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1. Introduction to Print Culture
It is difficult to imagine a world without printed matter. Today, print surrounds us—in books,
newspapers, advertisements, calendars, theatre programmes, and posters. We rely on printed
literature and images to follow news and public debates.
Print has a long history that shaped the modern world. This chapter traces the
development of print from its origins in East Asia to its growth in Europe and India, analyzing
how print technology transformed societies, cultures, and political life.
Figure 1 (Akhlaq-i-Nasiri, 1595) shows bookmaking before print in India, where texts were
dictated, handwritten, and illustrated manually. With the arrival of printing machines, these
arts were affected significantly.
2. The First Printed Books in East Asia
2.1 Print in China
Dates & Technology: From AD 594, China developed hand-printing by rubbing paper
against inked woodblocks. Paper itself was invented in China.
Both sides of thin, porous sheet could not be printed.
Format: Chinese ‘accordion books’ were folded and stitched on one side since double-
sided printing was not possible.
State Sponsorship: The imperial Chinese government, with its vast bureaucracy,
printed civil service examination textbooks in large numbers. The number of candidates
increased from the 16th century, thus increasing print volume.
Urban Culture Expansion (17th century): Print use diversified beyond scholar-
officials to merchants, who used printed trade information. Reading became a leisure
activity with preferences for fictional narratives, poetry, autobiographies, and romantic
plays. Women, especially wives of officials and courtesans, began publishing poetry and
plays.
Western Influence (19th century): Western printing techniques and mechanical
presses were imported. Shanghai became a major hub for Western-style print
culture, marking a shift from hand to mechanical printing.
New word: Calligraphy – The art of beautiful, stylized handwriting.
2.2 Print in Japan
Introduction: Buddhist missionaries brought hand-printing from China between AD
768-770.
Oldest Book: The Buddhist Diamond Sutra (AD 868) contains six sheets with
woodcut illustrations.
Uses: Printing included pictures on textiles, playing cards, and paper money. Books
were widely available and cheap.
Publishing Practices: In late 18th-century Edo (Tokyo), illustrated collections depicted
urban culture featuring artists, courtesans, and teahouses. Libraries and bookstores
were stocked with books on women, music, calculations, etiquette, and more.
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Box 1: Kitagawa Utamaro (born 1753, Edo) was famous for ukiyo-e prints (“pictures of the
floating world”) depicting ordinary life. His art influenced European artists like Manet and Van
Gogh. The woodblock printing process destroyed original drawings, preserving only prints.
Prints travelled to US and Europe and influenced artist like Manet, Monet and Van Gogh.
2.3 Print in Korea
Tripitaka Koreana: Mid-13th-century Buddhist scriptures engraved on about 80,000
woodblocks. Included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register (2007).
Jikji: Printed in late 14th century with movable metal type, it is the oldest extant book
of its kind. It contains Zen Buddhist teachings and names about 150 monks from India,
China, and Korea. It is preserved in the National Library of France and inscribed in
UNESCO’s register (2001).
3. Print Comes to Europe
3.1 Early Manuscripts and Woodblock Printing
Paper Introduction: Chinese paper arrived in Europe via the Silk Route by the 11th
century.
Marco Polo (1295): Brought knowledge of woodblock printing from China to Italy.
Italians began using woodblocks to produce books, spreading the technology across
Europe.
Manuscripts vs. Print: Luxury manuscripts on vellum were still preferred by
aristocrats and monastic libraries, who considered printed books vulgar. Merchants and
students bought cheaper printed copies.
Book Fairs and Scribal Production: Demand for books increased; scribes were
employed by booksellers, sometimes working in large teams. However, manuscript
production was slow and expensive. More than 50 scribes often worked for one
bookseller.
Woodblock Printing: With growing demand for books, this printing was widely used
by early 15th century for textiles, playing cards, and religious pictures with brief texts.
Need for Innovation: Faster, cheaper reproduction demanded new technology.
3.2 Gutenberg and the Printing Press
Johann Gutenberg (c. 1400-1468): A merchant’s son from Germany. His background
included work with wine and olive presses, polishing stones, and metal casting.
Strasbourg, Germany: He invented first Printing Press in the 1430s.
Innovation: Adapted the olive press mechanism to create the printing press with metal
movable type for the Roman alphabet. By 1448, the system was perfected.
The Gutenberg Bible: First book printed (~180 copies) over three years; about 50
survive.
The new technology did not entirely displace the existing art of producing books by
hand.
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Printing Process: Metal letters were movable, allowing different compositions. The
press could print 250 sheets/hour, much faster than carving woodblocks.
Artistic Continuity: Printed books mimicked manuscripts, with hand-painted borders
and illuminated illustrations to create unique copies.
Book printed for rich, space for decoration was kept left on printed page so each can
choose design.
Spread: Between 1450-1550, printing presses spread across Europe. By second half of
18th Century 20 million copies printed. By the 16th century, about 200 million printed
books circulated.
New words:
Platen: A board pressed over paper to get an impression during letterpress printing.
Compositor: Person who arranges the text for printing.
Galley: Metal frame holding the composed text.
4. The Print Revolution and Its Impact
4.1 Emergence of a New Reading Public due to Printing Press.
Access and Cost: Printing reduced book costs and production time, increasing
availability. Time and labour required to produce book came down and multiple
copies could be produced.
Shift from Oral to Reading Culture: Previously, knowledge was transmitted
orally through performances, religious readings, ballads recite, and storytelling.
Books were expensive and rare.
Reading Public: Literacy was low in most European countries till 20 th century; to
reach non-readers, printed ballads and folk tales with illustrations were popular and
orally recited in villages and taverns.
Blurring of Oral and Print Cultures: Printed material often entered oral tradition.
Hearing and reading public become intermingled.
New words:
Ballad: A folk tale or historical account in verse, sung or recited.
Taverns: Social places for food, drink, and news exchange.
4.2 Religious Debates and Fear of Print
Wide Circulation of Ideas: Print allowed dissenters to circulate ideas and introduced
a new world of debate and discussion challenging authorities. Print persuade people to
think and take action.
Fear of Rebellion: Authorities feared uncontrolled print would spread rebellious and
irreligious thoughts undermining established values and power. If happen authority of
valuable literature destroyed.
Example: Protestant Reformation (1517): Martin Luther posted his Ninety Five
Theses at Wittenberg, which spread rapidly due to print, challenging the Roman
Catholic Church. This led to a division within the Church and beginning of Protestant
reformation. His New Testament translation sold 5,000 copies quickly and second
edition appeared within three months.
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Luther’s Praise: Called print “the ultimate gift of God.”
Critics: Erasmus, a Latin and Catholic reformer, feared the glut of printed books would
lead to “satiety” (excess) and the spread of “stupid, ignorant, slanderous, scandalous,
irreligious and seditious books.” He also criticized Catholicism but kept a distance from
Luther and express anxiety towards printing.
Visual Representation: 16th-century woodcut “The macabre dance” linked print to
apocalyptic fears.
New words:
Protestant Reformation: 16th-century movement to reform the Catholic Church, led by
Martin Luther.
Inquisition: Catholic court for identifying and punishing heretics.
Heretical: Against accepted Church teachings.
Seditious: Action, speech that is seen in opposing the government.
4.3 Print and Dissent
Popular Religious Literature: Encouraged personal interpretations even among low-
literacy workers.
Example: Menocchio (16th-century Italian miller) read and reinterpreted the Bible,
angering the Roman Church, he was hauled twice and leading to his execution
ultimately.
Church Response: Church was troubled by such effects of questioning of faith
established an Index of Prohibited Books (from 1558) to control harmful publications.
4.4 The Reading Mania (17th–18th centuries)
Rising Literacy: Schools spread by churches increased literacy to 60-80% by end of
18th century in some European regions, there was virtual reading mania.
Popular Literature: Penny chapbooks (cheap, small books), almanacs or ritual
calendars, ballads, folktales, romances, and histories became widely available.
Periodical Press (early 18th century): Newspapers and journals combined news with
entertainment.
Science and Philosophy: Ancient and Medieval text were compiled and published.
Scientific discoveries by figures like Isaac Newton and Enlightenment ideas by Voltaire
and Rousseau reached larger audiences.
In France: “Biliotheque Bleue” low priced small books printed on poor quality paper
and bound in cheap blue cover.
New words:
Denominations: Subgroups within a religion. (Ex- Church of different Denominations)
Almanac: Annual publication with astronomical and other practical data.
Chapbook: In England pocket sized book, inexpensive book sold by traveling pedlars
called Chapmen.
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Box 2: James Lackington (London publisher, 1791) described how books replaced old
storytelling traditions even among poor rural folk.
4.5 Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world
By the mid-eighteenth century, people strongly believed in the power of books.
Books were seen as a means of spreading progress and enlightenment.
Books could change the world, liberate society from despotism (cruel rule)
and tyranny, and bring an age where reason and intellect ruled.
Louise-Sebastien Mercier – a novelist from eighteenth-century France. He
called the printing press the most powerful engine of progress. According to
him, public opinion formed through books could sweep away despotism.
Mercier’s Novels: Heroes in his stories were transformed by reading. They
devoured books, got lost in the world of books, and became enlightened.
Convinced that print brought enlightenment and destroyed despotism. Famous
declaration: “Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world! Tremble before the
virtual writer!”
5. Print Culture and the French Revolution
Many historians argued print culture created the conditions within French Revolution
occurred.
Historians’ Arguments:
o (Enlightenment Ideas): Print spread Enlightenment writings (Voltaire, Rousseau). Criticised
tradition, superstition, Church, state despotism. Promoted reason & rationality. Caricatures
showed monarchy’s pleasures vs people’s suffering → spread hostile feelings.
o (Dialogue & Debate): Print created a culture of questioning & debate. Value, norms,
institutions re-evaluated. Public realised power of reason → led to ideas of social revolution.
o Literature Mocked the Royalty (1780s): By the 1780s, there was a flood of literature. It
mocked the royalty and criticised their morality. Raised questions about the existing social
order.
Note on Reception: People read different kinds of literature – both
revolutionary (Voltaire, Rousseau) and monarchy/Church propaganda. They were
not blindly influenced, but chose what to accept or reject. Print didn’t control
minds directly, but it opened the way for independent, new thinking.
6. The Nineteenth Century: Growth and Innovations
6.1 Children, Women, and Workers as Readers
Mass Literacy: Education become compulsory from late 19 th century, children become
an important category of readers; children’s presses devoted to literature was set up in
France, [Link] published new work as well as old fairy tales as well as old fairy tales.
Folk Tales: Grimm Brothers Germany, collected and sanitized folk tales for children
from peasant and what they collected was edited before stories were published in a
collection in 1812. Unsuitable things for children not included in print version.
Women Readers and Writers: Penny magazines for women as were manuals on
behaviour and house keeping, and novels began to be written in 19 thcentury and some
best women novelists are Jane Austen, Bronte sisters, George Eliot emerged. A new
type Women were portrayed as determined and thoughtful.
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Working-Class Readers: From the 17th century, lending libraries existed, but in
19th-century England they helped educate workers and lower-middle classes.
With shorter working hours, many workers pursued self-improvement, writing
political tracts and autobiographies in large number. e.g., Thomas Wood (Yorkshire
mechanic), Maxim Gorky (Russian revolutionary author).
6.2 Further Innovations in Printing Technology
By late 18th century, presses were made of metal.
Richard M. Hoe (mid-19th C., New York): Developed power-driven cylindrical press,
printing 8,000 sheets/hour, ideal for newspapers.
Offset Press: Late 19th-centurythis press developed, it could print 6 colours at a time.
20th-century: Electrically operated presses, automatic paper feeding, photoelectric
colour control enhanced efficiency and quality. It transformed quality of texts.
Publishing Strategies: Printers used new selling strategies – serialising novels in
periodicals, introducing cheap Shilling Series (1920s), and book jackets (20th
century). During the Great Depression (1930s), publishers promoted cheap
paperbacks to maintain sales. These innovations made books more affordable and
widely accessible.
7. Print in India
7.1 Manuscripts before Print
Indian has rich tradition of handwritten manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and
vernacular languages.
Manuscripts were on palm leaves or handmade paper, pages were beautifully
illustrated and pressed between wooden covers to ensure preservation.
Manuscripts were costly, fragile, and difficult to read, so they weren’t used in
daily life. In pre-colonial Bengal, though schools existed, students mostly learnt
by writing from teachers’ dictation, often becoming literate without reading
actual texts.
Manuscripts of Gita Govinda of Jayadeva on palm leaves.
Hafiz was a 14th century poet whose collected works are known as Diwans.
7.2 Introduction of Print in India
Portuguese Missionaries: Introduced printing in mid-16th century Goa, Jesuit priests
learnt Konkani and printed several tracts. By 1674 about 50 books had been printed in
Konkani and Kanara languages. Catholic priest first Tamil book printed in 1579 (Cochin),
first Malayalam book in 1713.
Dutch Missionaries: By 1710, Printed 32 Tamil texts, many translations of older
works.
English language press did not grow in India quite late even though East
India Company began to import presses from late 17th century.
English Press: From 1780, James Augustus Hickey started the Bengal Gazette, a
weekly paper independent of the British government. It had ads (even about
slaves) and gossip about Company officials, which made Governor-General
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Warren Hastings angry, so he tried to stop Hickey and supported official
newspapers.
Indian Newspapers: The first Indian weekly was the Bengal Gazette by Gangadhar
Bhattacharya, who worked with Rammohun Roy by close of 18th Century.
Efforts for Press: William Bolts (1768) advertised for pressmen in Calcutta but left
soon.
7.3 Religious Reform and Public Debates in India
Intense 19th-century religious debates on widow immolation, monotheism, priesthood,
idolatry.
To reach more people, ideas were printed in simple everyday language. Rammohun
Roy published the Sambad Kaumudi (1821), while orthodox groups printed
Samachar Chandrika to oppose him.
From 1822, Persian newspapers like Jam-i-Jahan Nama and Shamsul Akhbar
started, and the Gujarati newspaper Bombay Samachar also appeared.
In north India, Muslim scholars (ulama) worried about the fall of Muslim dynasties
and feared colonial interference in religion and laws. They used cheap presses
to print Persian/Urdu scriptures, religious newspapers, and tracts.
The Deoband Seminary (1867) published thousands of fatwas guiding Muslims in
daily life and explaining Islamic teachings. During the 19th century, many Muslim
sects and seminaries emerged,
each spreading its own faith ideas and using Urdu print to reach the public.
Hindu religious texts were printed in vernaculars; Ramcharitmanas a 16 th century text
printed in Calcutta (1810). From 1880s Naval Kishore Press (Lucknow) and Shri
Venkateshwar Press (Bombay) produced numerous produces numerous religious texts
in vernaculars.
Printed religious texts were portable, easy to read aloud to illiterate groups, sparking
debates and controversies.
Religious texts reached many people, encouraging discussions, debates, and
controversies within and between religions. Print not only spread conflicting
opinions, but also connected communities across India. Newspapers shared news
from different places, helping create pan-Indian identities.
New words:
Ulama: Islamic legal scholars.
Fatwa: Islamic legal pronouncement by a scholar.
7.4 New Forms of Publication in India
Printing created a demand for new kinds of writing as more people could read and relate to their own lives,
emotions, and relationships.
The novel, originally from Europe, adapted to Indian styles, opening readers to new experiences.
Other literary forms like lyrics, short stories, and essays became popular, focusing on human life and
social-political issues.
By the late 19th century, a new visual culture emerged with the spread of printing presses.
Artists like Raja Ravi Varma produced images for mass circulation, making art widely accessible.
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Wood engravers created cheap prints and calendars that even the poor could buy for home or workplace
decoration.
These prints influenced ideas about modernity, tradition, religion, politics, and society.
From the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons appeared in newspapers, mocking Western tastes, social change,
and commenting on imperial and nationalist issues.
Raja Ritudhwaj rescuing Princess Madalsa from the captivity of demons, print by Ravi
Varma
7.5 Women and Print
Women’s lives and feelings began to be written vividly, increasing women’s interest in reading.
Middle-class families educated women at home and later sent them to schools after the mid-19th century.
Journals published writings by women and suggested reading material for home schooling.
Conservative Hindus feared literate girls would be widowed; Muslims feared reading Urdu romances
would corrupt women.
Some rebel women secretly learned to read and write despite restrictions.
Rashsundari Debi (East Bengal) secretly learnt to read and wrote Amar Jiban (1876), the first full-
length Bengali autobiography.
Social reforms and novels increased interest in women’s own experiences and emotions.
Bengali women like Kailashbashini Debi (1860s) wrote about women’s oppression and hard domestic
life.
Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai (1880s) wrote passionately about the miserable lives of upper-
caste Hindu women, especially widows.
Women in Tamil Novel expressed how reading expanded their small, restricted worlds and gave
happiness and knowledge.
Urdu, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi print culture developed early; Hindi printing began in the 1870s,
focusing on women’s education.
By the early 20th century, journals for and sometimes by women discussed education, widowhood,
widow remarriage, national movement, as well as household tips and fiction.
In Punjab, folk literature like Istri Dharm Vichar (by Ram Chaddha) and booklets from the Khalsa
Tract Society taught women to be obedient wives, often using dialogues about a good woman.
In Bengal, the Battala area of Calcutta became a hub for printing cheap popular books, including religious
texts and even scandalous literature.
By the late 19th century, these books were illustrated with woodcuts and lithographs, and pedlars
distributed them, so women could read at home in their free time.
7.6 Print and the Poor
In 19th-century Madras, very cheap small books were sold at market
crossroads, allowing poor people to buy them while travelling.
Public libraries started in the early 20th century, mostly in cities, towns, and
some prosperous villages, increasing access to books.
For rich local patrons, setting up a library was a way to gain prestige.
From the late 19th century, printed tracts and essays began addressing
caste discrimination.
Jyotiba Phule wrote Gulamgiri (1871), highlighting the injustices of the caste
system in Maharashtra.
In the 20th century, B.R. Ambedkar (Maharashtra) and E.V. Ramaswamy
Naicker/Periyar (Madras) wrote widely on caste, read across India.
Local protest movements and sects published journals and tracts criticising
ancient scriptures and imagining a just society.
Factory workers were mostly overworked and uneducated, but some wrote
about their experiences, e.g., Kashibaba (Kanpur) published Chhote Aur
Bade Ka Sawal (1938) linking caste and class exploitation.
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Another Kanpur worker, Sudarshan Chakr, wrote poems (1935–1955)
collected as Sacchi Kavitayan.
By the 1930s, Bangalore cotton millworkers set up libraries for self-
education, supported by social reformers to promote literacy, restrict
drinking, and spread nationalism.
7.7 Print and Censorship in Colonial India
Before 1798, the East India Company was not very concerned about censorship, focusing only on
English critics in India whose writings could attack its trade monopoly.
By the 1820s, the Calcutta Supreme Court regulated press freedom, and the Company encouraged
newspapers supporting British rule.
In 1835, after petitions by editors, Governor-General Bentinck revised press laws; Thomas Macaulay
formulated rules that restored earlier freedoms.
After the 1857 revolt, the colonial attitude changed; Englishmen demanded a clampdown on the ‘native’
press as vernacular newspapers became nationalist.
In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed (based on Irish Press Laws), giving the government
extensive powers to censor, warn, or seize nationalist newspapers.
Despite repression, nationalist newspapers grew, reporting on colonial misrule and inspiring
nationalist activities; censorship attempts provoked militant protests.
Example: In 1907, when Punjab revolutionaries were deported, Balgangadhar Tilak wrote in Kesari
in sympathy, leading to his imprisonment in 1908, which triggered widespread protests across India.
Krishnaji Trimbuck Ranade (Poona) planned a Marathi newspaper. Aim: share
local knowledge and allow free discussion. Topics: science, history,
geography, statistics, curiosities, Deccan antiquities. Sought support to
spread knowledge and public welfare.
1926, Begum Rokeya said men were wrong to stop women from learning, because
Islam gives women the right to education.
Lakshminath Bezbarua was a leader of modern Assamese literature. His notable
works include Burhi Aair Sadhu (Grandma’s Tales) and the famous song ‘O Mor
Apunar Desh’.
Some newspapers refused government control or subsidies to keep their freedom of the press.
The colonial government monitored all books and newspapers and passed laws
to control the press. During WWI, 22 newspapers had to furnish securities, and 18 shut
down rather than comply; the Rowlatt Committee (1919) further increased
controls. During WWII and the Quit India movement (1942), reports were censored
and about 90 newspapers were suppressed, showing the power of the printed
word.
In 1922, Gandhi said that freedom of speech, press, and association was under
threat, and the fight for Swaraj and Khilafat meant protecting these freedoms first.