Chapter 7 - Print Culture And The Modern World

Lithography is a printing process in which artists used greasy drawing materials to make original images on stones or metal plates, which are then printed onto paper. It was invented by German author Alois Senefelder in 1796.

Martin Luther in 1517, proclaimed printing as the ultimate and the greater gift of God. Luther wrote Ninety Five Theses which immediately got circulated in vast numbers with the help of print and was widely read. Luther proclaimed that print brought new intellectual atmosphere and helped spread the new ideas of Protestant Reformation.

Penny Magazine was an illustrated British magazine, published between 1832 and 1835 in England by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. It aimed primarily at the working class and was especially meat for women.

The Naval Kishore Press at Lucknow and the Shri Venkateshwar Press in Bombay were the two presses which published numerous religious texts in vernacular languages. Written in ordinary language, they could be read out easily to a large group of illiterate men and women.

Protestant Reformation was a sixteenth-century movement that aimed to reform the Catholic Church dominated by Rome. The movement developed several anti-Catholic traditions. Martin Luther was one of the main Protestant reformers.

Several strategies were developed by printers and publishers in the 19^th century to sell their product.

● The periodicals serialized important novels.

● In England, popular works were sold in cheap series, called the Shilling Series.

● Cheap paperback editions were also brought.

The Deoband Seminary was founded in 1867. It published thousands of fatwas to tell Muslim readers about how to conduct themselves in their everyday lives, and explain the meanings of Islamic doctrines.

Numerous innovations were made in print technology in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century.

● First was the power driven cylindrical press which had the capacity of printing 8,000 sheets per hour.

● Second, was the offset press which could print up to six colours at a time.

● Third, electrically operated presses accelerated the pace of printing operations.

● Other developments included improved methods of feeding paper, better quality plates, automatic paper reels and photoelectric controls of the colour register.

The shift from hand printing to mechanical printing came to be known as the print revolution. It had an impact on every aspect of life.

● It led to the emergence of the new reading public. As Printing reduced the cost of books multiple copies could be produced with greater ease. Before the age of print, books were not only expensive but were also not produced in sufficient numbers. But now the markets were flooded with books. Thus, books created a new culture of reading.

● Printing introduced a new world of debate and discussion with a wide circulation of ideas. It enabled people to think differently and persuade others.

● Print stimulated many distinctive individual interpretations of faith. People began questioning the authority of the Roman Church. Thus, severe controls were imposed on the publishers and booksellers by the Church.

Print revolution thus broadened the horizons of the people. Knowledge was no longer limited to the elites. The common folks also enriched themselves with the information. There was freedom of ideas that was circulated all over. The print message carried nationalist values and awakened patriotism among the people. It made people aware of concepts such as equality, freedom etc. Thus, freedom of expression reached the masses.