Abstract
The introduction of printing press and camera during 19th century in
India, mark the end of traditions of handwritten book. The method of
printing mostly adopted all over India, including the region of Lahore,
was Lithography. This paper attempts to investigate the reason for this
choice by the artists of India when, the rest of the world was preferring
Typographic methods for printing. It also aims to find out how
Lithography was able to provide a smooth transition from hand-written
to printed books. The region of Lahore has been taken as the area of
study in this specific case. Two of the archives are utilized for this
purpose that have provided the data sample of 250 lithographed books
from Lahore. The study scrutinizes the information about authors,
publishers, artists of these books as well as general formatting,
illustrations and illuminations. Furthermore, it investigates how the
artists managed to continue some features of book art while modifying
others to suite the new printing revolution. A few art historians notably,
Shaw (1995, 2015) and Shcheglova (1999, 2009) have studied early
printing methods in India. Their studies naturally have covered those
cities of India which produced maximum number of lithographic books
namely Lucknow and Cawnpur. Lahore is mentioned but, only
fleetingly. This study also endeavors to identify and examine the
position of Lahore in the context of lithographic printing that
overlapped the production of manuscripts in the second half of 19th
century: the domain much needed to be explored by art historians.
Nausheen Abbas. (2020) Dawn of Printing in India: Lithography in Lahore, Journal of Asian Civilizations, Volume 43, Issue 1.
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