How the Giriśa Vidyāratna Press Acquired Its Fonts: A Supplement to the Work of

Fiona G. E. Ross
Author(s): Brian A. Hatcher and Fiona G. E. Ross
Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society , Oct. - Dec., 2001, Vol. 121, No. 4
(Oct. - Dec., 2001), pp. 637-639
Published by: American Oriental Society

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 BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS

How the Girisa Vidyaratna Press Acquired Its Fonts:

A Supplement to the Work of Fiona G. E. Ross

This essay offers a brief supplement to Fiona G. E. Ross's survey of the development of th
em printed Bengali character, by providing information concerning the nature, scope, and prove
of the typeset used by Pandit Girisacandra Vidyaratna at his printing press (established in 18

In a carefully researched volume, Fionaby

G. Wilkins.
E. Ross Such continued to be the case at the
has provided a comprehensive study of the develop-Press, yet Ross also notes that this pre
Vidyaratna
ment of the modern printed Bengali character.1 Ross
eventually to become competent at producing i
surveys developments in Bengali printing from theof
version ear-
stylish and readable fonts.
liest days of moveable type pioneered under Charles
Just how this development took place Ross is u
Wilkins (1749-1836) to present-day digital typesetting.
to say, noting that "[i]nformation regarding the o
of the many
Her book is a feast for the eyes of any bibliophile, but founts (sic) employed in the Vidy
especially for lovers of Bengali books. AsPress's
one such
imprints is not available" (p. 122). She does
reader, I wish to express my gratitude to Fiona
ever, Ross for two hypotheses: first, that some of th
venture
her efforts and, in addition, to offer a briefmay have initially been acquired from other so
supplement
to one aspect of her history. such as the Baptist Mission Press; second, that so
In chapter seven of The Printed Bengalithe Character,
fonts were in fact created at the Vidyaratna Pr
As it turns out, Ross is not entirely correct wh
Ross turns to the establishment of native type-foundries
in Calcutta around the middle of the nineteenth
sayscentury.
we have no information on the origin of this
fonts. There
Special attention is given to the Girisa Vidyaratna Press,is some information to be had, which
established by Pandit Girisacandra Vidyaratna tends to(1822-
support not one, but both, of Ross's hypot
1903), which Ross considers "the first native Thefoundry"
source for the information is the biography of
sacandra
(p. 125).2 As the first indigenous press to attempt the written
de- by his son, Hariscandra Kabirat
sign of Bengali type, the Girisa Vidyaratnathe Press illus-
course of narrating Girisacandra's career as a
trates some of the factors impinging upon the creation
editor, andofpublisher, Hariscandra provides a fair
type designs during this period. tailed account of the origins of the Girisa Vidy
In the early part of the century, the development
Press. While of the information he provides does n
type-sets had been influenced greatly by the efforts
tirely of the question of the origin of these fo
resolve
local Bengali craftsmen to "unite the twoadds disciplines
significant detail to the history provided by
of writing and engraving." However, the work Below ofI these
paraphrase the story told by Hariscandra
craftsmen suffered both from their "relative inexperience
Sometime after 1852, Girisacandra began living
in typefounding" and from the predominant his "influence
wife and of children off Circular Road, in a nei
European traditions of type design" (p. 122).hood
As a known
result, as Gadapara Palli. In this neighbo
Girisacandra
fonts created in the first part of the nineteenth century met a barber (nipit) by the name of
tended to replicate patterns established decades earlier Lalacamd apparently knew a good
camd Visvasa.
about printing presses from working at a variety
glish presses. Girigacandra had learned printing th
1 The Printed Bengali Character and its Evolution (London:
his partnership with Isvaracandra Vidyasagar
Curzon Press, 1999).
2 Girisacandra was a close friend and colleague of Pandit
Isvaracandra Vidyasagara (1820-91), who is remembered
3 Hariscandra Bhattacarya Kabiratna, Girisacandra-Vid
(among other things) for having created a simplified
ner jivana-carita
Bengali (Calcutta: Manika Press, 1909).
4 Kabiratna,
character set known as the "Vidyasagar sort" (Ross, 130). 39-41.

637

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638 Journal of the American Oriental Society 121.4 (2001)

latter's Sanskrit Press, which had been established in plan that involved selling off the Persian fonts, punches,
1847.5 However, Girigacandra had recently sold off his and matrices to a Muslim printer (musalamdna mud-
interest in the Sanskrit Press and was looking to set up a rakara) and keeping the Bengali, Devanagari, and En-
press of his own.6 Toward this end, he convinced Lala- glish sets to use in the work of his own press.
camd to put up the money for a new press; Girisacandra Of course this meant that Girisacandra had to find a
agreed to see to the proofreading and editing. Lalacamd craftsman who could cut type for him. This he soon did,
agreed, and they called the press Sucaruyantra. locating one called Navakumara Karmakara.9 Together
Not long after this, Lalacamd died. His childless the two of them began cutting type to order and splitting
widow soon felt the need for money and decided to sell the proceeds fifty-fifty. Harigcandra tells us Girigacandra
the press. Girisacandra could not afford to buy the and Navakumara pursued this business for many years.
press, and so it was sold. He earned a mere Rs. 800 Only after new fonts began to be created at Serampore,
from the sale. and Navakumar had died, did Girisacandra sell the
Girisacandra soon heard of another press that waspunches and matrices and close down the foundry. Hari-
scandra doesn't tell us to whom these materials were
being sold by a Muslim who lived in the neighborhood
sold nor does he inform us of how much Girisacandra
known as Itali Padmapukur. Girisacandra purchased the
press for Rs. 800, and thus was born the Giriga Vid-
earned from the sale. His story of the Giriga Vidyaratna
yaratna Press, which opened in 1856.7 Press ends here. Looking back at this period, Harigcan-
This new press came with all the materials needed for dra remarks that his father's press was like his very own
printing, including a series of fonts (aksara). All of this
Laksmi-the profits he earned from his work there pro-
Girigacandra brought to his house in Gadapara. Whenvided he for all his worldly needs.10
inspected what he had acquired, he found that among As valuable as Hariscandra's narrative is, we remain
the fonts were two sets each of Bengali, English, andcurious to know who had created the original fonts and
matrices that Girisacandra acquired from the uniden-
Persian fonts, and one set of Devanagari. Even more im-
tified Muslim press in Itall Padmapukur; likewise, we
portantly, this cache of fonts also included the punches
(aksarer cheni) and matrices (taimra) for carving neware felt wondering to whom Girisacandra supplied his
fonts.8 fonts. Nevertheless, what we learn from Harigcandra's
And here Harigcandra gives us some even more account does allow us to confirm not just one but both
specific details. Of Bengali Pika fonts there were nearly of Ross' hypotheses: initially Girisacandra did acquire a
four hundred punches and matrices; of Devanagari Pika, set of fonts and matrices; subsequently, with the help of
nearly five hundred; and of Persian Pika and Small Pika Navakumar, he went on to produce new fonts. This lat-
nearly one hundred. This was a valuable resource. In ter piece of information appears to support Ross's claim
fact, his father wondered whether he wouldn't be better that imprints from the Girisa Vidyaratna Press reveal an
off selling them. If he did, he estimated he might earn as on-going attempt to create new type sets. That the fonts
much as Rs. 1000. On the other hand, Girisacandra appear "disappointing" to Ross (p. 125) is perhaps an
toyed with the idea of establishing his own type-foundryindex of how slowly the evolution of the modern printed
(aksara-dhaldr karkhand). In the end, he settled on a character proceeded during this period.
Despite the questions that remain, this short recount-
ing of the Girisa Vidyaratna Press offers us a glimpse
5 For details on the Sanskrit Press, see Benoy Ghosh, Vid-
into a world in which classically-trained Sanskrit pan-
ydsdgara o Bdhgali samaja (rpt. Calcutta: Orient Longman,dits begin to enter the fields of editing, printing, and
1984), 163ff.
6 The bulk of the earnings generated by the Sanskrit Press
were from Vidyasagara's popular school books. Girisacandra 9 Ross does not appear to be familiar with Navakumar,
found himself earning little from the partnership. though she does discuss the work of Pancanana and Manohara
7 Initially, Girigacandra took the advice of a friend and called Karmakara, two other craftsmen active in the early nineteenth
the press Vidyaratna Press. However, upon learning that an- century.
other press by that name had just opened, he changed the name 10 This is a pattern also found in the life of Vidyasagara,
to Giriga Vidyaratna Press. who at one time may have earned as much as Rs. 3000-4500
8 Hariscandra defines a punch as ydhdra agrabhdge aksara per month from his Sanskrit Press; see Hatcher, Idioms of
ksudita thdke, while he defines a matrix as ydhdte sima dhaliyd Improvement: Vidydsagar and Cultural Encounter in Bengal
aksara prastuta hay (Kabiratna, 39). (Calcutta: Oxford Univ. Press, 1996), 89-90.

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 HATCHER: How the Girisa Vidyaratna Press Acquired Its Fonts 639

publishing. The story of this world, with all its disjunc- pects of printing in modern India, perhaps by exploring
tions and discoveries, represents an important chapter in the dynamics of publishing among Muslim communities
the intellectual and social history of modern India. We in Calcutta.
are indebted to Ross for tracing the development of a
central (if somewhat neglected) dimension of this his- BRIAN A. HATCHER

tory. It can be hoped that others will explore further as- ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

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