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ClASS 10 HISTORY

Print Culture and the Modern World

2… Print CoMes to EuroPe

Manuscripts and the coming of printing technology in Europe

• In the 11th century, paper reaches Europe via silk route from China.
• Scribes wrote manuscripts on papers
• In 1925, Marco Polo brought the Wood Block printing technology to Europe.
• Luxury editions for were still hand written on expensive vellum. It was so because the
people from aristocratic circles and monastic libraries looked down upon printed books
as cheap vulgarities.
• Merchants and university students bought cheaper printed copies.

Increase in demand for books

• The demand for books led to export of books.

• Book fairs were held.
• Book sellers also employed scribes to meet the demands for hand written books.
• 50 scribes often worked for one book seller.

Need for invention of new print technologies

Difficulties associated with manuscripts

• Production of hand written books could not meet the increase demand for books.
• Copying was expensive, laborious and time consuming.
• Manuscripts were fragile, and it was not easy to carry them around.

Popularity of Wood block printing

• Increase in demand for books led to more increased use of wood block printing.
• By the early 15th century, wood block printing was widely used in Europe.
• Examples of uses of: Textile printing, print on play cards, religious pictures with short
descriptions.
Invention of the First known printing press

• In 1430s, at Strasbourg in Germany, Gutenberg developed the first printing press.

• By 1448, he had perfected the printing press.
• The first book printed was the Bible
• 180 copies were produced in 3 years which was a fast production in those times.

New Technology resembled the art and style of manuscript writings

• The printed books imitated the layout and appearance of manuscripts.

• The metal letters imitated the ornamental hand written styles.
• Borders, patterns and illustrations were illuminated and painted by hands.

Books for Rich people

• Space for paintings and decorations in the books were kept blank for the rich buyers.
• The purchaser could choose the design and the painting school to do the art work.

Spread of printing presses to other parts of Europe

• Between 1450 -1550, printing presses were set up in most European countries.
• Printers from Germany travelled to other parts to help setup process and seek work.
• Increasing printing presses led to boom in Book production.
• European markets were flooded with 20 million copies in second half of the 15th
century and 200 million copies in the sixteenth century.
• This shift from hand printing to mechanical printing led to print revolution.

3… The Print Revolution and its iMPACt

Increased demand for books necessitated invention of new print technologies to produce
books in large numbers and at faster rate. Gutenberg invented first printing press. The result
was the print revolution that transformed the lives of people and their ways of looking at
things.

New reading public Emerged

• Printing reduced the cost of the books.

• Printing also reduced the time and labour required to produce the books.
• Production of books increased as multiple copies could be produced with ease.
• Markets were flooded with the books.
• The easy access of the books increased the number of new the readers.
Old Oral Culture – Hearing Public

• Earlier reading was restricted to the elites.

• Books were costly as well as not produced in large numbers.
• Common people collectively heard stories, sacred texts, narration of folk tales,
recitation of ballads.
• Knowledge was transferred orally.
• But printing of books in large numbers led to emergence of new reading public.

Attempt of Publishers to Attract People to Welcome Printed Books

• Books could be read only by the literate people but literacy was low in Europe.
• Printers tried to attract people by publishing popular ballads, and folk tales.
• Books also contained a lot of illustrations to attract people.
• Ballads and folk tales were sung and recited by people in village gatherings and in
taverns.
• People enjoyed listening to the folk content of the books.
• Oral culture was printed and printed material was orally transmitted. It was like
intermingling of the hearing public (oral culture) and the reading public.

Many Were Apprehensive of The Printing and Its Wide Circulation

• People who disagreed with the established authorities, spread their ideas using print
media to make people think differently.
• Many were apprehensive of the effect of the printed material on the minds of people.
• Uncontrolled publication could spread rebellious and irreligious thoughts among people.
• The authority of ‘valuable’ literature would be destroyed if publication goes unchecked.
• Religious authors, monarchs, many writers and artists expressed their anxiety and
criticised the wide circulation of printed literature.

Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation

• Martin Luther was a religious reformer.

• He said, “Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one”.
• In 1517, Martin Luther wrote ‘Ninety-Five Theses’ to criticise many practices and rituals
of the Roman Catholic Church.
• He challenged the Church to debate his ideas.
• His writings were produced and read widely. His translation of the ‘New Testament’
sold 5000 copies within a few weeks and new edition was ready within a month.
• It led to division within the Church and beginning of Protestant religious reformation
Print and Dissent – People questioning faith and religion
• Effect of popular readings was that people raised questions of faith and religious matters.
• Menocchio was miller in Italy and in 16th century he gave his own interpretation of the Bible.
• His own view of God and creation troubled the Roman Catholic Church.
• To check heretical ideas, Menocchio was held into inquisition by the Roman Church.
• He was hauled up twice and ultimately executed.

Attempts by Roman church to control publication of materials

• The questioning of faith by even low educated people troubled the Roman Church.
• It imposed control over publication of materials.
• From 1558, it began to maintain an index of prohibited books

4… Reading Mania
Reasoning behind the reading mania

• Literacy rate went up by 60% - 80% in some parts of Europe during 17th-18th century.
• Churches set up schools in villages that increased literacy among peasants and artists.
• Literacy created reading mania among the new literate people.
• Publishers responded by increased production of books.

Effect of Reading Mania – Many new forms of literature and material published

Books were published in various sizes on varied topics, subjects and served different interests.

I. For Popular reading

• Almanac, ballads and folk tales were sold by pedlars in villages.

• Chapbooks (England): Cheap entertainment books and sold by chapmen-pedlars for a penny.
• Beliotheque Bleue (France): Low priced small books printed on low quality papers and bound in
cheap blue covers.
• Romances: Printed on 4 to 6 pages.
• Histories: Stories about past

II. Periodical Publications

From the 18th century the periodic press developed. The Newspapers, journals, current affairs and
entertainment news, news about trade and other developments in other places.
III. Ideas about science, reason and rationality

• Compilation of old texts, printing of scientific diagrams and maps.

• Scientists like Isaac Newton published their discoveries that spread scientific thoughts.
• Ideas of thinkers like Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau were widely printed and
read.

Common conviction about the books in the mid-18th century

• Books have the power to effect changes in the world.
• Books spread progress and enlightenment that would end despotism and tyranny.
• Books can bring rule of intellectuals and reason.

‘Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world!’

• Louise Sebastien Mercier was a 18th century French novelist who knew the effect of reading.

• His novels portrayed the power of reading that transformed and enlightened the lives of the
heroes who were mostly lost in the world of books.

• He declared- “The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the
force that will sweep despotism away.”

• He proclaimed- “Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world! Tremble before the virtual writer!”

Effect of Print culture on the French Revolution

Some historians hold the view that the French Revolution was influenced by the print culture. Following
arguments can be given to connect the French Revolution with the impact of print culture.

1. The enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau criticised social-traditions, superstition,
sacred authority of the Church, despotic power of the state. Their writings inspired people to be critical,
questioning and rational.

2. Print created a new public culture of dialogue and debate. People became rational and questioned
the existing ideas and beliefs and re-evaluated the traditional values, norms and institutions.

3. By the 1780s, there was an outpouring of literature that was circulated underground. Such
literatures used cartoons and caricatures that mocked the morality and life of sensual pleasures of
monarchy while at the same highlighting the plights and hardships of the common people. It made
people hostile to the monarchy.

4. Print was instrumental in spreading the ideas of reason and enlightenment but print did not directly
shape the minds of readers but it very much made people aware of need to think differently. It was so
because people did not read only one kind of literature and even the church and the Monarchy were
also spreading their own propaganda to bring people in their favour.
 5… The Nineteenth Century
In the nineteenth century there was great increase in mass literacy. It brought many new
readers among children, women and workers.

Children - a new category of readers

• Primary education was made compulsory in the late 19th century.

• School textbook publication became important for publishing industry.

• In 1857, a child printing press was set up in France.

• Grimm Brothers spent years to collect rural folk-tales from peasants and these were published in
a book in 1812.

• Rural folk-tales were published were edited before publication. It was dome to filter out matters
that were considered unsuitable for children.

Women- readers as well as writers

• Women became both readers as well as writers.

• Penny magazines were published for women

• Manuals were published to teach women proper manners and housekeeping.

• Jane Austin, Bronte sisters, George Eliot were great women novelists. Their novels defined new
women as having will, strength determination.

Libraries and their impact on working class

• Libraries had been in existence since 17th century.

• In 19th century, the lending libraries in England played great role in educating white-collar
workers, artisans and lower-middle-class people.

• The educated working class wrote political tracks and autobiographies in large numbers.

Future innovations in print technology

• By late 18th century press came to be made of metal.

• By mid-19th century, Richard M. Hoe of New York perfected power-driven cylindrical press. It
could publish 8000 sheets per hour. It was vey helpful for newspaper printing.

• By late 19th century, offset-press was developed. It could press 6 colours at a time.

• With the start of 20th century, electrically operated press came into use.

• Methods of feeding paper improved; quality of plates became better.

• Photoelectric controls of the colour register were introduced.

• All these innovations improved the appearance of printed texts.

Strategies by printers to sell their product

• Sterilised novels were published in periodicals.

• Cheap shilling-series were sold in England in 1920s.

• The dust cover or the book jacket is a 20th century innovation.

• Cheap paper back editions were brought to maintain the sale of books during the period of the
Great Economic Depression in 1930s.

• Printed advertisements and notices were plastered on street walls, railway platforms and public
places.

6… India and the World of Print

Manuscripts before the age of print

• India had a rich tradition of manuscripts. These were written in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and
various vernacular languages.

• Manuscripts continued till late 19th century even after the coming of print of India.

• Manuscripts were written on palm leaves or handmade paper.

• Pages were sometimes beautifully illustrated.

• They were very expensive and fragile.

• Manuscripts were sewn through or pressed between wooden covers to preserve them.

Manuscripts were not used widely

• They could not be read easily because they were written in different script styles.

• In the pre-colonial Bengal, there was vast network of village primary schools. But students did
not read texts. They teachers dictated texts and students learnt to write them. Thus, they
became literate without reading any kind of texts.

Print comes to India

• Printing press was first brought to goa by Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century.
• Jesuit priests learnt Konkani language and published several tracts.
• By 1674, abo
• ut 50 books had been published in Konkan and Kanara languages.
• First Tamil book was printed by Catholics at Cochin in 1579
• First Malayalam book was printed in 1713 by Catholic priests.
• Dutch Protestant missionaries printed 32 Tamil texts that also included old translations.
English language press and development of News Printing in India

• James Augustus Hickey founded the first newspaper Bengal Gazette in 1780.

• It was declared as “a commercial newspaper open to all, but influenced by none.”

• Hickey published lot of advertisements including those related to sale of slaves.

• Government policies were criticised and Gossips about Company’s senior officials were published.

• Governor-General warren Hastings did not such publications and he persecuted hickey.

• By the close of 18thcentury, a number of newspapers and journals came to be published.

• The first Indian newspaper was the Bengal Gazette brought out by Gangadhara Bhattacharya
who was close to Rammohun Roy.

7… Religious ReforM AND Public Debates

Religious debates carried out in public and in print

• Debates were about the changes happening within colonial society and also about the new
interpretations of the beliefs of different religions.

• Some campaigned for reforms while others countered the arguments of the reformers.

• The print media like newspapers printed such debates and new ideas of reforms and it shaped
the nature of debates among people who read or heard about such new ideas.

• New ideas emerged through clashes of opinions expressed by people who participated in
discussion on issues related to changes and reforms.

Controversies between the reformers and the Hindu orthodoxy

• Controversies arose over matters of widow immolations, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood

and idolatry.

• In Bengal, tracts and newspapers circulated widely the variety of arguments among people in the
language spoken by ordinary people.

• Reformers like Raja Rammohun Roy published ‘Sambad Kaumudi’ from 1821.

• The Hindu orthodoxy published ‘Chandrika Samachar’ to counter ‘Sambad Kaumudi’.

• Two Persian newspapers Jam-i-Jahan Nama and Shamsul Akbar were stated in 1822.

• Gujrati newspaper the ‘Bombay Samachar’ was published from 1822.

Muslim Ulama and printing of religious tracts and newspapers

• The collapse of Muslim dynasties raised concerns among ulama that colonial rulers would
encourage conversions and change the Muslim Personal Law.

• They adopted cheap lithographic presses as countering measures and published Persian and
Urdu translations of holy scriptures.

• Deoband Seminary was founded in 1867. It issued thousands of fatwas to train Muslims in
Islamic doctrines of daily life conducts.

• Many more seminaries appeared throughout 19th century. These seminaries tried to increase
their followings and used Urdu print to counter the influence of their opponents.

Publication of the Hindu religious texts

• The first printed edition of Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, a 16th – century text, came from
Calcutta in 1810.

• Lithographic editions flooded the Indian markets.

• Navel Kishore press at Lucknow and Shri Venkateshwar Press in Bombay published religious
texts in vernacular languages.

• The portable forms of print could be read at the comfort of time and place and could also be read
out to large illiterate audience.

Publication of religious texts encouraged discussions, debate and controversies within and among
different religions.

8… New FORMS OF PublicatiON

New literary forms of writing and publications

Novel- This form developed in Europe but it was adapted to Indian forms and styles.

Lyrics, short stories, essays- These were the new forms of writing that laid emphasis on
human lives, intimate feelings, political and social issues of the human lives.

Visual culture-
• Printers like Raja Ravi Verma produced images for mass circulation.
• Poor woodblock-engravers set up shops near letterpresses and were also employed by
the print shops.
• Cheap prints and calendars were bought by the poor to decorate homes and place of
their work.
• Such prints also shaped the ideas about modernity and tradition, religion and politics,
society and culture.
Caricatures and cartoons-
• Caricature and cartoons came to be published in journals and newspapers from around
1870.
• Some caricatures ridiculed the educated for their fascinations with western tastes and
clothes while some others expressed fear of social change.
• Imperial caricatures lampooned nationalists while nationalists used cartoons to criticize
imperial rule.

Women and Print

Education of women
• Liberal husbands and fathers educated their womenfolk at home and later started sending them
to women’s schools when they were setup in mid-19th century.
• Many journals carried writings of women highlighting need for education of women. They also
suggested syllabus and published subject matters for home-based schooling.
• Conservative families feared educating their womenfolk. Conservative Hindus feared that a
literate girl would be widowed. Muslims feared that educated women would be corrupted if they
read Urdu romances.
Women defied to learn and also wrote in Urdu, Tamil, Bengali and Marathi
• Women also defied the prohibition on education and secretly learnt in secrecy. A North-Indian
Muslim girl learnt Urdu instead of the language Arabic that her family wanted her to learn while
reading Quran.
• Rashundari Devi belonged to an orthodox family in E. Bengal. She learnt in the secrecy of her
kitchen. She wrote her autobiography ‘Amar Jiban’ in Bengali in 1876.
• From 1860 women like Kailashbashini Devi had started writing. She was a Bengali-women and
wrote books about conditions of women- how they were confined to homes, did hard domestic
labour and were treated unjustly even by their own people whom they served.
• Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote in 1980s. They wrote about the miserable lives of
upper-caste Hindu women, especially widows.
• A woman in Tamil novel wrote that reading brought happiness to her life.
Women in Hindi print
• Hindi print developed seriously after 1870s i.e. after the Bengali, Tamil, Urdu and Marathi.
• In the early 2oth century, women wrote as well as edited journals.
• Writings discussed women’s education, widowhood, widow-remarriage, national movement.
• Women offered household fashion lessons to women and also published entertainment items like
short stories and serialised novels.
Women in Punjabi literature
• Ram Chaddha published the fast-selling Istri Dharma Vichar that taught women how to be
obedient wives.
 • The Khalsa Tract Society printed cheap booklets teaching women about qualities about a good
woman.
Battala – a centre of popular book printing in Central Calcutta
• Cheap editions of religious tracts and scriptures as well obscene and scandalous literatures.
• Books were profusely illustrated with woodcuts and lithographs.
• Peddlers sold the publications of literatures to homes where women could also buy to read.

Print and the poor

• Cheap books sold at cross roads- In the 19th-century Madras, Cheap books were sold at
cross roads in towns and markets.
• Libraries were setup- Public libraries were setup by in cities, towns and prosperous villages by
the rich patrons.
• Writing about caste discrimination in print- Jyotiba Phule wrote “Gulam Giri”. He was a
Marathi pioneer of low-caste movement. B. R. Ambedkar (Maharashtra) and E. V. Ramaswamy
Naicker alias Periyar from Madras wrote powerfully on caste.
• Factory workers and their writings
• Kashibaba, a Kanpur millworker, wrote ‘Chhte Aur Bade Saval’ in 1938 on caste
exploitation.
• Poems of another Kanpur millworker were published as ‘Sacchi Kavitayen’.
• Bombay cotton millworkers set up libraries to educate themselves.
• Such attempts toward education of workers were sponsored by social reformers to restrict
excessive drinking among workers, increase their literacy and also propagate nationalism.

9… Print and CenSORShiP

Print and censorship before 1857

• Before 1798 the rule of East India company was mainly concerned with controlling English Print
that were critical of Company’s misrule.

• By the 1820, the Calcutta Supreme Court passed certain regulations to control press freedom.

• English as well as vernacular newspapers opposed censorship and the then Governor-General
William Bentinck agreed to revise the press laws.

• Thomas Macaulay, a liberal colonial official, formulated new press rules that restored the earlier
press freedom.
Press censorship after the Revolt of 1857

The revolt of 1857 enraged the government. There was demand by Company men to clamp
down on native press that criticised govt and was propagating nationalism among people.

Vernacular Press Act- 1878

• It was passed in 1878 om the model of Irish Press laws.

• Government was given excessive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press.

• Government kept regular tracks of news in published in vernacular presses operating in different
parts of India.

• Newspapers were warned not to publish any seditious news. If warnings were ignored then press
was seized and print machines confiscated.

Nationalist newspapers defied censorship

• Despite rigorous censorship and repressive measures, nationalist newspapers grew in numbers in
all parts of India.

• They reported on colonial misrules and encouraged nationalist activities.

• Bal Gangadhara Tilak wrote with great sympathy in his ’Kesari’ paper about the Punjab
revolutionaries were deported in 1907. Bal Gangadhara Tilak was later arrested in 1908 and it
provoked widespread protest all over India.