The invention of printing marked a revolution in the history of human communication. Before print, knowledge was transmitted through speech, manuscripts and hand-copying, and it was largely confined to the literate few. The development of print technology and the culture of reading transformed societies across the world, creating new publics, new political movements and new forms of knowledge. This chapter traces the history of print culture from its origins in China, Japan and Europe, through the print revolution in Europe, to the growth of print in India and its deep connection with the national movement.
Print did more than simply spread information; it created new ways of thinking, reading and being. It brought the Bible, scientific works, newspapers, novels and political pamphlets to a growing reading public, and it enabled the Reformation, the Enlightenment and modern nationalism. At the same time, the printing press was a technology of power, used by states and churches to control ideas through censorship. The relationship between print, power and the people is therefore central to understanding the modern world.
For the board examination, students must understand the sequence of developments in print technology, the difference between the hand-copying age and the print age, the role of print in the Reformation and the Enlightenment, the growth of the newspaper press, and the peculiar history of print in India, from the first printed books to the vernacular press and the nationalist pamphlets. The chapter demands attention to the social history of reading: who read, what they read, and how reading habits changed.
The earliest forms of printing were not in Europe but in East Asia. In China, the traditional technology of print involved hand printing: the system of woodblock printing was used to print on cloth and paper from around 594 AD. In the ninth century, Buddhist missionaries printed the Diamond Sutra, one of the earliest known printed books, in AD 868. China was also the first country to produce printed books commercially, and by the seventeenth century, the Chinese were printing a large quantity of books, including the examinations for the civil service.
Woodblock printing reached Japan, and the first book printed in Japan was a Buddhist text in AD 768. In Japan, the publication of the cheap and popular 'kashi-hon' or books on loan, and the colourful 'ukiyo' prints, showed that printing was spreading among the common people. However, the printed book reached Europe later, and it was in Europe that the print revolution had its most transformative effects.
The printing press, as we know it, was perfected by Johann Gutenberg of Strasbourg, who developed the printing press and movable type in the 1430s. Gutenberg's press was based on the olive press, with movable type, and it revolutionised printing. The first printed Bible, the Gutenberg Bible, was produced in 1455. In the century that followed, printing spread rapidly across Europe, and by 1550, presses were printing books in most European cities, and print became a medium of mass communication.
The print revolution transformed the lives of the people. Previously, reading was largely restricted to the elite, and books were expensive and handwritten. With print, books became cheaper and more accessible, and the culture of reading spread to new sections of the population. The spread of literacy, the growth of the middle class and the emergence of new reading publics followed. Many new readers, especially women and children, emerged, and a new public sphere was created in which ideas could be debated freely.
Print played a crucial role in the Reformation. Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses of 1517, which criticised the practices of the Catholic Church, were quickly printed and spread across Europe, initiating the Protestant Reformation. The printed Bible in the vernacular languages allowed people to read and interpret religious texts themselves, and this weakened the monopoly of the Church over interpretation. Print also played a role in the religious wars and in the growth of a questioning spirit.
Print was also central to the Enlightenment. The scientists, philosophers and writers of the eighteenth century used print to spread their ideas of reason, liberty and progress. The Encyclopaedia, published by Diderot and d'Alembert, brought together the knowledge of the age. However, print also served as a tool of control: states and churches used censorship to suppress ideas they considered dangerous. The relationship between print and power was thus double-edged, and print could be both a liberating and an oppressive force.
The growth of the press in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries created new kinds of reading publics. Newspapers and periodicals brought news of politics, trade and society to a growing readership, and the reading of newspapers became a daily habit for many. The growth of the press was also linked to the growth of the nation-state and nationalism: newspapers created a sense of shared identity among the readers who were separated in space but united by common language and common news.
The print culture also produced new kinds of books. Novels became an immensely popular form of literature, and they were read by a broad public. The novel was a new literary form that explored the life of ordinary people and the modern world. The growth of cheap publications, such as penny magazines and popular novels, extended the reading public further. Reading rooms and libraries, and the reading aloud in public, made books and newspapers accessible even to the illiterate.
In many European countries, the development of print culture was accompanied by restrictions on press freedom. In France, the ancien regime imposed strict censorship on the press, and the revolutionaries of 1789 abolished it, leading to an explosion of print. The debate about press freedom, the freedom to print and publish without censorship, became a central theme of modern politics. Print, therefore, was deeply connected with the rise of democracy and the public sphere.
Print came to India with the Portuguese missionaries, who brought the printing press to Goa in the mid-sixteenth century. The first printing press in India was set up by the Portuguese at Goa in 1557, and the first Tamil book was printed in 1579. The English East India Company brought printing to Bengal, and the first Indian English-language newspaper, the Bengal Gazette, was published in 1780. The growth of print in India was closely connected with the colonial state, the missionaries and the Indian reformers and nationalists.
From the early nineteenth century, there was a rapid growth in printing in India, with the establishment of printing presses in many Indian languages. The vernacular press grew in importance, and newspapers in Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and other languages became vehicles of public opinion and reform. The social reformers, such as Raja Rammohan Roy, used print to spread their ideas, and the new print culture was connected with the growth of the reading public in India.
The colonial state tried to control print through censorship and through the Vernacular Press Act of 1878, which was designed to suppress the nationalist press. However, print played a vital role in the national movement. Nationalist newspapers, pamphlets and books spread the message of freedom, and the 'liberal nationalism' of the early Congress found expression in print. Print also connected the different regions of India and created a sense of national community among readers. The print culture, therefore, was an essential element of the making of modern India.
| Event/Publication | Year | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Diamond Sutra printed (China) | AD 868 | One of the earliest known printed books |
| Gutenberg printing press | 1430s | Perfected movable type printing in Europe |
| Gutenberg Bible | 1455 | First printed Bible in Europe |
| Luther's Ninety-Five Theses | 1517 | Initiated the Protestant Reformation |
| First printing press in India (Goa) | 1557 | Brought by Portuguese missionaries |
| First Tamil book printed | 1579 | Early example of printing in an Indian language |
| Bengal Gazette | 1780 | First Indian English-language newspaper |
| Vernacular Press Act | 1878 | Censorship to control the nationalist press in India |
| Feature | Manuscript Age | Print Age |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Books expensive, handwritten | Books cheaper, mass produced |
| Readership | Restricted to elite and literate few | Spread to new publics, women, children, common people |
| Speed of spread | Slow, limited | Rapid, mass communication |
| Control | Limited to scribes and libraries | States and churches used censorship; press freedom debated |
| Political impact | Limited | Reformation, Enlightenment, nationalism |
Print culture transformed the world of ideas, communication and politics. Originating in East Asia and perfected in Europe by Gutenberg, printing created a revolution in which books became cheaper, reading spread to new publics, and ideas circulated faster than ever before. Print was central to the Reformation and the Enlightenment, and it played a crucial role in the growth of modern nationalism and democracy. Yet print was also a contested medium, subject to censorship and control by states and churches, and its freedom was won through long struggles. In India, print came with the missionaries and grew rapidly in the colonial period, becoming an instrument of both social reform and national liberation. The story of print is thus the story of how ordinary people came to read, think and act together, and how the modern world was made through the printed word.