Why did people in the eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism? [CBSE 2011]
(i) Increase in literacy rate: Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries literacy rates went up in most parts of Europe. By the end of the eighteenth century, in some parts of Europe literacy rates were as high as 60 to 80 per cent. As literacy and schools spread in European countries, there was a virtual reading mania.
(ii) Role of periodicals: The periodical press developed from the early eighteenth century, Newspapers and journals carried information about wars and trade, as well as news of developments in other places.
(iii) Ideas of scientists and philosophers: Similarly, the ideas of scientists and philosophers now became more accessible to the common people. Ancient and medieval scientific texts were compiled and published, and maps and scientific diagrams were widely printed. The writings of thinkers such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau were also widely printed and read. Thus their ideas about science, reason and rationality found their way into popular literature.
(iv) Print a powerful engine of progress:
Louise-Sebastien Mercier, a novelist in eighteenth-century France, declared: ‘The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away.' In many of Mercier's novels, the heroes are transformed by acts of reading.
Name the printing presses which published numerous religious texts in vernaculars from the 1880s.
Explain the main features of the first printed Bible. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
Describe any three main features of the first printed Bible. [CBSE 2014]
How did printing press create a new- reading public ? Explain. [CBSF. Sept. 2013]
Or
"There was a virtual reading mania in European countries in the 18th century". Explain the factors responsible for this virtual reading mania.
Print popularised the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers.' Explain. [CBSE 2014]
Or
How did ideas about science, reason and rationality find their way into popular literature in the 18th century Europe ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Trace the growth and development of print technology.
Or
How had the earliest print technology developed in the world ? Explain.
Explain how the print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Study the given paragraph and answer the following questions that follow :
Liberty of speech…. liberty of the press freedom of association. The government of India is now seeking to crush the three powerful vehicles of expressing and cultivating public opinion. The fight for Swaraj, for Khilafat …. means a fight for this threatened freedom before all else ….'
(i) Who said these words ?
(ii) Name the freedoms he is talking about.
Why were the printed books popular even among illiterate people ? [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2012]
The shift from handprinting to mechanical printing led to the print revolution.’ Explain.
State any three points of importance of penny chapbooks. [CBSE Sept. 2010.2011]
Or
Describe some of the new printed books which were sold by the pedlars in villages in the eighteenth century Europe. [CBSE-2012, 2014]
Name an Act which was passed by the British government to keep a regular track of the vernacular newspapers.
Write about the different innovations in the printing technology during the 19th century ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
How did Gutenberg personalise the printed hooks suiting to the tastes and requirement of others ? [CBSE 2012]
Trace the history of print in China.
Or
How did China remain a major producer of printed materials for a long time ?
Or
The imperial state in China, was the major producer of printed material.' Support this statement. [CBSE 2014]
Print not only stimulate the publication of conflicting opinions amongst communities, but it also connected communities and people in different parts of India.' Explain. [CBSE 2008 (O), 2009 (D), Sept. 2011]
Or
How did print help connect communities and people in different parts of India ? Explain with examples. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Who was the major producer of printed material in China ? For what purpose this material was used ?