Early lithographed textbook from Bombay: A Course in Mathematics, 1828. English and Gujarati title pages
Early lithographed textbook from Bombay: A Course in Mathematics, 1828. English and Gujarati title pages
Persian lithographic printing from Bombay: Majma-ul ashar, 1845
Persian lithographic printing from Bombay: Majma-ul ashar, 1845
Printing at Indian royal courts – using Devanagari type at Tanjore: Balabodha Muktavali, 1806
Printing at Indian royal courts - Early Marathi book printed in Miraj using copperplates: Bhagvad Geeta, 1806
Early Islamic book from Bombay: Maulud-e Tahiriya, Hijri 1256 (1840/41)
Frontispiece of an early play script: Sudarshan Charitra, 1881
20 rare images about the history of print in Bombay
Printing came to Bombay in 1674 at the initiative of an Indian businessman. A hundred years later, the city had its commercial printing presses. The proliferation of print, however, started in the 19th century, with indigenously developed typefaces for Indian languages, from the 1790s, giving it a major fillip. The advent of lithography in the 1820s also helped. By the middle of the century, there were nearly 50 printing presses in Bombay, many of them owned by Indians.