Print Culture and the Modern World — Questions & Answers

Sample questions from Print Culture and the Modern World

1. Q1. The idea that print created a new "reading public" and a culture of reading is best described by the term:

   • A.Reading mania✓
   • B.Print revolution
   • C.Chapbook
   • D.Compositor
   Solution

   As literacy and the availability of cheap printed material spread in Europe, there was a virtual reading mania: people wanted books to read, and printers produced books in ever larger numbers, including cheap little books to reach even the poor and the less educated.

2. Q2. Before the age of print, what was the main form of written material in India?

   • A.Printed books
   • B.Handwritten manuscripts, written on palm leaves or handmade paper✓
   • C.Newspapers
   • D.Woodblock prints
   Solution

   India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts, written in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and various vernacular languages on palm leaves or on handmade paper; these manuscripts were copied by hand, were expensive and fragile, and were not widely available to the common people.

3. Q3. Who brought the knowledge of woodblock printing from China to Europe in 1295?

   • A.James Augustus Hickey
   • B.Martin Luther
   • C.Johann Gutenberg
   • D.Marco Polo✓
   Solution

   D is correct: the explorer Marco Polo returned to Italy in 1295 after years in China and brought the knowledge of woodblock printing. C invented the mechanical press later. B used print for the Reformation. A started the Bengal Gazette in India.

4. Q4. The first printed edition of Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas came out from Calcutta in:

   • A.1579
   • B.1810✓
   • C.1871
   • D.1713
   Solution

   B is correct: the first printed edition of the Ramcharitmanas appeared from Calcutta in 1810. A and D are dates of the first Tamil and Malayalam books. C is Gulamgiri.

5. Q5. Who developed the first-known printing press in Europe in the 1430s?

   • A.Martin Luther
   • B.Johann Gutenberg✓
   • C.Erasmus
   • D.Marco Polo
   Solution

   Johann Gutenberg developed the first-known printing press in the 1430s in Strasbourg; the first book he printed was the Bible, and his invention transformed the production of books in Europe.

Other Class 10 Social Science chapters