Print Culture and the Modern World

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering the chapter 'Print Culture and Modern World', detailing the history, technology, and socio-religious impact of print across East Asia, Europe, and India.

How is printing defined?

Printing is the method or process of putting text and images on paper.

In which three East Asian countries was the earliest kind of print technology developed?

China, Japan, and Korea.

How were books printed in China from 594 AD onwards?

Books were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface of woodblocks.

Why was the traditional Chinese accordion book folded and stitched at the side?

Because the paper was thin and porous, meaning both sides of the sheet could not be printed.

Why was there a huge demand for textbooks in Imperial China?

China had a huge bureaucratic system that recruited personnel through Civil Services Examinations, leading to the vast production of textbooks sponsored by the Imperial State.

Which city became the hub of new print culture in China, supplying books to Western-style schools?

Shanghai.

When and by whom was hand-printing technology introduced into Japan?

Around AD 768–770 by Buddhist missionaries from China.

What is the oldest printed Japanese book, and how many sheets does it contain?

The Buddhist Diamond Sutra, printed in 868 AD, which contains only 6 sheets.

Which city became the hub of printing in Japan?

Edo (Tokyo).

Who was Kitagawa Utamaro, and what art form was he known for?

An artist born in Edo in 1753 who was famous for Ukiyo ('pictures of the floating world'), depicting ordinary human experiences.

What is the historical significance of the Korean Jikji, printed in 1377?

It is among the oldest existing books printed with movable metal type, containing teachings related to Zen Buddhism.

How and when did woodblock printing technology travel from China to Italy?

Marco Polo returned to Italy in 1295 and brought the technology of woodblock printing with him from China.

What is vellum, and how was it used in early European book production?

A very expensive parchment made from animal skin used for luxury, hand-written book editions.

Who developed the first movable-type mechanical printing press in Europe, and what was his first printed book?

Johann Gutenberg developed it in the 1430s using the olive press as a model; the first book printed was the Bible.

Who was Menocchio, and how did he influence the Catholic Church's actions regarding print?

A 16th-century Italian miller who read and reinterpreted the Bible to challenge Church teachings, prompting the Church to impose strict controls.

What control mechanism did the Roman Catholic Church introduce in 1558 to restrict religious dissent?

The Index of Prohibited Books.

What were penny chapbooks and the Bibliothèque Bleue?

Penny chapbooks were cheap books sold in England for a penny; the Bibliothèque Bleue were low-priced French books printed on poor quality paper bound in cheap blue covers.

Which 1517 text by Martin Luther spread rapidly via the printing press to launch the Protestant Reformation?

The Ninety-Five Theses.

Why was the humanist scholar Erasmus worried about the expansion of print?

He feared that most printed books might spread irrelevant or rebellious ideas.

Which 18th-century novelist described the printing press as the 'most powerful engine of progress'?

Louise-Sébastien Mercier.

What three arguments connect print culture to the outbreak of the French Revolution?

Print popularized critical writings of Enlightenment thinkers (like Voltaire and Rousseau), opened tradition and institutions to public debate based on reason, and spread cartoons/caricatures mocking the royalty.

When was a dedicated children's press established in France to publish children's literature?

In 1857.

Who collected and published traditional German folk tales in 1812 after editing out unsuitable material for children?

The Grimm Brothers.

Which prominent 19th-century female novelists depicted women as determined, thinking, and independent individuals?

Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, and George Eliot.

What printing innovation did Richard M. Hoe perfect in the mid-19th century?

The power-driven cylindrical press, which was capable of printing 8,000 sheets per hour.

What capability did the offset press introduce in the late 19th century?

It was developed to print up to 6 colours at a time.

Why were traditional handwritten manuscripts on palm leaves or handmade paper in India not widely used in daily life?

They were extremely fragile and awkward to handle.

When and by whom was the first printing press brought to India?

In the mid-16th century by Portuguese missionaries in Goa.

What was the Bengal Gazette, and who began editing it in 1780?

A weekly English-language magazine edited by James Augustus Hickey.

What was the first weekly newspaper brought out by an Indian?

Bengal Gazette, brought out by Gangadhar Bhattacharya.

Which weekly publication did Rammohan Roy begin in 1821, and what orthodox paper was commissioned to oppose him?

Rammohan Roy published the Sambad Kaumudi, while Hindu orthodoxy commissioned the Samachar Chandrika to counter his reformist views.

Which two Persian newspapers began publication in India in 1822?

Jam-i-Jahan Numa and Shamsul Akhbar.

When was the Deoband Seminary founded, and how did it use print to support Indian Muslims?

Founded in 1867, it used cheap lithographic printing to publish tens of thousands of fatwas guiding daily conduct and Islamic beliefs.

When and where was the first printed edition of Tulsidas's 16th-century Ramcharitmanas published?

In 1810, in Calcutta.

Which two prominent presses printed religious texts in vernacular languages from the 1880s onward in India?

Naval Kishore Press in Lucknow and Shri Venkateshwar Press in Bombay.

What was Amar Jiban, and who wrote it?

The first full-length autobiography in Bengali, written secretly in her kitchen by Rashsundari Debi.

Which tract did Ram Chaddha publish in Punjab to instruct women on household duties?

Istri Dharm Vichar, published to teach women how to be obedient wives.

What book did Jyotiba Phule write in 1871 on the injustices of the caste system?

Gulamgiri.

What was the subject of Kashibaba's 1938 work Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal?

The links between caste and class exploitation among Kanpur millworkers.

What authority did the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 give to the British colonial government?

Extensive rights to censor reports and editorials published in vernacular languages.

Why was Bal Gangadhar Tilak imprisoned in 1908?

He wrote articles in his newspaper Kesari expressing sympathy for deported Punjab revolutionaries in 1907.