LECTURE 10: PRINT CULTURE AND CENSORSHIP

Question 1

Name three great inventions?

Answer 1

Printing Press 1430s-40s Johannes Gutenburg
Gunpowder
The compass

Question 2

What was said about the printing press?

Answer 2

Francis Bacon said it effectively ‘changed the appearance and state of the whole world’ 1605

Question 3

What form of printing exited in the middle ages?

Answer 3

Printing wood cut.

Question 4

What was involved in the printing costs?

Answer 4

Equipment – initial outlay
Labour – lengthy process to compose and type, but with each print the labour costs were less significant.
Paper- at least half the cost of the book.
Print runs – 1000/1500 copies.

Question 5

Labour and the printing press?

Answer 5

1520: 250-270 towns in EU were printing centres. In the c16 important cities were Paris, Venice, Antwerp etc.

Question 6

What were the characteristics of important printing cities?

Answer 6

They were cities of highly industrialised trade
There was a concentration of production
The job was a specialised task so there were high literacy rates among workers, as they would need literacy for work.
They experienced labour force unrest.

Question 7

What was Eisenstein’s book?

Answer 7

The Printing Press as an agent of change – talks about the ‘unacknowledged revolution’ that followed the invention of print.

Question 8

Why was print so effective?

Answer 8

The written word is permanent, has life of its own and goes beyond the immediate/ intended audience. Print enabled the cumulative advance of knowledge and the ability to write ideas down and spread. This meant ideas were easier to compare, critique and experiment with new ideas.
Reading separated individuals which meant there was less collective mentalities.
It encouraged a sense of objective past – temporal identity.

Question 9

Were the changes of print fast?

Answer 9

More gradual.

Question 10

Was there problems with print?

Answer 10

here was still persistence of Manuscript publication
Suited to short print runs for selected readership
Allows text to be tailored to individuals, not uniform
Requires little capital investment, no equipment
Evades censorship.

Question 11

Did Print encourage reading practise?

Answer 11

Yes, through:
Borrowing
Copying out of entire books, sections of text – ‘common place books’, ‘copybooks’
Memorising of text for production and conversation (oral word of conversation) as there were strong links between written and oral cult.

Question 12

Did EU transform into a continent of readers?

Answer 12

EU didn’t transform into world of silent individual readers.

Books and conservations – coffee houses, taverns debated, public sphere, allowed for people to talk about current issues

Question 13

The connection between oral and written culture?

Answer 13

Orality and literacy – plays, commercial theatre, opera words put to music.
Church: hymns (Luther eras), publishing market dominated by ballads designed to be sung performed in company.
There was a connection between printing word and performance.

Question 14

Were books widely available?

Answer 14

Books were a luxury item
The front piece – books typically sold unbound, cheap to have attractive image and get leather binder.
Attractive fonts- italic Garamond was developing in the 16cth
Associated with key figures, cultural/political figures.

Question 15

How would authors extend their influence?

Answer 15

Authors would dedicate books to influence figures, patronage, or simply to position the author in network of influence.

They would provide prefatory and dedicatory sonnets, donated poems to books which allowed them to be embedded into social networks.

They were also big on collecting works and putting the in libraries for public use like Bassarion.

Question 16

Was Print for the masses?

Answer 16

Chapbooks, pamphlets, fly sheets –much cheaper to produce and easily transported (unlike heavy books that could only be sold in cities) and could be sold in villages. They were retailed by peddlers

Broadsheets – large sheet to be stuck up on wall, interact with it in tavern or one’s homes.

Question 17

What did people like to read in books?

Answer 17

Paris 1598:
32% Adventure stories, chivalry
29% religion –devotional literature (protestant bible, religious thinkers like Luther’s writing).

1645:
38%relig
24% adventure

Question 18

What were attitudes to the newspaper?

Answer 18

Initially regarded with great suspicion, states wanted to protect the spread of sensitive religious news
It was written by hand, personalised to the recipient.

Question 19

Censorship and the newspaper?

Answer 19

First French, English papers published in Amsterdam. This meant it was easier to publish away from political controls.

1620: Amsterdam was a big centre of trade/information with reports on the ‘30 years war’.
18thc: The newspaper hit circulation of 10k+, which led to much bigger print wards.

Question 20

What did states do with the newspaper?

Answer 20

States found news and print as effective means of informing subjects, would print state edics to build political parties and factions and build shared common identity.

Question 21

The use of pamphlets?

Answer 21

Pamphlets used for fighting religious causes – confessional struggle war fought though pamphlets largely.
Lots of pamphlets on 30yr war

Question 22

The importance of the public sphere?

Answer 22

Broadened political debates, moving out from just the elite groups, deliberate attempt to mobilise public opinion (especially literate urban population)

Lobbying, petitions, formation of political parties (It led to stronger institutional machinery, a shared identity)

It led to the Information and the construction of social identity.

Question 23

Who was Plantin?

Answer 23

He was a successful printer 1520-89

Emigrates to Antwerp as it is easier to print away from control. He uses French contacts to sell across border. Print in 1555 he has his own print shop.

He balances prestigious publications (classical authors work) with popular texts (devotional world, emblem books).

Question 24

What happened with Plantin in 1576?

Answer 24

He had a company seven presses and employed 70 printers for mass production.
With help of patron Granville, he obtained royal subsidy and papal provide to print new multilingual/ ‘polygot’ editions of the bible. They were distributed throughout Catholic EU, but were not meant to be read by the general public.