Print culture and the modern world. It's hard to imagine our world without printed materials. We see printed things everywhere in books, newspapers, calendars, advertisements and posters.
We use print to read, get news and follow public discussions. We are so used to it that we often forget there was a time when print did not exist. Print has a history that has shaped the world we live in today. But how did it begin and when did printed books and newspapers start to spread?
How did print contribute to the modern world? In this chapter, we will explore how print started from its origins in East Asia, how it spread to Europe, And then to India, the impact of print technology on society. How print changed people's lives and cultures. The first printed books.
The first type of printing began in China, Japan and Korea. It was a hand printing method using wood blocks. In China, around AD 594, books were printed by pressing paper onto inked wood blocks. The paper was thin.
and could not be printed on both sides. So they made folded books called accordion books. Skilled craftsmen copied calligraphy beautifully and accurately.
The Chinese imperial government printed many books especially for civil service exams which were important for government jobs. In the 16th century many people took the exams so more books were printed. By the 17th century, print was used for other purposes like trade and leisure reading. Reading became popular and people liked stories, poetry and plays. Women also started reading and writing.
In the late 19th century, Western printing machines came to China and Shanghai became a center for modern printing. Printing moved from hand methods to mechanical printing over time. Print in Japan Buddhist missionaries brought hand printing technology from China to Japan around AD 768 to 770. The oldest Japanese print book is the Diamond Sutra made in AD 868 with six sheets of text and illustrations. Printing was used for pictures on textiles, playing cards and paper money.
In Medieval Japan, Poets and writers were regularly published and books were cheap and easily available. In the late 18th century, in Edo, that is now Tokyo, illustrated books showed the urban lifestyle with artists, courtesans and gatherings in tea houses. Libraries and bookstores were full of printed materials like books on women, music, tea ceremonies, flower arrangements, cooking, and famous places.
Print comes to Europe. For centuries, silk and spices from China were traded with Europe through the Silk Route. In the 11th century, Chinese paper also reached Europe through this route. Paper allowed for the production of handwritten manuscripts by scribes.
In 1295, the explorer Marco Polo returned to Italy from China. and brought knowledge of woodblock printing. Italians started making books using woodblock printing and this technology spread to other parts of Europe.
Luxury books were still handwritten on expensive vellum, a kind of material, mainly for the rich, while cheaper printed books were bought by merchants and university students. As demand for books grew, booksellers began exporting books across Europe. and organizing book fairs. Handwritten manuscripts were still in demand and booksellers employed many scribes to produce them but it was slow, expensive and time-consuming. Woodblock printing became more popular in Europe especially for printing textiles, playing cards and religious pictures by the early 15th century.
There was a need for faster and cheaper ways to reproduce texts, leading to the invention of the printing press. In the 1430s, John Gutenberg in Strasbourg, Germany, invented the first known printing press, Gutenberg and the printing press. Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew up on a large estate.
He saw wine and olive presses from an angage. He learned to polish stones, became a skilled goldsmith and knew how to make moulds for small items. Using this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted the olive press into a printing press and used moulds to create metal letters for printing. By 1448 Gutenberg perfected his printing system and the first book he printed was the Bible.
He printed 180 copies which took three years fast for the time. Early printed books looked like handwritten manuscripts with hand-painted decorations and illustrations. In luxury books Space was left blank for buyers to choose their own decoration and illustrations. Between 1450 and 1550, printing presses were set up in many European countries with German printers helping to spread the technology. Book production increased rapidly with 20 million books printed by the end of the 15th century and 200 million by the 16th century.
The shift from hand printing to mechanical printing led to the print revolution. The print revolution and its impact. What was the print revolution? It wasn't just a new way to make books. It completely changed people's lives.
It transformed how people accessed information and knowledge and how they related to institutions and authorities. It also shaped how people viewed the world and introduced new perspectives. Let's explore some of these changes.
A new reading public The printing press created a new reading public by making books cheaper and easier to produce. Earlier, reading was mostly for the elites and common people lived in a world of oral culture where stories and knowledge were shared through speaking and listening. Before printing, books were expensive and few in number, so only a small group had access to them. With printing, books became available to more people, creating a reading public alongside the traditional hearing public. However, many people were still illiterate, so publishers made books with popular ballads and folktales that could be read aloud, often with illustrations.
Oral culture and printed books blended together. As people listened to printed stories being read and the hearing and reading public started to overlap. Religious debates and the fear of print. The printing press allowed ideas to be spread widely, leading to new debates and discussions. People who disagreed with authorities could now print and share their views, encouraging others to think differently and take action.
Not everyone welcomed printing books. Some feared that uncontrolled printing could spread rebellious or irreligious ideas. Religious authorities, monarchs, writers and artists worried that valuable literature might lose its influence if harmful ideas circulated freely. In 1517, religious reformer Martin Luther wrote the 95th thesis criticizing the Roman Catholic Church. A printed copy of his thesis was posted on a church door in Rittenberg, sparking a debate and leading to the Protestant Reformation.
Luther's writings were printed and spread quickly with his translation of the New Testament selling 5,000 copies in a few weeks. Luther believed that printing was a gift from God and helped spread new ideas that led to the Reformation. Many scholars think that printing created a new intellectual atmosphere that supported the spread of new ideas.
Print and dissent Printed religious literature allowed people, even those with little education, to develop their own interpretations of faith. In the 16th century, Manacchio, an Italian miller, read books and reinterpreted the Bible, creating his own ideas about God and creation. His views angered the Roman Catholic Church.
When the church started its inquisition to stop heretical ideas, Monacchio was arrested twice and eventually executed. Worried about the impact of popular readings, the church imposed strict controls on publishers and booksellers. In 1558, the church created an index of prohibited books to ban certain books, the reading mania.
During the 17th, and the 18th centuries, literacy rates increased across Europe as churches set up schools for peasants and artisans. By the late 18th century, literacy rates in some parts of Europe reached 60 to 80 percent. As more people learned to read, there was a high demand for books and printers produced more to meet this demand. New types of popular literature appeared aimed at different audiences. Peddlers travelled through villages selling small books like almanacs, ballads and folktales.
In England, cheap books called penny chapbooks were sold by chapmen. In France, bibliothèque bleue were inexpensive books with blue cars. Other popular books included romances, stories about the past and books of different sizes for various interests.
The periodical press started in the early 18th century, mixing news with entertainment. Newspapers shared information about wars, trade, and events in other places. Scientific and philosophical ideas became more accessible to common people through printed books. Scientists like Isaac Newton published their discoveries, reaching more readers.
Thinkers like Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Rousseau also spread their ideas on science, reason and rationality through print. Tremble, therefore tyrants of the world. By the mid-18th century, people believed that books could spread progress and enlightenment.
Many thought books could change the world, free society from tyranny and lead to a time ruled by reason and knowledge. Louis-Sebastien Mercier, a French novelist, called the printing press the most powerful tool for progress and public opinion. In Mercier's novels, the characters are transformed by reading books, gaining knowledge and enlightenments.
Mercier believed that print would help end despotism, warning tyrants to fear the power of writers and their ideas. Print Culture and the French Revolution Some historians believe that Print culture helped create the conditions for the French Revolution. Three main arguments are usually given for this.
First, print popularized the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau. Their writings criticized tradition, superstition and despotism, promoting reason and rationality. They questioned the church's authority and the monarchist power, leading people to think critically. Second, print created a culture of debate and discussion.
People began questioning established beliefs and institutions which helped new ideas of social revolution to emerge. Third, by the 1780s, literature mocking the royalty and questioning their morality became widespread. Cartoons and writing suggested the monarchy was out of touch with the suffering of common people.
spreading negative feelings towards the ruling class. Print helped spread ideas, but people didn't always accept everything they read. They were exposed to different ideas, including those from the monarchy and church, and made their own interpretations. Print did not shape minds directly, but it opened the possibility for new ways of thinking. The 19th Century In the 19th century, Mass literacy in Europe increased significantly, introducing many new readers, including children, women and workers.
Children, Women and Workers Compulsory Education As primary education became mandatory in the late 19th century, children became a major group of readers. School textbooks became important for publishers. Children's Press in 1857 A children's press was started in France, publishing both new works and traditional fairy tales and folk tales.
The Grimm brothers in Germany collected folk tales from peasants and edited them for publication in 1812, removing content unsuitable for children. Women readers and writers Women became significant readers and writers. Penny magazines were targeted at women with guides on proper behavior and housekeeping.
Novels also gained popularity among women with famous female writers like Jane Austen and Bronte sisters and George Eliot defining a new, strong image of women. Lending Libraries Lending libraries had existed since the 17th century. In the 19th century, they became important for educating workers, artisans and the lower middle class. Worker Writers With shorter working hours in the mid-19th century, workers had time for self-improvement and self-expression. Many wrote political tracts and autobiographies.
Further Innovations By the late 18th century, printing presses were made of metal. In the 19th century, printing technology advanced further. In the mid-19th century, Richard M. Ho from Newark developed a power drive and cylindrical press that could print 8,000 sheets per hour. especially useful for newspapers.
In the late 19th century, the offset press was invented which could print up to six colors at once. By the 20th century, electrically operated presses made printing even faster. Other improvements included better paper feeding methods, high quality plates, automatic paper reels, and photoelectric controls for color accuracy. These advancements changed the appearance of printed materials. Publishers developed new ways to sell books.
Novels were often serialized in magazines, creating a new style of writing. In the 1920s, England introduced a cheap book series called the Shilling Series. The book jacket or the dust cover was introduced in the 20th century. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, publishers released affordable paperback editions to keep book sales up. India and the world of print.
Let's explore when printing started in India and how ideas and information were communicated before the printing age. Manuscripts before the age of print. India had a long tradition of handwritten manuscripts in languages like Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and various local languages. Manuscripts were written on palm leaves or handmade paper and were often beautifully illustrated. To preserve them, the pages were either pressed between wooden covers or sewn together.
Manuscript continued to be produced even after the introduction of printing up until the late 19th century. Manuscripts were expensive, fragile and difficult to read due to the different styles of script so they were not used in daily life. In pre-colonial Bengal, Village schools taught students to write but many did not read texts.
Teachers dictated from memory and students copied the text. Print comes to India. The printing press came to Goa with Portuguese missionaries in the mid-16th century. Jesuit priests learned Konkani and printed several tracts.
By 1674, around 50 books were printed in Konkani and Kannada languages. Catholic priests printed the first Tamil book in 1579 in Cochin and the first Malayalam book in 1713. Dutch Protestants, missionaries printed 32 Tamil texts by 1710, many of which were translations of older works. English printing in India started later, even though the East India Company imported presses from the late 17th century. In 1780, James Augustus Hickey began editing the Bengal Gadget, a weekly magazine marking the start of English language printing in India.
Hickey's paper was independent and often criticized senior officials of the East India Company, which led Governor General Warren Hastings to target him. By the late 18th century, more newspapers and journals were in print and Indians also started publishing. The first Indian newspaper was the weekly Bengal gadget by Gangadhar Bhattacharya who was close to Ramohan Roy.
Religious reform and public debates. In the early 19th century, intense debates around religious issues took place, with different groups offering new interpretations and reforms of religious beliefs. These debates were public and carried out through printed tracts and newspapers, allowing more people to participate and share their views.
There were controversies between social and religious reformers. and Hindu orthodoxy on issues like widow immolation, monotheism, priesthood and idolatry. In Bengal, Ram Mohan Roy published Sambad Kaumudi in 1821 while the Hindu orthodoxy responded with Samachar Chandrika. Persian newspapers like Jami Jahan Nama and Shamsul Akbar and the Gujarati newspaper Bombay Samachar were published in 1822. In North India, Muslim scholars, ulama, feared changes to Muslim laws and used print to publish religious texts, fatwas, and newspapers to guide the community.
The Deoband Seminary, founded in 1867, published many fatwas on Islamic teachings and various Muslim sects used Urdu print to express different views of faith. Among Hindus, religious texts like the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas were printed, making them widely available. By the mid-19th century, cheap editions were sold in large numbers. Major presses like Naval Kishore Press and Sri Venkateshwara Press published numerous religious texts in vernacular languages, allowing more people to read and discuss these texts. Print stimulated debates within and between religious communities and helped connect.
people across India, creating a sense of shared identity through newspapers. New forms of publication. Printing increased the demand for new kinds of writing with people wanting stories that reflected their own lives, emotions and experiences. The novel, a literary form from Europe, became popular in India, taking on distinct Indian styles and forms.
It opened new experiences. for readers and showcased the diversity of human life. Other literary forms like lyrics, short stories and essays on social and political issues also became popular, focusing on human life and emotions. By the late 19th century, a new visual culture was emerging as printing presses made it easy to reproduce images in large numbers.
Artists like Raja Ravi Verma created images for mass circulation while cheap prints and calendars became available in markets for people to decorate their homes. These prints influenced popular ideas about modernity, tradition, religion, politics and society. By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons appeared in newspapers and journals commenting on social and political issues. Some cartoons mocked educated Indians'love for Western styles, while others reflected the fear of social change. There were also cartoons criticizing both imperial rule and nationalist movements.
Women and Print Women's lives and emotions started being written about more vividly, leading to an increase in women readers, especially in middle-class homes. Liberal families began educating women at home and later sent them to schools that were set up in cities after the mid-19th century. Many journals carried writings by women promoting women's education and providing reading material for home-based learning.
Some conservative families opposed women's education, fearing it would bring misfortune or corruption. However, some women, like Raj Sundari Devi, secretly learned to read and write despite these restrictions. Raj Sundari Devi's autobiography Amar Jivan, published in 1876, was the first full-length autobiography in Bengali.
From the 1860s, Bengali women writers like Kailash Bhashini Devi wrote about the hardships faced by women at home. In the 1880s, women like Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai in Maharashtra wrote passionately about the suffering of upper caste Hindu women, especially Vedas. By the early 20th century, journals for women became popular. discussing issues like women's education, widow remarriage and the national movement.
In Punjab, books like Istridham Vichar and publications by the Khalsa Tract Society taught women how to be obedient wives. In Bengal, the Batala area in Calcutta printed cheap books, including religious tracts and scandalous literature which were often illustrated. These books were sold by peddlers allowing women to read them in their leisure time. Print and the Poor People In the 19th century Madras, very cheap small books were sold at crossroads, making them affordable for poor people travelling to markets. Public libraries were established in the early 20th century, mainly in cities, towns and some prosperous villages, giving more people access to books.
Setting up a library was a way for wealthy patrons to gain prestige. From the late 19th century, printed tracts and essays began addressing caste discrimination. Jyotibha Phule wrote about caste injustices in his book Gulamgiri 1871. In the 20th century, B.R.
Ambedkar and E.V. Ramaswamy Naikar, who is also called as Periyar, wrote extensively on caste issues and their works were read across India. Local protest movements and sects created journals and tracts criticizing ancient scriptures and promoting a fairer future.
Factory workers, though overworked and mostly uneducated, began writing about their experiences. Kashi Baba, a Kanpur mill worker, wrote Chote Aur Bade Ka Sawal, 1938, linking caste and class exploitation. The poems of another Kanpur mill worker, Sudarshan Chakra. were published in Sachik Kavithayan. By the 1930s, cotton mill workers in Bangalore and Bombay set up libraries to educate themselves with the support of local reformers who promoted literacy and nationalism.
Print and Censorship Before 1798, the East India Company did not focus much on censorship. Early Control's targeted Englishmen in India who criticized company misrule as the company feared these criticisms might harm its trade monopoly in England. By the 1820s, the Calcutta Supreme Court introduced regulations to control press freedom and the company encouraged newspapers that supported British rule.
In 1835, after petitions from newspaper editors, Governor-General Bentinck revised press laws and Thomas Macaulay restored earlier press freedoms. After the 1857 revolt, the British became stricter with press freedom, especially targeting the nationalist vernacular press. In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed, allowing the government to censor reports and editorials in vernacular newspapers. If a newspaper was judged seditious and ignored warnings, its press could be seized. Despite these measures, nationalist newspapers grew, reporting on colonial misrule and promoting nationalist causes.
Government attempts to silence nationalist voices led to protests and further repression. In 1907, when Punjab revolutionaries were deported, Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote sympathetically about them in Kesari, leading to his imprisonment in 1908 and widespread protests across India. Thanks for watching please like the video please share this video with your friends please subscribe to great booster channel press the bell icon to get all the latest updates check the description to find links of other useful videos check the end screens