Part I: THE PRINTING PRESS IN INDIA
CHAPTER I: THE PRINTING PRESS IN GOA: 1556
Work of the Jesuit Missionaries
Early History The concept of "reduplication" which lies at the basis of the technique of printing has been known in India since ancient times.
Pictures of artistic seals five thousand years old found in the excavations of Mohenjo-Daro are given in the third part of Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization edited by Sir John Marshall. 1 [Sir John Marshall, Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization (Plates cii-cxvi), London 1931.] Signet rings (Mudras), which also illustrate the same idea, have been known in India from ancient times. The word Mudra, meaning a seal, appears in the Arthasastra of Kautilya 2 [
Arthasastra of Kautilya, Edited by R. Shama Sastri (University of Mysore) Mysore 1919, p. 110.] (circa 400 B.C. to 400 A.D.). The evolution of this idea into the actual technique of printing did not however take place in India.
The origin of the art of printing can be traced back to China, where it was the need for religious literature and pictures in connection with the propagation of Buddhism that was the mother of this invention.
Block printing is believed to have been used for printing portraits of the Buddha in 650 A.D. In 1907 Sir Aurel Stein discovered in the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas in China a book entitled Hiraka Sutra which dates back to 868 A.D. This is believed to be the oldest printed book so far known. It consists of six sheets of text, each of which is 2 1 ft. long and about 1 ft. wide, and one shorter sheet with a woodcut, which are all pasted together to form a continuous roll 16 ft. long. In 1041 Pi Shang made types of China-clay which were fitted into an iron frame. It is stated that he also made tin types. The next step was taken in 1314 by Wang Chang who prepared wooden types.
The Korean King General Yi is stated to have started a foundry of metal types in 1392, and a book printed in 1409 with Korean bronze-types is known to be extant. 3 [Vide T. F. Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and its Spread Westward, New York 1931.]
In Europe, printing with the use of movable types began in the fifteenth century, although block printing was known much earlier. It is a matter of controversy whether this was an independent European invention or whether it was inspired by the earlier Chinese invention. Even in Europe the credit for the invention of movable types is variously ascribed to Gutenberg of Mainz (Germany), Coster of Haarlem (Holland), Johannes Brito of Bruges (Belgium), Pamfilo Castalde of Feltre (Italy), etc.
The first available book in which the date of printing is mentioned was printed in 1457 by Fust & Schoeffer. Roughly, the art of printing can be said to have spread over Europe as follows: Italy (1465), France (1470), Spain (1474), England (1477), Denmark (1482), Sweden (1483), Portugal (1495) and Russia (1553). As we shall see later on,
the art of printing came to India in 1556. The first book believed to have been printed in America is the "Bay Psalm Book" which was printed in 1640. But it appears that in Latin America books were printed earlier. For instance, reference to a book printed in 1627 in Mexico and bearing the title Cathecismo en Lengua Timuquana y Castellane by Francisco Paneja, is found in Biblioteca Marsdeana.4 [Biblioteca Marsdeana, London 1827, p. 145.]
Advent of the Art of Printing in Goa The art of printing entered India for the first time on September 6, 1556. Its advent was in the nature of a happy accident.
Generally it was as an aid to proselytisation that the printing press was taken outside Europe. We find, for instance, St. Francis Xavier in a letter written in 1549 expressing a desire that Christian literature should be printed in the Japanese language. 5 [Georgius Schurhammer and Josephus Wicki, Ephistolae S. Francisci Xavierii II, Rome 1945, p. 211.] In Goa, however, it appears that no urgent need for the printing press was felt at this time and there was a tendency to place exclusive reliance on political power to help the spread of Christianity. The printing press which eventually arrived in Goa was intended to help missionary work in Abyssinia; but circumstances conspired to detain it in Goa on its way to that country. It is interesting to note, however, that even in Goa thinking minds were already coming to realise the potential educative value of Christian literature in Indian languages. This is illustrated by a letter addressed to his superiors in Rome on 20-11-1545 by Father Joannes de Beira, a Jesuit priest attached to the Casa de Santa Fe in Goa. This was an institution for indoctrination of new converts to Christianity. At that time in this college "there lived 52 students, viz. 8 Goans, 5 Canarese, 9 Malayalees, 2 Bengalese, 2 Pegus, 6 Malays of Maleca, 4 Macasas, 6 Gujeratis, 2 Chinese, 4 Abyssinians, 4 niggers." 6 [Josephus Wicki, Documenta Indica, Vol. I, Rome 1948, p. 120.] Fr. Johannes de Beira wrote:
"In this College, known as the House of Holy Faith, live sixty young men of various nationalities and they are of nine different languages, very much distinct one from another; most of them read and write our language, and also know to read and write their own. Some understand Latin reasonably well and study poetry. Due to the absence of books and a teacher they cannot derive as much profit as they need. The Christian doctrine could be published here in all these languages, if Your Reverence feels that it may be printed." 7 [Ibid., p. 58.]
A letter believed to be written in 1526 by the Emperor of Abyssinia to D. Manoel, the King of Portugal, requesting the latter to send to Abyssinia some artisans "skilled in preparing books" ("mestres para a forma de livros "), has been published in the Lendas da India by Gaspar Correia. 8 [Gaspar Correia, Lendas da India, Tomo III, Lisboa 1862, p. 58.] As D. Manoel died before this letter was received, the same request for "mestres para fazer Livros" was repeated to his son D. Joao. Many Portuguese writers hold that the request made in these letters was for technicians in the art of typography, and that the request was granted in 1556.
From a letter written on April 30, 1556 by Fr. Gaspar Calaza to St. Ignatius, it appears that some ships carrying a printing press and some technicians left for the East in 1556. This letter is published in the tenth volume of Jesuit Letters edited by Fr. Beccari. 9 [Rerum Aethiopicarum Scriptures Occidentales Inec'iti a seculo XVI and XIX, Rome 1903-1910.] As the original volume is not available to the present writer, a synopsis of this letter as given by Fr. C. G. Rodeles is reproduced here: —
"The first batch of Jesuit Missionaries embarked at Belem on the Tagus, and left for Ethiopia on March 29, 1556, four months before the death of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It consisted of Fr. John Nunes, Patriarch of Ethiopia, Fr. Andrew de Oviedo, Bishop of Hieropolis, and appointed as successor to the Patriarch; Fr. John Gualdames, three Brothers of the Society, and some young men who were soliciting admission into it. One of the Brothers was Juan de Bustamante, who knew the art of printing.
King D. Joao, the royal family and other friends had been munificent towards the members of the expedition. The King adjoined to the Patriarch an Indian of good character, an able and experienced printer, to help Brother Bustamante, who was taking with him a printing press to Goa. An eye-witness gives us this information."10 [C. G. Rodeles, "Early Jesuit Printing in India," The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. IX, No. 4, April 1913, pp. 154-155.]
Contemporary documents indicate that most of the 14 Jesuits who embarked on this occasion were on their way to
"Preste" or Abyssinia. 11 [Wicki, op. cit., Vol. III, Rome 1954, p. 473.] The Patriarch designate of Abyssinia accompanied the printing press. As the Suez canal did not then exist, persons going to Abyssinia from Portugal followed the Cape route to India, touched Goa, and thence proceeded to Abyssinia. The Patriarch with the printing press accordingly halted at Goa. In January, 1557, when the Patriarch was busy making preparations for leaving for Abyssinia, the Governor of Goa asked him in view of certain justifiable considerations to continue his stay in Goa. He accordingly stayed in Goa, where he died on December 22, 1562, and neither he nor the press which he was carrying ever left Goa. It appears that the relations between the Emperor of Abyssinia and the missionaries were somewhat strained at this time. The printing press was perhaps being sent to Abyssinia in 1556 in compliance with the demands of the missionaries rather than those of the Emperor. These strained relations might provide an explanation for the delay in the departure of the Patriarch from Goa.
We find, however, that the demands from the missionaries in Abyssinia for a printing press continued. The following passage appears in a letter addressed to the Cardinal Protector in Rome towards the end of the 16th century:
"As we find ourselves obliged to compose many treatises, and distribute a great number of copies of the same, and this cannot be done easily unless we print them, we beg of Your Most IIIustrious Lordship to send us a press with the Ethiopic types that are found in Rome, as also one or two persons knowing the art of printing." 12 [Goana-Malab. Epist 1580-89. Fol. 2 Doc. 143 (Quoted in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. IX, No. 4, pp. 155-6).]
A similar request was made in 1628. But we find no evidence of a press being started in Abyssinia. On the other hand, we find that printed literature was being supplied to that country from Goa. We shall also have occasion to mention a work entitled Magseph assetat, which was printed at St. Paul's College in Goa in 1642 for use in Abyssinia.
There is ample evidence to show that it was the printing press which was originally meant for Abyssinia that came to be established in Goa. In letters written in 1559, we find the printer Bustamante referred to as "of Preste" (Abyssinia). 13 [Wicki, op. cit., Vol. IV, Rome 1956, pp. 302, 460, 473.] There is also a letter written from Goa by the Patriarch designate himself on November 26, 1559, in which he clearly states that he had arranged to be prepared moulds and matrices of types of Abyssinian characters for use in a press which he intended to take personally to that country: —
"He here prepared moulds and matrices and other art types, and other things in round lettering and in characters current in the kingdom of Preste, in which their books are written, in which I should be very glad to compose Christian doctrines, manuals for confession, and other necessary books; because such a vast land could not be taught the doctrine without many printed books in their language, which I shall have printed there in the matter which I have now ready." 14 [Ibid., p. 465.]
There is, however, some confusion in contemporary documents regarding the precise date on which the ships carrying the printing press reached Goa. According to Francisco de Souza, the well-known Jesuit historian, Fr. Balthesar Telles originally wrote in his Chronica that they reached Goa in the beginning of August 1556, but later in his Historia de Ethiopia he fixed the correct date as September 3. 15 [Francisco de Souza, Oriente Conquistado a Jesus Christo. Con V-2-22, Bombay 1881, p. 499.] Andre Gualdames, who was himself a passenger, writes in a letter dated November 4, 1556, that they reached Goa on a Sunday on September 3. 16 [Wicki, op. cit., Vol. III, p. 508.] September 3, however, was not a Sunday. Fr. Francisco Rodrigues, another passenger, states in a letter written from St. Paul's College in Goa on November 2, 1556, that they reached Goa on September 6: —
"...because we departed two days before the end of March from the city of Lisbon and reached this city of Goa on the 6th of September, i.e. within five months and 8 days; and of these we enjoyed at Mozambique 18 or 19 days, so that our voyage lasted a little over four months and a half. The maritime route we followed was about 4000 leagues long; four ships arrived together, three of them carrying all the personnel of our Society. If the voyage is completed within six months it may be considered as reasonable, it is worse if one takes longer, and better if the duration is less." 17 [Ibid., pp. 490-1.]
As this date fell on a Sunday, it may be concluded that September 6, 1556, was the date of advent of the printing press in India.
Fr. Joao Nunes Barreto, the Patriarch designate of Abyssinia, describes in a letter dated November 6, 1556, how soon after its advent in Goa the press started functioning. He writes: —
"There were public discussions of theses which appeared as though they were held at Coimbra and were attended by a large concourse of people and Priests.
John printed these theses ("conclusoes") and other things, which are doing good and will produce yet more fruit later on. The Indian is well behaved and is fond of going for confessions often; at sea he helped us a lot in the kitchen and has proved here to be competent in press-work, and Father Francis Rodrigues is happy over it and desires to have another (press) in this College. Now they want to print Master Francis' Christian Doctrine, and I have hopes that this work will do much good in Ethiopia." 18 [Ibid., p. 514.]
It appears that it was not until the middle of October that printing operations actually started.
Aires Brandao, a Jesuit priest, describes in a letter written on November 19, 1556, how certain theses on logic and philosophy were printed in this press on October 19: —
"Now in October Father (Joseph) Ribeiro had a public discourse in the church, on the importance of the study of literature, at which the Governor and many other people were present. This was in the morning on Monday (19 Oct. 1556), one day after the day of St. Luke. As immediately in the same evening were to take place discussions on theses (conclusoes) on logic and philosophy, which were ordered to be printed there, the governor did not wish to return before seeing them. The conclusoes were ordered to be printed here in the house and to be affixed to the Church doors, thereby giving to the Friars of St Dominic and the Friars of St. Francis and other people desiring to be acquainted with them an occasion of reading them. Those on logic were defended by a Brother, known as Francis Cabral, who received them here, and those on philosophy were defended by brother Manoel Teixeira. Father Antonio de Quadros presided on the occasion." 19 [Ibid., p. 574.]
Students of contemporary history have expressed doubts whether the theses printed on this occasion were in the form of a book or loose sheets. 20 [Amancio Gracias, Os Portuguezes e o Estabelecimento da Imprensa na India, Bastora (Goa) 1938, p. 16.] As they were affixed to the gates of churches they were probably loose sheets. In that event, the first known book printed in Goa would be the Doutrina Christa by St. Xavier. This was printed in 1557. Francisco de Sousa mentions that a tract on Doutrina Christa was composed by St. Xavier for the benefit of children, and printed in Goa in 1557. 21 [Souza, op. cit., Con. 1-1-23, p. 18.] No copies of the theses on logic and philosophy referred to above, nor of St. Xavier's Doutrina Christa are at present available anywhere in the world. There is, however, contemporary evidence in a letter written by Luis Frois on November 30, 1556, which shows that the latter work Doutrina was actually printed. Frois writes: —
"The Patriarch and Father Francis Rodrigues and Fr. Antonio de Quadros ordered during this Lent some Confecionarios to be printed, and a respectable gentleman, devoted to the Society, offered to give the paper free for the love of God, and requested that the printing be carried out by the college at home; and for the love of God placed them into the hands of those desiring to have them, and forwarded to all the Fortresses to be distributed among the Priests of the Society residing therein together with copies of the Doctrina which the Father Master Francis, who is with God, ordered to be printed here." 22 [Wicki, op. cit., Vol. III, p. 711.]
Joao de Bustamante, a Spaniard, came to India with the printing press, and he must therefore be considered as the pioneer of the art of printing in India. He was born in Valencia in Spain round about 1536. In 1556 he joined the Society of Jesus and was ordained in 1564. According to information recently furnished by Fr. Wicki from Belgium, Jesuit records show that in 1563 his name was changed to Joao Rodrigues. He died on August 23, 1588.
It is known that a person of Indian origin was sent by the King of Portugal to help Bustamante in setting up the press. Jesuit writers speak of him as an "able printer" (Habil Impressor); but although they are generally meticulous in interspersing their writing with all manner of details, they have never mentioned the name of this Indian collaborator of Bustamante. Amancio Gracias, himself an official of the Portuguese Government in Goa, asks whether the reason for this omission was the fear that the mention of the name of this Indian might detract from the merits of their compatriot Bustamante. 23 [Gracias, op. cit., p. 15.]
The First Types of an Indian Script The credit for preparing the first types of an Indian script goes to Joao Gonsalves, another Spaniard who accompanied Bustmante to Goa. He was an expert blacksmith specially skilled in the manufacture of clocks. Fr. Souza writes: —
"He was the first who made in India types of Malabar letters with which the first books were printed." 24 [Souza, op. cit., Con. 1-2-33, p. 81.]
These types were used for the printing of Doutrina Christa in 1578 of which Fr. Souza writes: "This was the first printed book, which India saw born in its own land." 25 [Ibid., Con. 1-2-12, p. 67.] As St. Xavier's Doutrina Christa had already been printed in India in 1557, what Fr. Souza probably means to say is that the Doutrina printed in 1578 was " the first book printed in an Indian language."
There was at one time considerable controversy whether the types prepared by Gonsalves were those of Tamil or Malayalam characters. The confusion in this regard arose as a result of a reference to the work of another printer made by Fr. Souza in the course of his account of the happenings of the year 1582 in the following passage: —
"Died at Goa the Rev. Joao da Faria, who built the arches of St. Paul, and who was the first to start the press at the Fishery Coast for the great glory of God, engraving and casting alphabets of Tamil Language." 26 [Ibid., Con. II-2-3, p. 157.]
As it is stated in this passage that Faria was the pioneer in the preparation of types of Tamil characters, it was assumed that the "Malabar language" of which types were prepared by Gonsalves must be the Malayalam language. Father Schurhammer in an article published in the Harvard Library Bulletin, wrote in this connection as follows: —
"These accounts therefore imply two contemporaneous centers of Indic printing in Southern India, employing different alphabets. In the sixteenth century the Portuguese applied the term 'Malabar' both to the Tamil and the Malayalam languages. Here, however, since 'Tamul' is specified for Faria, the 'Malabar' of Gonsalves must be intended to refer to Malayalam." 27 [Georg Schurhammer and G. W. Cottrell, " The First Printing in Indie Characters," Harvard Library Bulletin, Vol. VI, No. 2, Spring 1952, p. 148.]
Fortunately the controversy has been laid at rest as a result of the discovery of a copy of the Doutrina Christa printed in the Malabar types in 1578. A description of this has been given by Fr. Schurhammer himself in his article mentioned above. He has also given photographic reproductions of some pages of this book in his article.
An examination of these makes it clear that the book was published at Quilon in Lingua Malabar Tamil. It is hence seen that the 'Lingua Malabar' of which types were prepared by Gonsalves and the Tamil of which types were prepared by Faria were identical. In fact the types prepared by Gonsalves as well as those prepared by Faria appear to have been used in the printing of this book. It is clearly stated on page 16 of the book that the types used in the first 8 lines were prepared in Goa in 1577 and those used in the subsequent lines were prepared in Quilon in 1578, and it appears reasonable to assume that the former types were prepared by Gonsalves and the latter by Faria. In a contemporary letter, dated December 24, 1576, we find that Pero Luis, a Brahmin convert, was sent to Goa for arranging for Tamil printing. 28 [ Ibid., p. 149.] One may imagine that he was sent to Goa to acquaint Gonsalves with the nature of Tamil characters, and Faria who had learnt the art from Gonsalves then went to Quilon and prepared improved types of the same script there. The Doutrina Christa printed in 1578 consists of 16 pages and is a Tamil translation by Henrique Henriques of St. Xavier's Portuguese book of the same name.
It appears that the press in which the above work was printed was soon shifted from Quilon to Cochin. For Schurhammer, in his article mentioned above, gives an account of a book on Doutrina Christa by Henrique Henriques printed at Cochin in 1579. This is not a second edition of the Doutrina printed in 1578, but an independent work, which is a translation extending over 120 pages of a Portuguese work by Marcos George published in 1566. Another Tamil book Flos Sanctorum by H. Henriques, printed at "Pescaria" (Punicale?) in 1586, is available in
the Vatican Library.
It will thus be seen that the first Indian script of which types were prepared was Tamil, and not Malayalam. At that time Malayalam was considered as a subsidiary branch of Tamil, and it was not until a much later date that Malayalam was reduced to print. There is a grammar of this language in the Bombay University Library printed in 1799 at the Courier Press of Bombay. 29 [Robert Drummond, Grammar of Malabar Language, Bombay 1799.] In the library of the Serampore College there is a copy of a Malayalam translation of the New Testament printed at the same Courier Press in 1811. It appears that the name Malayalam for this language was brought into general vogue by the Europeans during the early years of the 19th century. A book called Outlines of a Grammar of the Malayalam Language was published in Madras in 1839. 30 [F. Spring, Outlines of a Grammar of the Malayalam Language as spoken in the Provinces of North and South Malabar and the Kingdoms of Travaneore and Cochin, Madras 1839.]
It is interesting to examine why types of the local language of Goa (Marathi) were not prepared at this stage.
Fr. G. C. Rodeles writes that Gonsalves did actually think of preparing "Canarese" types, but did not pursue the idea on account of the clumsy shapes of the characters, the irregularity of pronunciation and the limited area in which the language was spoken. 31 [Rodeles, op. cit., p. 161.] In a recent article Fr. Schurhammer points out that Gonsalves had actually started preparing types of the Devanagarii script. He writes: —
"By the end of the year 1577 there were cast about 50 letters in the Devanagari script, but brother Joao Gonsalves who prepared them died in the following year, and his companion Fr. Joao de Faria also having expired in the year 1582, there was none who was able to undertake the work. For this reason the Puranna was printed in Latin characters in the College of Rachol in the years 1616 and 1649 and in the College of St. Paul in the year 1654." 32 [Georg Schurhammer, " Uma obra rarissima impressa em Goa no ano 1588," Boletim do Institute Vasco da Gama, No. 73-1956, p. 8.]
Fr. Schurhammer has made the above assertion on the authority of Fr. Chutte who writes in this connection:
"The first attempt to start a press for the Kanarim language had for a while miscarried, although about 50 letters or moulds were already prepared. The multiplicity and difficult reproduction of letters, also the meagre prospects of a wide publicity of books (printed) in Kanarim types however finally scared away the Brother printer." 33 [Schutte, "Christliche Japanische Literatur, Bilder und Druck- blatter in einem unbekannten Vatikanischen codex aus dem Jahre 1591." Archivum Historicum Societatis Jesu. Vol. IX, Rome 1940, p. 268. (I am thankful to Prof. H. D. Velankar for this translation from German).]
It will be seen that Fr. Schurhammer has understood the Kanarim types mentioned by Fr. Chutte to mean Devanagarii types, and he is probably right in doing so.
It must be remembered, however, that in Goa the Kannada or Canarese script was also in common use for writing Marathi. The fact that there were no subsequent attempts in this direction indicates that the need for Devanagarii types was not felt with sufficient urgency at this time.
As we have stated above,
the art of printing was meant to serve as an aid to proselytisation, and contemporary history shows that in Goa the need for this aid was not very much appreciated for some time. During the early years reliance was placed almost entirely on political coercion, and on the power of the Inquisition, after it was established in Goa in 1560, to achieve this end. When the converts showed a tendency to revert to the practices of their old faith, they were hauled up before the Inquisition, their property confiscated and in extreme cases they were sentenced to be burnt at the stake. But experience soon demonstrated that force alone could not bring about the desired end. This belated realisation led to a reorientation of the policy, which is evidenced by the emphasis placed on the value of religious education of the converts in the resolutions of the Concilio Provincial at its sessions of 1567, 1575, 1585, 1592 and 1606. 34 [Vide J. H. da Cunha Rivara, Archivo Portuguez Oriental, Fasciculo IV, Goa, 1862.]
In the programme for religious education the indigenous languages were assigned an important role. It was enjoined that every parish priest should be conversant with the local languages, and that Christian literature should be produced in those languages for the benefit of the converts. It was under the impetus provided by this new policy that
Fr. Stephens, Croix, Saldanha and others produced their Christian Puranas and other works. These are written in the literary and spoken languages of Goa, but printed in the Roman script. Recently evidence has come to light that Fr. Thomas Stephens, the foremost of these writers, had himself desired that such literature should be produced in the Devanagari script, and had given thought to the practical aspects of that question. In a letter addressed from Salsette in Goa on December 5, 1608, to his superiors in the Society of Jesus in Rome, he wrote as follows: —
"Before I end this letter I wish to bring before Your Paternity's mind the fact that for many years I very strongly desired to see in this Province some books printed in the language and alphabet of the land, as there are in Malabar with great benefit for that Christian community. And this could not be achieved for two reasons; the first because it looked impossible to cast so many moulds amounting to six hundred, whilst the characters are syllables and not alphabets, as our twenty-four in Europe. The other because this holy curiosity could not be put into execution without the order and concession of the Provincial, and they have so many things to look after that they have no time to attend to this, much more to take it in hand. The first difficulty has its remedy in this that these moulds can be reduced to two hundred. The second will vanish if Your Paternity thought it fit to write to Father Provincial, recommending him that he may do it if he feels that it will be for the greater glory of God, and edification and benefit of this Christian community." 35 [A. K. Priolkar, " Two recently discovered letters of Fr. Thomas Stephens,'' The Journal of the University of Bombay, Vol. XXV, Part II, September 1956, p. 123.]
Fr. Stephen's Purana was however published in 1616 in the Roman script. It therefore appears that his appeal for the intervention of his superiors at Rome in favour of his plans for preparing types of the Devanagari script did not meet with a favourable consideration. Particulars of literature known to have been printed in the 16th Century in Goa are given here: —
(i) 1556. Conclusoes e outras coisas (Theses and other things) (No extant copy recorded).
(ii) 1557. St. Francisco Xavier. Doutrina Christam (No extant copy recorded).
(iii) 1557. Confecionarios (No extant copy recorded).
(iv) 1560. Goncalo Rodrigues. Tratado...contra os erros scismaticos dos Abexeins (A Tract against the Schismatic Errors of the Abyssinians). (No extant copy recorded). Reference to this book is found, as mentioned by Mr. Primrose, 36 [J. B. Primrose, The First Press in India and its Printers, London 1940, p. 265.] in Barbosa 37 [Diogo Barbosa Machado, Biblioteca Lusitana, Historica Critica e Chronologica, 4 Vols. Lisboa 1741-59. ] (ii, 402).
The four books mentioned above were printed by Joao Bustamante. (v) 1556-1561. Doutrina Christa. In a letter written by Fr. Luis Frois from Goa on December 4, 1561, we find mention of the use of printed booklets on Christian Doctrine in an Indian Language for the purpose of imparting religious instruction to Indians: "Thereafter [a little of
the Doutrina is taught which is also recited to them in their own language with the help of booklets which are printed here in the house." 38 [A. da Silva Rego, Documentacao para a historia das missoes do Padroado portugues do Oriente, Vol. VIII. Lisboa 1952, p. 415.] (No extant copy recorded).
(vi)
1561. Gaspar de Leao. Compendio Spiritval da Vida Christaa. (Spiritual Compendium of the Christian Life). A copy of this work is available in the New York Public Library. It was bought by James Lenox in a public sale in London in July, 1862. 39 [Primrose, op. cit„ p. 247.] The printers of this book are Joao de Quinquencio and Joao de Endem. This is the earliest book printed in Goa which is available at present. (vii) 1563. Garcia da Orta. Coloquios dos simples, e drogas he cousas medicinaes da India. (Conversations on Indian plants and drugs referring to the medicine of India). Printed by Joao de Endem. The author was the Lessee of the Island of Bombay four centuries ago. A copy of this book is available in the British Museum. It was also translated into English by Sir Clements Markham and published by H. Sotheran (London) in 1913.
(viii) 1565. Tratado que fez Mestre Hieronimo...cotra os judeos. (A tract against the Jews) Printed by Joao de Endem. A copy is available in the National Library of Lisbon. 40 [C. R. Boxer, "A tentative check-list of Indo-Portuguese Imprints 1556-1674," Boletim do Institute Vasco da Gama, No. 73-1956, pp. 22-23.]
(ix) 1568. Constitvciones do arcebispado de Goa, Approuadas pello primeiro cocilio prouincial. Anno 1568. (Constitutions of the Archbishopric of Goa. Approved by the First Provincial Council in 1568). The only known copy is available in the National Library of Lisbon. 41 [Ibid., p. 23.]
(x)
1568. O Primeiro Concilia Prouincial celebrado em Goa, no anno de 1567. (An account of the First Provincial Council — an assembly of ecclesiastics to regulate doctrine or discipline — which met in Goa in 1567). A copy is available in the Public Library of Evora and another is owned by Mr. C. R. Boxer. 42 [Ibid., pp. 23-24.]
(xi) 1573. Gaspar de Leao. Desenganos de perdidos. (Disillusionment of the Lost). Reference in Barbosa (ii, 385). (No extant copy recorded).
(xii)
1581. Compendivm Indicvm. (Indian Compendium, containing faculties and other privileges granted to the Society of Jesus in India). Printed at St. Paul's College, Goa. The only known copy is available in the Pei-T'ang Library, Peking. 43 [Ibid., p. 26.]
(xiii)
1588. Oratio Habita a Fara D. Martino. (Lecture delivered by D. Martino a Fara, a Japanese in the College of St. Paul). Printed at the Society's College, Goa. Japanese types were cast at this time by the Japanese printer Constantino Dourado 44 [Schurhammer, op. cit., p. 9.] who was taught the art of preparing types by Joao Bustamante.
A copy of this book is available in the Jesuit Archives at Rome.
We do not find any trace of any book published in Goa during the next twenty-seven years until we come to 1615. Books known to have been Printed in Goa in the 17th Century
Early in the 17th Century Fr. Stephens commenced writing his books in Indian languages and getting these printed in the press attached to the College of St. Lourenco at Rachol in Salsette (Goa). It appears possible that this was the same press as was operated at the College of St. Paul in the island of Goa, and that it was moved between that island and Rachol as required from time to time. Such information as is available about the literature known to have been printed in Goa during the 17th Century, is given below: —
(i) 1616. Thomas Stephens. Discurso sobre a vinda de Jusu Christo Nosso Salvador ao Mundo (Dis- course on the Coming of the Christ to the World). (No extant copy recorded).
This is the famous Purana by Fr. Stephens which is written in literary Marathi. The next two editions of this work were printed in 1649 and 1654. But none of these have survived to our day. The text of the fourth edition, printed in 1907 at Mangalore, 45 [Thomas Stephens, The Christian Puranna (Edited by J. L. Saldanha) Manglaore 1907.] was prepared from some manuscripts.
(ii) 1622. Thomas Stephens. Doutrina Christam.
This work on Christian Doctrine in the form of a dialogue is written in the dialect spoken by Goa Brahmins. This was written by the author before the Purana, but was published after the Purana.
A copy is available in the Government Library in Lisbon and another in the library of the Vatican in Rome. A facsimile edition prepared by Dr. Mariano Saldanha was published by the Portuguese Government in Lisbon in 1945.
(iii) 1632. Diogo Ribeiro. Declaracam da Dovtrina Christam. (A statement of the Christian Doctrine) This was written in the Brahmin dialect of Goa. A copy is available in the Government library in Lisbon.
All the three works mentioned above were printed at the Rachol College. (iv) 1629-34. Etienne de la Croix. Discvrsos sobre a vida do Apostolo Sam Pedro.
(Discourses on the Life of the Apostle St. Peter). This work written in 'Bramana Marastta' language was printed at the Casa Professa in the island of Goa. A copy is available in the Government library in Lisbon.
A mutilated copy is also available in the Government library in Goa. (v) 1636. Relacam de hum prodigioso Milagre qve o Glorioso S. Francisco Xauier Apostolo do Oriete obrou na Cidade de Napoles no anno de 1634. (Narrative of a prodigious Miracle performed by St. Francis Xavier in the City of Naples in 1634).
Printed at the Rachol College in 1636. The only known copy is owned by Mr. C. R. Boxer. 46 [C. R. Boxer, op. cit., p. 29.]
(vi) 1640. Thomas Stephens. Arte da Lingoa Canarim (Grammar of Canarim Language). This was originally written by Fr. Thomas Stephens and revised and enlarged by Fr. Diogo Ribeiro. The language spoken by the common people in Goa is here styled as Lingoa Canarim. The book was printed at St. Ignatius College, Rachol. A second edition of this book was published by Mr. Cunha Rivara in 1858 in Goa.
A copy of the first edition is available in the National Library of Lisbon. (vii) 1641. Fala, qve fes o P. Fr. Manoel da Crus..(A speech delivered by Fr. Manoel da Cruz when D. Joao IV was proclaimed King of Portugal).
Printed in Goa. A copy is available in the National Library of Rio de Janeiro, and another is owned by Mr. C. R. Boxer. 47 [Ibid., p. 30.]
Sir Charles Ralph Boxer FBA GCIH (8 March 1904 – 27 April 2000) was a British historian of Dutch and Portuguese maritime and colonial history, especially in relation to South Asia and the Far East. In Hong Kong he was the chief spy for the British army intelligence in the years leading up to World War II.
Charles Ralph Boxer was born at Sandown on the Isle of Wight in 1904. On his father's side, he was a descendant of an illustrious British family that had served in command positions in every British war since the French Revolution. Boxer's father Colonel Hugh Edward Richard Boxer served in the Lincolnshire Regiment and had been killed at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915....
Charles Ralph Boxer was born at Sandown on the Isle of Wight in 1904. On his father's side, he was a descendant of an illustrious British family that had served in command positions in every British war since the French Revolution. Boxer's father Colonel Hugh Edward Richard Boxer served in the Lincolnshire Regiment and had been killed at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915.
Charles Boxer was educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Boxer was gazetted a second lieutenant in the Lincolnshire Regiment in 1923 and served in that regiment for twenty-four years until 1947. He served in Northern Ireland, then, following language and intelligence training, Charles Boxer was seconded to the Imperial Japanese Army in 1930 for three years as part of an exchange of Japanese and English officers. He was assigned to the 38th Infantry Regiment based at Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. At the same time, he was assigned to the non-commissioned officers school at Toyohashi. His housekeeper concubine was a northerner from Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. In 1933, he qualified as an official interpreter in the Japanese language. It was in Japan that he expanded his interest in Portuguese imperial history, concentrating his attention on the first disastrous experiment of European incursion into Japan and its catastrophic ending when Tokugawa closed off the country to outside influence in the 1640s. The Japanese crucified hundreds of Christian missionaries and converts and for good measure executed a delegation of anxious envoys sent out from the Portuguese enclave of Macau to make it entirely clear to the European outsiders that they meant what they said. This was the subject of Boxer's book The Christian Century of Japan. Boxer also took up the traditional Japanese sport of kendo, becoming one of only four British nationals recorded to have done this up until that time. Joining the regimental team he became proficient in the art to the level of being awarded the rank of nidan. He would later use his skill as a method of subterfuge in his profession as a spy when he was sent to Hong Kong in 1936. On visits to the occupied territories he would often have a kendo bout, eat, drink scotch and then pump the various Japanese officers and officials that he was socialising with for information in the true nature of a secret service agent.[1]
Boxer returned to London for a two-year posting from 1935–36 to the military intelligence section of the War Office. Posted to Hong Kong in 1936, he served as a General Staff Officer 3rd grade (GSO3) with British troops in China at Hong Kong, doing intelligence work. Between 1937 and 1941, Boxer, promoted from captain to major, became one of the key members of the Far East Combined Bureau, a British intelligence organisation that extended from Shanghai to Singapore. By 1940, most of its Hong Kong office had been transferred to Singapore, leaving Boxer as the army's chief intelligence officer in the colony. In 1940, he was advanced to General Staff Officer 2nd grade (GSO2). Wounded in action during the Japanese attack on Hong Kong on 8 December 1941, he was taken by the Japanese as a prisoner of war and remained in captivity until 1945. After his release, Boxer returned to Japan in February 1946 as a member of the British Far Eastern Commission, a post that he served until the next year. During his military career, Boxer published 86 publications on Far Eastern history with a particular focus on the 16th and 17th centuries.
As a major in the British Army, Boxer had resigned from the service in 1947, when King's College London offered him its ″Camões Chair of Portuguese″, a post founded and co-funded by Lisbon, and, at the time, the only such chair in the English-speaking world. During this period, the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London [SOAS] also appointed him as its first Professor of the History of the Far East, serving in that post for two years from 1951 to 1953.
On retiring from the University of London in 1967, Boxer took up a visiting professorship at Indiana University, where he also served as an advisor to the Lilly Library located on its campus in Bloomington, Indiana. From 1969 to 1972, Boxer held a personal chair in the history of European Overseas Expansion at Yale University.
-- Sir Charles Ralph Boxer, by Wikipedia
(viii) 1642. Jornada que Francisco de Souza de Castro... fez ao Achem com hua importante Embaixada inuiado pelo V. Rey da India Pero da Sylua no anno de 1638. (Journey by Francisco de Souza de Castro to Achem as an Ambassador of the Viceroy of India in 1638).
The only available copy is in the Public Library of Porto (Portugal). 48 [Ibid., pp. 30-31.]
(ix) 1642. Antonio Fernandes. Magseph Assetat Idest Flagelvm Mendaciorvm contra Libellum Aethiopicum. (A whip against falsehoods, a treatise against the Ethiopean Libel).
Printed at St. Paul's College, Goa. The only copy available is in the National Library of Lisbon. 49 [Ibid., p. 31.]
(x) 1643. Relacam do que socedeo na cidade de Goa..na felice acclamacao del Rey Do Ioao o IIII de Portugal ...(A narrative of what happened in the city of Goa... at the happy acclamation of D. Joao IV of Portugal).
Printed at St. Paul's College, Goa. A copy is available in the British Museum. 50 [Ibid., pp. 31-32.]
(xi) 1643. Constituicoes do Arcebispado de Goa, aprovados pelo primeiro Concilio Provincial (Constitution of the Archbishopric of Goa, approved by the First Provincial Council).
Printed at St. Paul's College, Goa. Two copies are in the Government Library of Goa. 51 [Ibid., pp. 32-33.]
(xii) 1644. Sermao que o Padre Diogo de Areda...pregou no acto da Fee que se celebrou na Cidade de Goa, domingo 4. dias do mes de Setembro do anno de 1644. (Sermon preached by Fr. Diogo de Areda at the Act of Faith celebrated in the city of Goa on September 4, 1644).
Printed at St. Paul's College, Goa. Two copies are reported to have been sold by Maggs Bros. Ltd. (London), in 1946-56. 52 [Ibid., p. 33.]
(xiii) 1649. The Second edition of Fr. Stephens' Christian Purana whose first edition was printed in 1616 as mentioned above.
(No extant copy recorded). (xiv) 1649. Constitvicoens do Areebispado de Goa. This appears to be the second edition of the work mentioned above, No. xi. (1643).
Printed at St. Paul's College, Goa. The only copy available is in the National Library of Rio de Janeiro. 53 [Ibid., pp. 33-34.]
(xv) 1652. Vida da Santissima Virgem Maria May de Deos (Life of the most Holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of God). Printed at St. Paul's College in Goa. This is a Portuguese translation by Patriarch Alphonso Mendez of a book written by Antonio Fernandes in the Armaranic language. 54 [Rodeles, op. cit., p. 156.] A copy is available in the Public Library of Porto (Portugal). 55 [Boxer, op. cit., p. 34.]
(xvi) 1654. The third edition of Fr. Thomas Stephens' Christian Purana (For earlier editions see under 1616 and 1649 above).
No printed copy is known to exist, but a manuscript copy of this is available in the Convent of St. Cajetan in Goa. (xvii) 1655. Antonio de Saldanha. Padva mhallalea xarantulea Sancto Antonichy Zivitua catha
(Life of St. Anthony of Padua). This book was written in verse in Marathi and also in prose in the spoken dialect of Goa. Both were printed in Roman script, like all other contemporary literature in Goa languages. A transliteration into Devanagari script of the Marathi version, edited by Mr. A. K. Priolkar, was published by the Marathi Samshodhana Mandala, Bombay, in 1956.
A copy of the original is available in the Government Library, Lisbon. Mr. Cunha Rivara mentions two more vernacular works of the same author: (1) Rosas e boninas deleitosas do ameno Rosal de Maria e sen Rosario... Rachol 4°" and (2) Fructo da arvore da vida a nossas almas e corpos salutifero... Rachol 4°" with a remark "sem anno de impressao " (without year of impression). 56 [J. H. Cunha Rivara, Ensaio Historico da Lingua Concanim, Goa 1858, p. 127.]
There is no record of printed copies of these works, but a manuscript copy of the latter work in Marathi verse, is available in the School of Oriental and African studies, London [SOAS]. It is probable that Mr. Rivara had not seen any printed copies, but relied on some catalogue of books.
(xviii) 1658-59 Minguel de Almeida. Jardim dos Pastores.
(Garden of Shepherds in five volumes). This is written in the Brahmin dialect of Goa. In an article published in the Examiner of Bombay in 1922, by Fr. H. Hosten, a detailed description is given of what is believed to be
the first volume, which was in the possession of a priest (Conego Francisco Xavier Vaz) of Velha Goa. It bore the following words on its vernacular title — page, indicating that it was printed in 1658 at St. Paul's College, Goa: —
EANCHEAN
ONVALLEACHO MALLO, ZO
JESVche Sangantichea, Pandry Minguel de
Almeidana Bamana Bhassena
Ghaddunu lihunu,
udeguilo
Pauitra Inquisicanua anny ordinarichea niropana Goya, S. Paulache Collegintu, sollassi atthavanavea varussa lihitamanddapi tthassila. 57 [The Examiner, Vol. 73, Bombay, 1922, p. 29. Printed in Devanagari, this will read as: — [x]]
[Google Translate: EVEN ONVALLEY MALLO, ZO JESVthat Blood, Pandry Minguel of Almeidana Bamana Bhassena Ghaddunu is free, devoured Another ordinary inquisitor like Goya, S. Paulache Collegintu, relied on the attention given to her by the author.
The efforts of the present writer to trace the copy mentioned herein at Anjuna Goa, the native place of Fr. Vaz, were however unsuccessful. The present writer has seen a copy of what appears to be the third volume of this work, in the Government Library of Goa. 58 [J. A. Ismael Gracias has given a detailed description of this book "Um Sermonario." O Oriente Portuguez, Vol. II, Nova Goa 1905 pp. 290-301.] This lacks the title-page. The fifth volume printed in 1659 is listed in the Biblioteca Marsdeana. 59 [Biblioteca Harsdeana. op. cit., p. 203.]
Probably this is the same copy as is now in the possession of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London [SOAS]. (xix) 1660. Joao de Pendroza. Soliloqvios Divinos
(Devine Soliloquies) translated from the "Castelhana" language into the Bramin language and printed at the New St. Paul's College, Goa. A copy of this book is in the Government Library, Goa. This is the last of the books printed in Goa, which the present writer has been able to see.(xx) 1667-69. A. P. Prospero Intorcetta. Sinarum Scientia Politico-Moralis
[Political-Moral Science of China ]. 36 leaves in Chinese characters printed at Canton in 1667 and 20 leaves in Roman types at Goa in 1669. A copy of this book is available in the School of Oriental and African Studies, London [SOAS]. 60 [C. R. Boxer, op. cit., pp. 36-37.]
(xxi) 1674. Regras da Companhia de Jesu
(Rules of the Society of Jesus). Printed at Rachol in 1674. A copy is available in the Pei-T'ang Library, Peking. 61 [Ibid., p. 37.]
From the review of the printed literature given above it is evident that the press continued to function in Goa till 1674. The End of Printing Activity in Goa The establishment of the printing press in Goa was intended to serve as an aid to effective evangelisation. Printing activity continued to prosper so long as the importance of local languages for the purpose of proselytisation was fully appreciated. As we shall presently see,
circumstances arose in which certain interested elements succeeded in persuading the ruling powers that Indian languages were not only not helpful but were actually a hindrance in the work of proselytisation. As a consequence, the printing press in India suffered an eclipse. During the early period so great an importance was attached to the role of Indian languages in the work of evangelisation that the Concilio Provincial of 1606 ordered that no cleric should be placed in charge of a parish unless he learnt the local language; and that parish priests who were ignorant of local languages would automatically lose their positions if they failed to pass an examination in the local languages within six months. 62 [Cunha Rivara, Ensaio Historico etc., op. cit., p. 19.]
The earlier generations of Christian missionaries who came to India were fired with genuine religious zeal, and were willing to make the effort necessary to master a foreign tongue in the interests of their faith. Their successors were, however, more interested in a life of luxury and comfort, and were incapable of such effort and self-discipline. As a result, they tried to displace the Indian languages from their place of importance. Cunha Rivara, in his Ensaio Historico da Lingua Concani, gives a vivid account of the background of this prolonged struggle and its course. 63 [Vide Part Second of this book.] In a petition addressed to the King of Portugal in 1672, complaints were made that the foreign clergy in Goa led a life of vice and corruption and lived with their women and children in open disregard of the vows of celibacy. Such complaints referred mainly to Franciscans and not to Jesuits. But in a letter addressed to the king, the Viceroy himself speaks of the arrogance and insubordination of the Jesuits and of the wide-spread ignorance of local languages among the parish priests in Salsette. In fact it appears that while the Franciscans had earned a bad name by their loose living, the Jesuits had become notorious for their avarice and greed. Dr. John Fryer, an English traveller who was in India during the period 1672 to 1681, describes the conditions in Goa in the following words: — "The Policy as well as the Trade of this place is mostly devolved from private persons on the Paulistins wherefor this saying is in everybody's mouth: —
A Franciscano guardo minha mulier;
A Paulistino guardo minha denier." 64 [Dr. John Fryer, New Account of East India and Persia, London 1698, p. 150.]
(The Franciscan guards my wife;
The Jesuit guards my money).
Abbe Carre, a French traveller, who visited Goa in 1672, writes about the Portuguese priests as follows: — "...You must indeed go into the Portuguese convents if you still want to find riches and treasures: there you will see brokers, merchants, and other country people, who trade only with Portuguese priests. All the commerce of that nation is thus in their hands." 65 [The Travels of the Abbe Carre in India and the Near East. Translated by Lady Fawcett and edited by Sir Charles Fawcett, London 1947, pp. 213-4.]
It may be mentioned that this deplorable demoralisation among the ranks of foreign missionaries was by no means confined to Goa. The following information regarding conditions in Macao and China appears in the contemporary correspondence of Danish missionaries: — "I have been fourteen Voyages to China and carried many of the French Mission to Ernoy and Canton; have discoursed them often and found most of them loved the Riches and Grandeur of China, more than the Souls of the Poor Pagans; and accordingly made earnest Application to advance themselves to Places of Dignity, more especially the Jesuits. It must be acknowledged they lived unblameable in other Respects. The Portuguese Padres at Macoa are scandalous beyond Expression and are great obstacle to the propagation of Christianity." 66 [Propagation of the Gospel in the East. Part III, London 1718, p. 50.]
The reasons for the hostility of the foreign missionaries to the Indian languages can be easily understood against the above background. Their zeal for missionary work was at a low ebb, and they were not at all keen about learning a foreign language; and so long as the knowledge of a local language continued to be considered as an essential qualification for appointments to churches, they would be at a disadvantage as compared with the clerics of Indian origin who would be preferred for such appointments. They therefore carried on a continuous struggle for the abolition of the decrees which made knowledge of Indian languages compulsory, the vicissitudes of which are described by Cunha Rivara.
At last their efforts were crowned with success in the promulgation of the notorious decree of 1684. The object of this decree was to root out the local languages from Goa and to replace them with Portuguese. The said decree required that within a period of three years Goans should abandon the use of the local languages and take to the use of Portuguese. It is obvious that this drastic measure removed the raison d'etre of Christian literature in Indian languages and struck at the very root of the printing press in India.
There is evidence that an attempt to revive the press in India was made about a century later. In 1754 the Secretary of State, Diogo de Mendonca Corte Real, ordered the Viceroy of (Portuguese) India to refuse his consent to requests for the establishment of a printing press in India irrespective of the source from which such requests emanated, whether from convents or colleges or other communities however highly privileged. 67 [J. C. Cunha Rivara, Chronista de Tissuary, torao II, p. 95 (quoted by Gracias, op. cit., p. 29).] It must be remembered that Marques de Pombal was at the helm of the affairs of the state in Portugal during 1750-1777; and there is some justification for the conjecture that it was Pombal's fear that the Jesuits would use the press for their own ends, which was responsible for the ban against the establishment of the press in India. Sir Panduranga Pissurlencar, the Director of Government Archives, Goa, has recently brought forward authentic evidence to show that the practice of reading passages from the Christian Purana on certain occasions in the churches of Goa ceased in 1776, when it was forbidden by the Archbishop D. Francisco da Assuncao. 68 [Panduranga S. S. Pissurlencar, " A Proposito dos Primeiros Livros Maratas Impressos em Goa." Boletim do Institute Vasco da Gama, No. 73, Goa 1956, p. 69.]
It was not before 1821 that the press reappeared in Goa. On 16th September of that year the Viceroy Conde Rio Pardo was removed after a popular struggle, in which Bernardo Pires de Silva played a prominent role and the oppressive rule of the former gave place to a liberal regime.
The Government at this time took the initiative in bringing a press to Goa from Bombay and started a weekly called Gazeta de Goa. There was, however, a reversal of policy within five years, and the new viceroy D. Manuel de Camara put an end to the existence of the press as well as of the Gazette by an order dated August 29, 1826. In the said order the Viceroy remarked: "The Government continued to exist without a press and without the Gazette until the unhappy epoch of the revolution, and during these disastrous times they only produced evil results. Therefore, if at present the types are found to be unusable there would be no inconvenience in suspending the publication of the Gazette." 69 [Antonio Maria da Cunha, "A Evolucao do Jornalismo," A India Portuguesa, Vol. II, Nova Goa, 1923, p. 508.]
The second government weekly paper published in Goa was the Chronista Constituicional de Goa. It was started on the 13th of June 1835 and its publication was suspended after two years on the 30th November 1837. It was followed by the third Government paper, Boletim do Governo do Estado da India, which started on the 7th of December 1837.
Printing in the Devanagarii characters in Goa started only in the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1853, the Government press purchased Devanagarii types from Bombay, for use in printing advertisements and other notices in the Government paper, Boletim do Governo. The first notice printed in Marathi characters appeared in this periodical on May 27, 1853. Some of the earliest books printed in Devanagarii script in this press are mentioned hereunder: —
(i) 1854. Codigo dos Usos e Costumes dos habitantes das Novas Conquistas (Usages and Customs of the inhabitants of the Novas Conquistas).
(ii) 1861. Second edition of the above book.
(iii) 1867. Abecedario em Marata (A Marathi Primer).
(iv) 1867. Issapa-Niti-Catha (
Aesop's Fables in Marathi). 70 [Pissurlencar, op. cit., pp. 70-71.]
It will be seen from the foregoing account that the first press entered Goa four centuries ago. It is sad to think that but for the narrow and shortsighted policies of the Portuguese rulers, the brief but glorious period of creative activity in Goa could have continued to our times and the press in Goa could have been the forerunner of printing activity all over India.
