Short Answer Type Questions
Q1: How were earlier books printed (before 15th century) Explain.
Ans: (i) The earlier kind of print technology was a system of hand printing.
(ii) From AD 594 onwards, books in China were printed by rubbing paper also invented there against the inked surface of woodblocks. As both sides of the thin, porous sheet could not be printed, the traditional Chinese ‘accordion book’ was folded and stitched at the side.
(iii) Superbly skilled craftsmen could duplicate, with remarkable accuracy, the beauty of calligraphy.
Q2: How did China remain a major producer of printed materials for a long time [CBSE 2013]
Or
“The imperial state in China, was the major producer of printed material.” Support this statement with examples. [CBSE 2013. 2012. 2014]
Ans: (i) Textbooks for the civil service examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of the imperial state
(ii) Merchants used print in their everyday life as they collected trade information.
(iii)The new readership preferred fictional narratives, poetry, romantic plays
(iv) Rich women began to read and many women began publishing their poetry and plays.
Q3: ‘By the 17th century, as urban culture bloomed in China, the uses of print diversified.’ Explain by giving examples. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
How did a new reading culture bloom in China Explain.
Ans: (i) With the blooming of urban culture, the uses of print diversified. Print was no longer used just by scholar-officials.
(ii) Merchants also started using print in their everyday life, to collect trade information Reading increasingly became a leisure activity.
(iii) The readers preferred fictional narratives, poetry, autobiographies, anthologies of literary masterpieces and romantic plays.
(iv) Rich women began to read a great variety of books and many women began to publish their poetry and plays. Wives of scholar-officials published their works, and courtesans started writing about their lives.
Q4: Describe the progress of print in Japan. [CBSE Sept. 2010. 2011. 2013]
Ans: (i) Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand-printing technology into Japan around AD 768-770. The oldest Japanese book, printed in AD 868, is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra. Pictures were printed on textiles, playing cards and paper money.
(ii) In medieval Japan, poets and prose writers were regularly published, and books were cheap and abundant.
(iii) Printing of visual material led to interesting publishing practices. In the late eighteenth century, in the flourishing urban circles at Edo (later to be known os Tokyo), illustrated collections of paintings depicted an elegant urban culture, involving artists, courtesans, and tea house gatherings.
Q5: How had the earliest printing technology developed in the world Explain. [CBSE 2012]
Ans: (i) The earnest kind of print technology was developed in China, Japan, and Korea.
(ii) Up to 6th century, the print was used only by scholar officials.
(iii) Then the Buddhist missionaries introduced hand printing technology,
(iv) Marco Polo brought woodblock printing from China to Italy.
(v) The invention of the printing press proved great miracle in spreading knowledge.
Q6: Who was Marco Polo What was his contribution to print culture [CBSE 2013]
Ans: Marco Polo was a great Italian explorer.
Contribution :
(i) in 1295. Marco polo returned to Italy after many years of exploration in China.
(ii) He brought the knowledge of woodblock printing with him.
(iii) Now in Italy, books started to be produced with woodblocks and soon the technology spread to other parts of Europe.
Q7: How did Gutenberg personalise the printed hooks suiting to the tastes and requirement of others [CBSE 2012]
Ans: (i)Borders were illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns.
(ii) Illustrations were painted in the painting school of the buyer’s choice,
(iii) In the books printed for the rich blank spares were left for decoration.
(iv) Each buyer could choose the design, verses were highlighted by hand with colours,
(v) The overall outlook of the book was properly taken care of.
Q8: 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]
Ans: (i) About 18O copies were printed ar.d it took three years to produce them.
(ii) The text was printed in the new Gutenberg press with metal type, but the borders were carefully designed, painted and illuminated by hand by artists.
(iii) Every page of each copy was different.
(iv) Different colours were used within the letters in various places.
Q9: ‘The shift from handprinting to mechanical printing led to the print revolution.’ Explain.
Ans: (i) In the hundred years between 1450 and 1550. the printing presses were set up in most of the countries of Europe.
(ii) Printers from Germany travelled to other countries, seeking work and helping to start new presses. As the number of printing presses grew, book production boomed
(iii) The second half of the fifteenth century saw around 20 million copies of printed books flooding the markets in Europe. The number went up in the sixteenth century to about 200 million copies.
(iv) It influenced popular perceptions and opened up new ways of looking at things
Q10: 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.
Ans: (i) Low cost of production : With the printing press, a new reading public emerged. Printing reduced the cost of books. The time mid labour required to produce each book came down, and multiple copies could be produced with greater ease. Books flooded the market, reaching out to an ever-growing readership.
(ii) Accessibility of books : Access to books created a new culture of reading. Earlier, reading was restricted to the elites. Common people lived in a world of oral culture They heard sacred texts read out ,ballads recited, and folk tales narrated Knowledge was transferred orally. People collectively heard a story, or saw a performance. Before the age of print, books were not only expensive but they could not be produced in sufficient numbers. Now books could reach out to wider sections of people.
(iii) Increase in literacy rate : Through the. seventeenth and eighteenth centuries literacy rates went up in most parts of Europe. Churches of different denominations set up schools in Villages, carrying literacy to peasants and artisans. 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.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q11: 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]
Ans: (i) Hand Printing : The earliest kind of print technology was developed in China, Japan and Korea. This was a system of hand printing. From AD 594 onwards, books in China were printed by rubbing paper – also invented there- against the inked surface of woodblocks. As both sides of the thin, porous sheet could not be printed, the traditional Chinese ‘accordion book’ was folded and stitched at the side. Superbly skilled craftsmen could duplicate, with remarkable accuracy, the beauty of calligraphy.
(ii) Major producer : The imperial state in China was, for a very long time, the major producer of printed material. China possessed a huge bureaucratic system which recruited its personnel through civil service examinations. Textbooks for this examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of the imperial state. From the sixteenth century, the number of examination candidates went up and that increased the volume of print.
(iii) Printing in the 17th century : By the seventeenth century, as urban culture bloomed in China, the uses of print diversified. Print was no longer used just by scholar officials. Merchants used print in their everyday life, as they collected trade information. Reading increasingly became a leisure activity. The new readership preferred fictional narratives, poetry, autobiographies, anthologies of literary masterpieces, and romantic plays. Rich women began to read, and many women began publishing their poetry and plays. Wives of scholar-officials published their works and courtesans wrote about their lives.
(iv) Printing in the 19th century : This new reading culture was accompanied by a new technology. Western printing techniques and mechanical presses were imported in the fate nineteenth century as Western powers established their outposts in China. Shanghai became the hub of the new print culture, catering to the Western-style schools. From hand printing there was now a gradual shift to mechanical printing.
Q12: Mention some of the important characteristics of print culture of Japan.
Ans: (i) Introduced by the Buddhist missionaries : The Buddhist missionaries from China introduced the handprinting technology into Japan around AD 768-770.
(ii) Old book : The oldest Japanese book, printed in AD 868, is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra, containing six sheets of text and woodcut illustrations.
(iii) Material: Playing cards, paper money and textile products were used for printing pictures.
(iv) Cheap books : In the medieval Japan, the works of poets and prose writers were regularly published, and books were cheap and abundant.
(v) Print in Edo (Tokyo) : In the late 18th century, in the flourishing urban circles at Edo (later to be known as Tokyo), illustrated collections of paintings depicting an elegant urban culture, involving artists, courtesans and teahouse gatherings.
Q13: Trace the history of print in Europe.
Or
How did print culture develop in Europe Explain. [CBSE 2010, 2012 (D)]
Or
How did print come to Europe from China Explain. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Ans: (i) Paper from China : Paper reached Europe from China through the Silk route in the 11th century. With this, the production of manuscripts written by scribes became a regular feature.
(ii) Role of travellers and explorers : Marco Polo, a great explorer reached Italy after several years of exploration in China in the year 1295. Marco Polo brought back with him the technology of woodblock printing. Now Italians started publishing books with woodblocks. The technology became popular in other parts of Europe, as well.
(iii) Woodblock printing : By the early fifteenth century, woodblocks started being widely used in Europe to print textiles, playing cards and religious pictures with simple, brief texts.
(iv) Johann Gutenberg and the printing press : A major revolution in the print technology was brought by Johann Gutenberg. He developed the first known printing press in the 1430’s. The first book he printed was the Bible.
(v) Spread of printing presses : In the next hundred years i.e. between 1450 and 1550, printing presses were set up in most countries of Europe.
Q14: Who was Johann Gutenberg Explain his role in the history of printing. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
Who invented the printing press How did he develop the print technology [CBSE 2009 (F)]
Ans: Johann Gutenberg was a German goldsmith and inventor, credited with the inventing of the movable type printing in Europe. Gutenberg was the son of a merchant, and his childhood was spent on a large agricultural estate. From his childhood, he had seen wine and olive presses. By and by, he learnt the art of polishing stones, became a master goldsmith, and also acquired the expertise to create lead moulds used for making trinkets. (Trinket-A small item of jewellery that is cheap or of low quality). Using this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted the existing technology to design his innovation. The olive press became the base model for the printing press and moulds were used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet. By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. In 1455, Gutenberg published his 42-lines Bible, commonly known as the Gutenberg Bible. About 180 copies were printed most on paper and some on vellum.
Q15: In which way did the early printed books closely resemble the manuscripts? Explain.
[CBSE 2013]
Or
Give three ways in which early printed books closely resembled manuscripts. [CBSE 2011]
Ans: (i) Early printed books were technically printed but those were not very different from manuscripts.
(ii) There were many kinds of same features available in similar books which made printed books closely resembling with manuscripts.
(iii) Both printed books and manuscripts looked similar because metal letters imitated the ornamental handwritten style.
(iv) Like handwritten manuscripts, borders of printed books were also illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns and illustrations were painted.
(v) In the books printed for rich people, space for decoration was kept blank on the printed pages.
(vi) Each buyer could choose the design and decide on the painting school that would do the illustrations.
Q16: What were the features of the new books which were produced in Europe after the invention of the Gutenberg’s press [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans: (i) Cheap : The books produced were very cheap as compared to earlier books.
(ii) Resemblance with manuscript : Printed books resembled greatly the written manuscripts in appearance and layout. The metal letters imitated the ornamental handwritten styles.
(iii) Handwork : Borders of the books were illuminated by hand, with foliage and other patterns.
(iv) Role of painting : Illustrations were painted. The books printed for the elites had space for decoration.
(v) Different painting schools : Different painting schools prevailed and a person could choose the design and decide on the painting school that would do the illustrations exclusively for him.
Q17: Mention some of the innovations which have improved the printing technology after the 17th century.[CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
Highlight any three innovations which have improved the printing technology from 19th century onwards.[CBSE 2014]
Ans: Invention which improved the printing technology after 17th century are listed below :
(i) Metal Press : In the 19th century, there were a series of innovations in the printing technology. Now the press was made out of metal.
(ii) Rotary Printing Press : Richard March Hoe, an American inventor designed and improved the printing press. He invented the Rotary Printing Press, a design much faster than the old flat-bed printing press. The new press could print* about 8,000 sheets per hour. The new press was very useful for printing newspapers.
(iii) Offset Press : In the late nineteenth century, the offset press was developed which could print up to six colours at the same time.
(iv) Electrically Operated Presses : From the turn of the twentieth century, electrically operated presses accelerated printing operations. A series of many other developments followed. Methods of feeding paper improved, the quality of plates became better, automatic paper reels and photoelectric control of the colour register were introduced.
The accumulation of several individual mechanical improvements transformed the appearance of the printed texts.
Q18: “Oral culture and print culture were complimentary to each other”. Justify the statement with any three suitable arguments. [CBSE 2013]
Ans: (i) Earlier, reading was restricted to the elites. Common people lived in a world of oral culture.
(ii) With the printing press, books could reach out to wider sections of society. If earlier, there was a hearing public, now a reading public came into being.
(iii) Publishers had to keep in mind the wider reach of the printed books. Even those who did not read, could enjoy listening to the books being read out.
(iv) So, printers began publishing popular ballads and folk tales and such books would be profusely illustrated with pictures. These were then sung and recited at gatherings in villages and in taverns in towns.
Q19: How did the oral culture enter print and how was the printed material transmitted orally Explain with suitable examples. [CBSE 2008 (F), Sept. 2012]
Or
How did the printers manage to attract the people, largely illiterate, towards, printed books [CBSE Sept. 2012]
Ans: Oral culture entered print in the following ways:
(i) Printers published popular ballads and folk tales.
(ii) Books were profusely illustrated with pictures.
Printed material was transmitted orally in the following ways :
(i) These were sung at gatherings in villages, taverns and in towns.
(ii) They were recited in public gatherings. For example, Indian novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay used to read out his novels to a gathering.
Q20: Explain the role of print in the religious reforms in India. [CBSE 2011]
Ans: (i) Debate over social issues: Print initiated an intense controversies between social and religious reformers and the Hindu orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and idolatry. In Bengal, as the debate developed, tracts and newspapers proliferated, circulating a variety of arguments. To reach a wider audience, the ideas were printed in the everyday, spoken language of ordinary people.
(ii) Ideas of Reformers: Print carried the ideas of social reformers to the common people. For example Sambad Kaumudl carried the ideas and philosophy of Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
(iii) Reforms in Muslims: In north India, the ulama were deeply anxious about the collapse of Muslim dynasties. They feared that colonial rulers would encourage conversion, change the Muslim personal laws. To counter this, they used cheap lithographic presses, published Persian and Urdu translations of holy scriptures, and printed religious newspapers and tracts. The Deoband Seminary, founded in 1867, published thousands upon thousands of fatwas telling Muslim readers how to conduct themselves in their everyday lives, and explaining the meanings of Islamic doctrines.
(iv) Reforms in Hindus: Among Hindus, too, print encouraged the reading of religious texts, especially in the vernacular languages. The first printed edition of the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, a sixteenth- century text, came out from Calcutta in 1810.
