CBSE Class 10 Social Science Print Culture and the Modern World Notes Set 05

The first printed books

Printing began in East Asia. China, Japan and Korea produced books by hand-pressing paper against inked wooden blocks. In China, printed books were mainly linked to the civil service examinations, and from the sixteenth century the number of readers grew with trade and leisure reading. Marco Polo brought knowledge of woodblock printing to Italy in 1295, and by the early fifteenth century woodblocks were used in Europe for textiles, playing cards and religious pictures.

Handwritten manuscripts could not meet the growing demand for books. They were costly, slow to produce, fragile and hard to carry. A faster method was needed.

Gutenberg and the print revolution

Johann Gutenberg of Strasbourg built the first printing press in the 1430s, using ideas from the olive and wine press and metal moulds. By 1448 his system was perfected and his first book was the Bible, with about 180 copies printed in three years, which was fast for that time. Printed books became cheaper, readers multiplied and ideas spread across Europe. This change is called the print revolution.

Print gave rise to a new culture of debate. Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses (1517) were printed and spread widely, which helped the Protestant Reformation. Some rulers and the Church feared that print would spread rebellious or irreligious ideas. Menocchio, a miller in Italy, was put to death for his unconventional views, and from 1558 the Roman Catholic Church kept an Index of Prohibited Books. Erasmus worried that cheap books would flood the market with worthless writing. Many historians argue that print prepared the ground for the French Revolution by spreading the ideas of thinkers who attacked tradition, and by creating a culture of dialogue, which also mocked the monarchy.

Nineteenth-century developments

Literacy rose, creating new readers among children, women and workers. Presses became powered: the cylindrical press could print thousands of sheets an hour, and later came offset printing and electric presses. Cheap series, serialised novels and magazines for women and children appeared.

Print in India

India had a rich tradition of handwritten manuscripts on palm leaf and paper, but they were costly and not widely available. Portuguese missionaries brought the press to Goa in the mid-sixteenth century, and Konkani and Kannada books followed. The first Tamil book was printed in 1579 and the first Malayalam book in 1713. The Bengal Gazette, edited by James Augustus Hickey, began in 1780 as the first English weekly.

Print fuelled religious and social debate. Reformers like Rammohun Roy published newspapers, and religious texts were printed in vernacular languages. Women became readers and writers; Rassundari Debi wrote her autobiography in 1876. Jyotiba Phule wrote on caste injustice in Gulamgiri. Cheap books were sold at crossroads, public libraries grew, and workers began writing about their conditions. Printed pictures, calendars and cartoons spread new visual culture.

Print and control

The colonial government grew alarmed by nationalist newspapers. The Vernacular Press Act of 1878, modelled on the Irish Press Laws, allowed it to censor reports and seize presses after a warning. Even so, nationalist newspapers spread across India. Gandhi called the fight for swaraj a fight for liberty of speech and the press.

Worked examples

1. Why did woodblock printing reach Europe only after 1295? Marco Polo returned from China in that year and brought the knowledge with him.

2. Why did the Church ban some books? Printed Bibles and new readings let people question Church authority, so it listed books it considered dangerous.

3. Why did Luther praise print? It spread his criticism of the Church to a large audience and gave him support.

Quick Check Questions