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The essays in this volume discuss the history of the book in South Asia starting with the earliest palm-leaf manuscripts and ending with the development of vibrant print cultures which are still thriving today. The geographical area covered includes the various modern nation states that make up South Asia today and the history also takes account of
List of contents
Contents: Introduction; Part I Writing, Orality and the Manuscript Book: Literary culture and manuscript culture in precolonial India, Sheldon Pollock; Early manuscript illumination, Jeremiah P. Losty; The imperial library of the Great Mogul, Jeremiah P. Losty; The Jain knowledge warehouses: traditional libraries in India, John E. Cort; Orality and literacy/performance and permanence, Christian Lee Novetzke. Part II Technology and Practices: Early books and new literary practices, 1556-1800, Stuart Blackburn; Calcutta: birthplace of the Indian lithographed book, Graham Shaw; The coming of the book in Hindi and Urdu, Ulrike Stark; An Indian success story: the House of Naval Kishore, Ulrike Stark; Readers, reading practices, modes of reading, A.R. Venkatachalapathy. Part III The Cultures of the Book in Colonial India: The Battala book market, Anindita Ghosh; The domain of Konkani, Rochelle Pinto; Reading in the public eye: the circulation of fiction in Indian libraries, c. 1835-1901, Priya Joshi; ’Petrifactions of bygone ages’: the sacred books of the East, Rimi Chatterjee; Journals, publishing, and the literary system, Francesca Orsini. Part IV Post-Colonial Histories: Publishers' perspective, Rita Kothari; Epilogue: exaggerated obituraries?, A.R. Venkatachalapathy; The practices of reading and writing, Laura M. Ahearn; Name index.
About the author
Francesca Orsini is a Reader in the Literatures of North India, SOAS, University of London, UK.
Summary
The essays in this volume discuss the history of the book in South Asia starting with the earliest palm-leaf manuscripts and ending with the development of vibrant print cultures which are still thriving today. The geographical area covered includes the various modern nation states that make up South Asia today and the history also takes account of
