAS of Tulasidas was published from Calcutta in 1810.

Ø Naval Kishore Press at Lucknow and the Shri Venkateshwar Press in Bombay published numerous religious texts in vernacular languages.

Unit 8 and 9 are under preparation.