Religious Reform and Public Debate
Q 1. Give some examples of print around us.
Answer-
Books, journals, newspapers, artworks, official circulars, calendars, diaries, ads, cinema posters, and other forms of print can be found all around us.
Q 2. Which city in China became the hub of the new print culture?
Answer-
Shanghai emerged as the epicentre of the new print culture, catering to western-style schools. There was now a steady transition from manual printing to machine printing.
Q 3. Who brought the knowledge of woodblock printing to Europe/Italy?
Answer-
After several years of exploration in China, Marco Polo, a brilliant adventurer, returned to Italy. In 1295, he carried wood-block printing technique with him.
Q 4. What did Mercier proclaim about the power of print in bringing enlightenment and destroying the basis of despotism?
Answer-
“The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress,” author Louise-Sebastien Mercier asserted in eighteenth-century France, “and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away.” “Tremble, therefore, oppressors of the world, Tremble before the virtual writer,” he exclaimed, certain of print’s power to impart enlightenment and undermine oppression’s underpinnings.
Q 5. How was the increase in demand for books met in Europe in the fourteenth century?
Answer-
Europe’s increased demand for books was satisfied in the following ways:
- Booksellers all around Europe began to export books to a variety of countries.
- Book fairs were held in several locations.
- Handwritten manuscripts were also produced in order to accommodate the increased demand. Booksellers employed skilled handwriters. One bookshop may hire up to 50 scribes at any given time.
- Woodblock printing was widely utilised to satisfy demand, but despite these efforts, there was still a tremendous need for even faster and cheaper reproduction of texts, which was met by Johann Gutenberg’s development of the printing press.
Religious Reform and Public Debates
Print can be found in books, journals, newspapers, and prints of famous paintings, as well as in everyday goods like theatrical programs, official circulars, calendars, diaries, advertisements, and street corner theatre posters. We read printed literature, see printed images, get news from newspapers, and keep track of public debates in print.
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