The Advent of Print Technology
* Hand printed technology was first developed in China, Japan and Korea.
* In AD 868, the Japanese printed their first book – Diamond Sutra.
* In Japan, Kitagawa Utamaro introduced an interesting art form called Ukiyo.
* In the thirteenth century, the hand-printing technology was introduced in Europe via the silk route.
* The first known printing press in the 1430s was developed by Johann Gutenberg.
Print Revolution and its Impact
* People used the print technology to freely spread their ideas which put fear on those in authority.
* One such religious debate in 1517, by Martin Luther led to the Protestant Reformation in Europe.
* To prevent rise dissenting ideas, the roman Church imposed limitations and began to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558.
* As the reading culture bloomed, booksellers printed various books.
* People believed that books had power to liberate society from despotism.
Changes in the Nineteenth Century
* In the nineteenth century, children, women and workers became a part of the reading culture.
* Publishers printed textbooks, folktales and fairy tales for the children.
* Women took up reading and writing. Some of them included:
* Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and Mary Ann Evans.
* Printers and publishers came up with new strategies to sell their products.
* A series of innovations took place in the printing technology.
India and the World of Print
* The Portuguese missionaries introduced printing press in India.
* Towards the end of eighteenth century, a number of newspapers and journals were published.
* Print and newspapers became useful medium to convey the views and thoughts across people.
* Men and women writers wrote about issues related to women and on caste discrimination.
* People read stories, poems as well as social and political issues.
Print and Censorship
* Print had a huge impact on its reader and so the Company wanted to restrict the publications.
* In the 1820s, the Supreme Court passed regulations to control press freedom.
* After the revolt of 1857, some Englishmen demanded to clamp the local press to control the spread of nationalism.
* The Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878 which regulated the Indian presses.
* Any attempt by the company to suppress nationalist expression would lead to militant protests.