In the year 1778, on this day first Bengali printing Press was established in Hooghly. Printing in Bengal had started in Hoogly where the press of the bookseller Andrews used Bengali types. N. B. Halhed’s A Grammar Of the Bengal Language was published from this press in 1778. Sir Charles Wilkins had mastered the art of cutting types and he also taught Panchanan Karmakar. The Printing Press was in the immediate charge of Ward, who left detailed accounts of its day-to-day running. Between 1800 and 1834, the press printed Bible translations in almost 50 languages, 38 of which were translated at Serampore by Carey and his associates. There were altogether 117 printings, of which 25 were in Bengali. The press supplied Bibles to almost all significant Baptist missions in the region, from Indonesia in the east to Afghanistan in the west. From a memoir of 1813, it may be seen that a Malay Bible in roman characters was in preparation, while a five-volume reprint of the entire Bible in Arabic was being undertaken for the lieutenant-governor of Java. The memoir of 1816 claims that a Chinese Pentateuch was in the press and that ‘the new moveable metal type, after many experiments, are a complete success’. The 1820 memoir records the printing of the New Testament in Pushtoo, and also the setting up of a paper factory.
Source: Wikipedia.
--Asim Bando
Source: Wikipedia.
--Asim Bando
