PRINT CULTURE AND THE MODERN WORLD

Q1) Where was the earliest kind of print technology developed?

i) The earliest print technology was developed in China, Japan, and Korea.
ii) This was a system of hand printing.
Q2) Briefly describe the earliest kind of print technology that developed.
i) From AD 594, books in China were printed by rubbing paper, against the
inked surface of a woodblock.
ii) As both sides of the thin, porous sheet of paper could not be printed on, a
Chinese Accordion book was folded and stitched at the side.
Q3) Which country was the major producer of print material and why?
i) The imperial state of China was the major producer of print material.
ii) China possessed a huge bureaucracy, that recruited its personnel through a
civil service examination.
iii) Textbooks were printed for this in vast numbers, under the sponsorship of
the Imperial state.
iv) From the 16th century, as the number of candidates for the exam went up,
the volume of print also increased.
Q4) How did the use of print diversify in China?
i) In 17th century, as urban culture bloomed in China, uses of print were
diversified.
ii) Print was no longer only used by scholarly officials, but by merchants as
well to acquire trade information.
iii) Reading also became a leisure activity.
iv) The new reading public preferred fictional narratives, romantic plays,
poetry, autobiographies, anthologies, etc.
v) Rich women began to read, and many women published their own poetry.
vi) Wives of scholarly officials published their work, and courtesans wrote
about their lives.
Q5) When did China shift to mechanical printing?
i) When Western powers established their outposts in China in the late 18th
century, many Western printing techniques and mechanical presses were
also imported.
ii) Shanghai became the hub of new print culture, catering to the Western-style
schools.
iii) From hand printing, there was now a gradual shift to mechanical printing.
Q6) Who introduced print in Japan?
i) Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand printing technology to
Japan around AD 768-770.
ii) The oldest Japanese book, printed in AD 868, is the Diamond Sutra.
iii) It contains six sheets, with text and woodcut illustrations.
iv) Pictures were printed on textiles, playing cards, and paper money.
v) In medieval Japan, poets and prose writers regularly published.
vi) Books were cheap and abundant.
Q7) What were the interesting publishing practices established in Edo?
i) In the 18th century, in the flourishing urban circles at Edo, paintings
depicted an elegant urban culture, involving artists, courtesans, and
teahouse gatherings.
ii) Libraries and bookstores were packed with hand-printed materials of
various types, books on women, musical instruments, etiquettes, places to
visit, etc.
Q8) How did woodblock printing come to Europe?
i) In the 11th century, Chinese paper reached Europe through the silk route.
ii) This paper was used for manuscripts, carefully written by scribes.
iii) In 1295, Marco Polo, an Italian explorer, returned to Italy after many years
of exploration in China.
iv) He brought back the knowledge of woodblock printing with him.
v) Italians now started producing books with woodblocks, this technology
soon spread to other places in Europe.
vi) However, Luxury editions were still written on expensive vellum for the
aristocratic circles and rich monastic libraries.
vii) They scoffed at printed material and deemed it as cheap vulgarities.
viii) Students and merchants bought the cheaper printed copies.
Q9) What steps were taken by the booksellers to meet the increasing demand
for books?
i) As demand for books increased, booksellers all over Europe began
exporting books to many different countries.
ii) Book fairs were held at different places.
iii) Production of handwritten manuscripts was also organized in new ways to
meet the demand.
iv) Scribes or skilled handwrites were no longer only employed by influential
patrons but by booksellers as well.
v) 50 scribes were required for one bookseller.
Q10) Why was production of handwritten manuscripts ineffective?
i) Production of handwritten manuscripts did not satisfy the demand for
books.
ii) Copying was expensive, laborious, and time-consuming.
iii) The manuscripts were fragile and awkward to handle.
iv) They could not be carried around and read easily, hence their circulation
was limited.
v) With the growing demand for books, the style of woodblock printing
became more popular.
vi) By the 15th century, woodblock printing was used for making cards, printing
textiles and religious pictures, with simple, brief texts.
Q11) What is print revolution?
i) The shift from hand printing to mechanical printing led to the print
revolution, after the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg.
Q12) Write a short note on Gutenberg Press.
i) Johann Gutenberg grew up on a large agricultural estate, from his
childhood, he had seen wine and olive presses.
ii) He grew up to be a master goldsmith, acquiring the expertise to make
trinkets out of moulds.
iii) Combining his knowledge of the presses and the moulds, he designed his
innovation, the printing press.
iv) The olive press provided the model for the printing press, and the moulds
were used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet.
v) By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system.
vi) The first book he printed was the bible, 180 copies were printed, and this
took 3 years, which then was considered fast production.
Q13) “The new technology did not entirely displace the existing art of producing
books by hand”, Explain. [Features of printing books]
i) Printed books closely resembled manuscripts in appearance and layout.
ii) Metal letters represented the ornamental handwriting styles.
iii) Borders were illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns.
iv) Illustrations were painted.
v) In the books printed for the rich, a space of the printing page was left empty
for decoration.
vi) Each purchaser could choose the design and decide the painting school that
would do the illustrations.
 Q14) What were the benefits of the new printing press?
i) With the printing press, a new reading public emerged.
ii) Printing reduced the cost of books, and the time and labour required to
produce each book decreased.
iii) Multiple copies could be produced with ease; thus books flooded the
market.
Q15) How did the new reading public emerge?
i) Access to books created a new culture of reading.
ii) Earlier, reading was restricted to the elites.
iii) Common people lived in a world of oral culture, they heard sacred texts
read out, ballads recited, and folk tales narrated.
iv) Knowledge was transferred orally.
v) People heard a story or saw a performance.
vi) Before the age of print, books were not only expensive, but they could not
be produced in vast numbers, now, books could reach to wider sections of
people.
vii) If there was a hearing public, now a reading public came into being.
Q16) How did oral culture enter print, and how was print material transmitted
orally?
i) The transition from a hearing public to a reading public was not so simple.
ii) Books could only be read by the literate, and the literacy level in Europe
was quite low till the 20th century.
iii) Publishers began publishing popular ballads and folk tales.
iv) And such books would be filled with pictures.
v) These were sung and recited in gatherings in villages, and in taverns in
towns.
Q17) Why did some people fear the effect of easily available printed books?
i) Print introduced a new world of debate and discussion.
ii) Through printed messages, those who disagreed with established authorities
could persuade people to think differently and move them to action.
iii) Not everyone welcomed the printed book.
iv) They feared that if there was no control over what was printed then
rebellious and irreligious thoughts might spread.
v) If that happened, then the authority of valuable literature would be
destroyed.
Q18) What was the implication of print culture in religion?
i) In 1517, religious reformer Martin Luther, wrote Nighty Five Theses,
criticising many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic church.
ii) A print copy of this was put on the church door in Wittenburg, challenging
the church to debate his ideas.
iii) His writings were reproduced in vast numbers and read widely.
iv) This led to a division within the church and the start of the Protestant
Reformation.
v) Several scholars think that print brought about a new intellectual
atmosphere and helped spread the new ideas that led to the Reformation.
Q19) Give reason; The Roman Catholic Church maintained an Index of
Prohibited books.
i) In the 16th century, Menocchio, a miller in Italy began to read books that
were available in his locality.
ii) He reinterpreted the bible and formulated a view of God and Creation that
enraged the Roman Catholic Church.
iii) When the Roman Catholic church began its inquisition to repress heretical
ideas, Menocchio was hauled up twice and ultimately executed.
iv) The Roman church, troubled by such effects of popular readings and
questionings of faith, imposed several controls over publishers and
booksellers.
v) They began to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558.
Q20) Explain: Erasmus's Idea about the printed book
i) Erasmus was critical of the printing medium.
ii) He believed some books provided useful knowledge, while others were just
a bane to scholarships.
iii) Erasmus accused publishers of publishing books that were seditious,
scandalous, and irreligious.
iv) He also mentioned that the multitude of such books brought down the value
of truly valuable publications.
Q21) How did print revolution lead to a reading mania?
i) As literacy and schools spread in European countries, there was a virtual
reading mania.
ii) New forms of popular literature appeared in print, targeting new audiences.
iii) Booksellers employed pedlars who roamed around villages, carrying little
books for sale.
iv) There were almanacs or ritual calendars, along with some ballads and folk
tales.
 v) Other forms of reading, largely for entertainment, started to reach ordinary
readers as well.
vi) In England, penny chapbooks, which were pocket sized books sold for a
penny, were carried by chapmen (petty pedlars). These books could be
bought even by the poor.
vii) In France, the “Bibliotheque Bleue” was invented, which were low priced
small books printed on cheap paper, and bound in cheap blue covers.
viii) Newspapers and Journals carried information about current affairs, war and
trade, as well as news of developments in other places.
Q22) How did print culture help scientists and philosophers?
i) The ideas of scientists and philosophers became more accessible to the
common people.
ii) When scientists like Isaac Newton published their discoveries, they could
influence a wider circle of scientifically minded people.
iii) Even the writings of Enlightenment thinkers such as Jean Jacques
Rousseau, Voltaire, and Thomas Paine, were widely read.
iv) Thus, their ideas about science and philosophy, found their way into popular
literature.
Q23) Why did some people in 18th-century Europe think that print culture
would bring enlightenment and end despotism?
i) Some believed that print culture would bring enlightenment and end
despotism.
ii) Many believed that books could change the world, bring an end to
despotism and tyranny, and bring a time when reason and intellect ruled.
iii) Louise Sebastian Mercier, a novelist in 18th century France, believed that
the printing press was the most powerful engine to the public, and that
public opinion is the force that would sweep despotism away.
Q24) Print popularized the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers. Explain.
i) The writings of these thinkers provided a commentary on tradition,
superstition, and despotism.
ii) They argued for a rule of reason rather than custom, and demanded that
everything be judged based on rationality.
iii) They attacked the authority of the church as well as the despotic power of
the state, eroding the legitimacy of a social order based on tradition.
iv) The writings of Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau were read widely, and
those who read them saw the world in new eyes.
v) Eyes that were questioning, rational and critical.
Q25) Many historians have argued that print culture created the conditions
within which the French Revolution occurred. Explain.
i) The print popularized the ideas of the enlightened thinkers who attacked
the authority of the church and the despotic power of the state.
ii) Their writings were widely read among the people and it changed their
views.
iii) Print created a new culture of dialogue and debate.
iv) The public became aware of the power of reason and recognized the
need to question existing ideas and beliefs.
v) By the 1780s, there was a surge in literature that mocked royalty and
their morality.
vi) Cartoons and caricatures suggested that the monarchy only relished in
sensual pleasures while the common people suffered hardship.
vii) This literature led to hostile sentiments against the monarchy.
Q26) What was the impact of the print revolution on children?
i) As primary education became compulsory for children in the late 19th
century, children became an important category of readers.
ii) The production of textbooks became critical for the publishing industry.
iii) A children’s press was set up in France in 1857.
iv) This press published new works as well as old fairy tales and folk tales.
v) The Grimm brothers in Germany spent years compiling traditional folk tales
from peasants.
vi) What they collected was edited and then published in 1812.
vii) Anything considered inappropriate for the children by the elites was not
included in the published version.
viii) Print recorded old tales as well as changed them.
Q26) What was the impact of the print revolution on women?
i) Women became readers as well as writers.
ii) They read penny magazines, which were specially meant for women, as
well as manuals teaching proper behaviours and housekeeping.
iii) Some of the best-known novelists were women; Jane Austin, Bronte Sisters,
George Eliot.
iv) Their writings had defined a new type of woman, one that had a strong will,
determination, and personality.
Q27) What was the impact of the print revolution on workers?
i) Lending libraries in England became instruments for educating white collar
workers, artisans, and lower-middle-class people.
ii) The self-educated even wrote for themselves.
iii) When the working hours were gradually decreased during the mid 19th
century, workers had time for self-improvement and self-expression.
iv) They wrote political tracts and autobiographies in large numbers.
Q28) What were some innovations made to printing technology?
i) By late 18th century, the press began to be made out of metal.
ii) By mid 19th century, Richard M.Hoe of New York, perfected the power
driven cylindrical printing press.
iii) This printing press could print up to 8000 sheets per hour.
iv) A offset press was also invented, this press could print up to 6 colors at a
time.
v) An electrically operated press accelerated the printing operations.
vi) Further innovations were made, such as
- Improving the method of feeding paper
- Improving the quality of plates
- Introduction of the automatic paper reels and,
- Photo electric controls of the color register.
Q29) What were some strategies made by the publishers?
i) Printers and publishers continuously developed new strategies to develop
their products.
ii) 19th-century periodicals serialized important novels, which gave birth to a
particular way of writing.
iii) In 1920s England, shilling series were made. Popular works were sold in
series for a shilling.
iv) The dust cover or book jacket is also a 20th-century innovation.
v) With the onset of the great depression in 1930, publishers were concerned
for the decline of book purchases.
vi) To sustain buying, they brought out cheap paperback additions.
Q30) What are the features of manuscripts in India?
i) India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts, in
Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and many other vernacular languages.
ii) These manuscripts were made on palm leaves or handmade paper.
iii) They were beautifully illustrated.
iv) They would be either pressed between wood covers or sewn together to
ensure preservation.
Q31) What were the limitations of the Indian manuscripts?
i) They were extremely expensive and fragile.
ii) They had to be handled carefully.
iii) It was sometimes hard to read them as they were written in different writing
styles.
Q32) “Many became literate without ever actually reading any kinds of text.”
Explain.
i) Pre colonial Bengal had developed an extensive network of village primary
schools.
ii) Students often did not read from texts, their teachers dictated portions of
text from memory, and the students would write them down.
iii) Many thus became literate without ever reading any text.
Q33) Give some examples of early printed books in India.
i) The printing press came to Goa from the Portuguese missionaries in the
mid-16th century.
ii) Jesuit priests learned Konkani and printed several tracts.
iii) By 1674, about 50 books had been printed in Konkani and Kanara.
iv) Catholic priests printed the first Tamil book in 1579 at Cochin.
v) By 1710, Dutch protestant missionaries printed 72 Tamil texts, many of
them translations of older works.
vi) In 1713, the first Malayalam book was printed.
Q34) Describe the colonial influence on print culture in India.
i) James Augustus Hickey, an editor of the Bengal Gazette, which was a
weekly magazine that was independent from colonial rule, often published a
lot of advertisements.
ii) These advertisements were related to the import and sale of slaves.
iii) However, he also published a lot of gossip about the Company’s senior
officials in India.
iv) Enraged by this, governor Warren Hastings persecuted Hickey, and
encouraged the publication of officially sanctioned newspapers to protect
the image of the colonial government.
v) By the close of the 18th century, several journals and newspapers appeared
in print.
vi) There were Indians too who began to publish Indian newspapers.
vii) The first to appear was the weekly Bengal Gazette, brought out by
Gangadhar Bhattacharya.
Q35) Print led to intense controversies between religious and social reformers
and Hindu orthodoxy. Support the statement with an example.
i) There were intense controversies between social and religious reformers
and the Hindu orthodoxy over matters such as Widow immolation,
Monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood, and idolatry.
ii) In Bengal, as the debate developed, tracts and newspapers were created in
large numbers, circulating a variety of arguments.
iii) To reach a wider audience, these ideas were printed in the languages of the
people.
iv) Rammohun Roy published the Sambad Kaumudi from 1821.
v) The Hindu orthodoxy commissioned the Samachar Chandrika to oppose his
opinions.
vi) In 1822, Persian newspapers were published, Jam I Jaban Nama and
Shamsul Akhbar.
vii) Gujurati Newspaper, the Bombay Samachar, was also published.
Q36) Why did the Muslim clergy want to introduce religious reforms in India?
i) In north India, the ulama were deeply anxious about the collapse of the
Muslim dynasties.
ii) They feared colonial rule would encourage conversion and change the
Muslim personal laws.
iii) To counter this, they used cheap lithographic presses and published Persian
and Urdu translations of holy scriptures.
iv) They also printed religious newspapers and tracts.
v) The Deoband seminary, founded in 1867, published fatwas telling Muslim
readers how to conduct themselves in their everyday lives.
vi) The fatwa’s also explained the Islamic doctrines.
vii) Throughout the 19th century, many Muslim sects and seminaries appeared,
each with their own interpretation of faith.
viii) Each of them was keen on enlarging their following and countering the
influence of their opponents.
ix) Urdu print helped them conduct these battles in public.
Q37) What was the implication of print culture on Hindus?
i) The first printed edition of the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, a 16th century
text, came out in Calcutta in 1810.
ii) By the 19th century, cheap lithographic editions flooded north Indian
markets.
iii) From the 1880s, Naval Kishore Press at Lucknow and the Shri
Venkateshwar Press in Bombay published numerous religious texts in
vernaculars.
They were portable and could be read anywhere, they could also be read to the public.
Q38) Mention the new forms of publications in India.
i) Printing created an appetite for new kinds of writing.
ii) People wanted to see their own lives, experiences, emotions, and
relationships in what they read.
iii) The novel, a literary form developed in Europe, catered to their needs.
iv) The novel soon got its own Indian form and style.
v) For readers, it opened new worlds of experience and showed them a sense
of diversity in human lives.
vi) Other literary forms, such as lyrics, short stories, essays about social and
political matters, also came into being.
Q39) Write the features of the new visual culture that took place at the end of the
19th century.
i) Visual images could easily be produced in multiple copies.
ii) Painters like Raja Ravi Varma produced images for mass circulation.
iii) Poor wood gravers, who made wood blocks, set up shops near the
letterpresses, and were employed by print shops.
iv) Cheap prints and Calendars could be bought even by the poor, and were
used as decoration at home or place of work.
v) By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons were published in journals and
newspapers, commenting on social and political issues.
vi) These caricatures ridiculed educated Indians' fascination with Western tastes
and clothes, while others expressed a fear of social change.
vii) Some were imperial caricatures making fun of nationalists, while some
were nationalist caricatures criticizing imperial rule.
Q40) What did the spread of print culture in 19th-century India mean to women?
IN LIBERAL HOUSEHOLDS
i) The spread of print culture brought about educational reforms for women.
ii) In liberal households, husbands and fathers would enroll their womenfolk in
women schools.
iii) Many journals contained writings by women and emphasized the need for
women to receive education.
iv) These journals also carried a syllabus, with appropriate reading material
which could be used for home-based schooling.
IN NON-LIBERAL HOUSEHOLDS
v) However, not all houses were liberal.
vi) Conservative Hindus believed that an educated woman would be widowed.
vii) Muslims feared that educated women would be corrupted by reading Urdu
romances.
 REBEL WOMEN
i) Sometimes, rebel women went against such prohibition.
ii) A girl from north India learned to read and write Urdu in secret.
iii) She was forced to read only the Arabic Quran which she did not understand,
so she insisted on learning a language that was her own.
iv) Rashsundari Debi, a young married girl in an orthodox household, learnt to
read in the secrecy of her kitchen.
v) She published the first full length Bengali autobiography, Amar Jiban.

Q41) What are some examples of books written by women in 19th century India.
i) Social reforms and novels had created a great interest in women's lives and
emotions.
ii) There was also an interest in what would had to say about their own lives.
iii) (1860s) Bengali women such as Kailashbashini Debi wrote books
highlighting the experiences of women.
iv) She wrote about how they were imprisoned at home, forced to do hard
domestic labor, and treated unjustly by the very people they served.
v) (1880s) In present-day Maharashtra, Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai,
wrote with passionate anger about the miserable lives of the upper-caste
Hindu women, especially widows.
Q42) How did Hindu printing impact women?
i) Hindu printing began seriously only in the 1870s.
ii) Soon a large segment of it was devoted to the education of women.
iii) In the early 20th century, journals written for and sometimes edited by
women, became extremely popular.
iv) They discussed women's issues like women's education, widowhood,
widow remarriage, and the national movement.
v) Some of them offered household tips and fashion lessons.
vi) Some brought entertainment through short stories and serialized novels.
Q43) What were the various folk literatures that were printed in the 20th century
in India?
i) In Punjab, folk literature was widely printed from the 20th century.
ii) Ram Chaddha published the fast-selling Istri Dharm Vichar to teach women
how to be obedient wives.
iii) The Khalsa Tract Society published cheap booklets with similar messages.
Q44) Give a short note on the Battala.
i) In Bengal, the Battala was dedicated to the printing of popular books.
ii) Here, you could buy religious scriptures and tracts for cheap.
iii) You could also buy the literature that was considered obscene and
scandalous.
iv) A lot of these books were profusely illustrated with woodcuts and coloured
lithographs.
v) Pedlars took the Battala publications to home, so even women could read
them in their leisure time.
Q45) What was the impact of print culture on poor people?
i) Very cheap small books were brought to markets in the 19th century.
ii) Public libraries were set up from early 20th century, expanding access to
these books.
iii) These libraries were located mostly in cities and towns, and sometimes in
prosperous villages.
iv) For rich local patrons, owning a library meant having prestige.
Q46) How did print culture discuss ideas of social reforms?
i) From the late 19th century, issues of caste discrimination began to be written
about in many printed tracts and essays.
ii) Jyotiba Phule, a Maratha pioneer of low-caste protest movements, wrote
about the injustices of the caste system in his Gulamgiri (1871).
iii) In 20th century, DR Ambedkar in Maharashtra and E.V Ramaswamy
Naicker in Madras, also known as Periyar, wrote powerfully on caste
systems.
iv) Their writings were read all over India.
Q47) Write about the importance of print culture for mill workers.
i) Workers in factories were too overworked and lacked the education to write
much about their experiences.
ii) However, a mill worker in Kanpur, Kashibaba, wrote and published
Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal in 1938 to show the links between caste and
class exploitation.
iii) Another Kanpur miller, who went by the name of Sudarshan Chakr,
between 1935 and 1955, published a collection of poems called Sacchi
Kavitayan.
iv) By 1930s, Bangalore cotton millworkers, set up libraries to educate
themselves, following the Bombay workers.
v) They were sponsored by social reformers who tried to restrict excessive
drinking among them, to bring literacy, and to propagate the message of
nationalism.
Q48) Write a short note on print censorship before the revolt of 1857.
i) Before 1798, the colonial state under the East India Company was not too
concerned with censorship.
ii) Its early measures to control printing matters were directed towards
Englishmen in India who were critical of company misrule and hated the
actions of certain company officers.
iii) The company worried that such critics might be used against them to attack
their trade monopoly in India.
iv) By the 1820s, The Calcutta supreme court passed certain regulations to
control press freedom.
v) The company began encouraging the publication of newspapers that would
celebrate British rule.
vi) After urgent petitions by editors of both English and vernacular newspapers,
Governor General Bentinck agreed to revise press laws.
Q49) After revolt of 1857, what prompted British government to curb the
freedom of press?
i) After the revolt of 1857, the attitude to freedom of the press changed.
ii) Enraged Englishmen demanded a clamp down on the ‘native’ press.
iii) As vernacular papers became nationalist, the colonial government decided
to gain control over the press.
Q50) What was the Vernacular Press Act?
i) In 1878, the Vernacular press act was passed.
ii) The act provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and
editorials in the vernacular press.
iii) The government kept regular track of the vernacular newspapers published
in different provinces.
iv) When a newspaper was deemed as seditious, it was warned.
v) If the warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized and the
printing machinery would be confiscated.
Q51) How did print culture lead to growth in Nationalism?
i) Despite recessive measures, nationalist newspapers grew in number in all
parts of India.
ii) They reported on colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities.
iii) Attempts to throttle nationalists provoked militant protest.
iv) When Punjab revolutionaries were deported in 1907, Balgangadhar Tilak
expressed his sympathy in his Kesari.
v) This led to his imprisonment in 1908, provoking widespread protest all over
India.
Q52) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of
press and freedom of association. Give reason.
i) Gandhi said the fight for swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of the
press, and freedom of association because he considered these to be
powerful modes of expression and cultivation of public opinion.
ii) The denial of these freedoms was not compatible with the idea of self-rule
and independence.
iii) Hence, the fight for these freedoms, was also a fight for swaraj or self-rule.