Evolution Of Printing Press in Bengal

Evolution Of Printing Press in Bengal Printing Press has come a long way in India. Several cities have witnessed a glorious journey when it comes to the printing press. When talking about the printing press, we cannot not mention Bengal. A place that still remains as one of the highlights in the timeline of the printing press.

In Bengal, the first-ever document to exist as print evidence is the copy of a calendar. There was also an advertisement which was considered as a waste paper discovered a little later. Calendars were one of the most common kinds of documents to provide evidence of print. It accounts for being one of the first printed works to existing in Kolkata.

Around the 18th century, Kolkata or Calcutta as called then turned out to be one of the epicentres is four corporate and government printing.

Around 40 printers have been identified to exist between 1770- 1800.

The printers in Calcutta back then were majorly utilised to print

newspapers, which was another evolving medium of print communication at that time. When talking about the printing press it is imperative that we mention James Augustus Hicky. A trader who constructed the wooden press which also came out to be known as the Calcutta press was recognised by many along with the East India Company, due to his print services. Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, The Calcutta Chronicles being two of the major newspapers. The printers then used to avail commissions in order to cater to advertising services.

While these print mediums what evolving the two major sources of revenue for Calcutta at that time were calendars and almanacs. The printing press gained an abundant amount of revenue from the print of these two materials. Printing and publication significantly upsurge with typography. This volume was made by Mr Andrews around 1778.

Around the year 1825, there was a subsequent establishment of various printing presses both public and private. Some of them were also established by Indians and not just the British. Around this time Calcutta had boasted of having more than 40 printing presses itself.

Post-Independence the printing press in Calcutta began expanding rapidly. There were both public as well as private investments Made in the print industry. However, the latest law enforcement restricted the imports and coming of modern machines and equipment that could have helped in the involvement of the printing press to a greater extent. The then famous Paramount Press operated on a monotype machine.

Letterpress was another tool that was engaged in print majorly especially around the 1960s. These were used to print books as well as newspapers.

With the coming of the latest technologies and modern advancements around the 1980s, the conventional printing method started fading away.

Post the 1990s and the liberalisation laws that were implemented the publishing and print industry in India started gaining significant highlight. Several modern methods were adopted in the world of print.

While many of the private print houses closed down due to not being able to incur enough profits many printing companies in Kolkata stayed.

Out of this one of the renowned names was Anderson India. Began in 1962, Anderson debuted as a printing press in Kolkata catering to the audio label market. An aspect that had just started gaining light. With time there were many houses that establish themselves as the printing presses in Kolkata.

With upgrades made in technology, printing houses started providing a multitude of services. Anderson India also contributed to this. With digitisation and printing companies evolving offset printing became common. Today the advancements have come this far that you can augment reality into your prints. Establishing its name as one of the best printing presses in Kolkata, they have made it possible to integrate interaction with print through augmented printing services whilst aiming to achieve maximum client satisfaction.