REPORT OF THE MRP TITLED

BOOK PUBLISHING IN MALAYALAM

THE BEGINNINGS

DR BABU CHERIAN
DEPARTMENT OF MALAYALAM
CMS COLLEGE
KOTTAYAM KERALA

NO. F. MRP (H)-602/ 08-09/KLMG OO2/ UGC-SWRO/

DT. 30 MARCH 09
 CONTENTS

Chapter 1

An Introduction to Printing and Book-Publishing

Chapter 2

The beginning of Printing in Malayalam that led to Book-Publishing

Chapter 3

Malayalam Book Publishing and

the first Malayalam Book Published in Kerala

Chapter 4

Conclusion
 Chapter 1

An Introduction to Printing and Book-Publishing

Printing is the technology that has recorded the history of all that has happened in the
world from the past to the present. Yet, regarding the history of printing, especially the
history of the very early days of the technology, not much is known. The invention of
printing is a landmark in the history of the World’s civilization, not merely of book-
publishing or the dissemination of knowledge. “Printing is the art and technology of
recreating, on paper or fabric or on any other surface, pictures or words. Though a variety of
printed objects are commonplace in modern times, the principal function of printing is the
dissemination of thought and knowledge. Printed words and pictures have become an integral
and important part of schools, libraries, education of individuals, intellectual growth and the
popular news media” (Encyclopaedia Americana–Printing’). Though there were books when
printing was unknown, the world then was the world of the illiterate societies, unable to read
or write. “The greatest factor that was instrumental in making Europe civilized, was printing.
If Asia and Africa are to see the light and achieve progress as Europe did, at one time or
other, it will be, to a great extent, probably through printing”. So spoke Thomas Scott the
renowned theologian and trainer of missionaries, while addressing a group of missionaries
leaving for Asia and Africa (CMS Proceedings, 1805: 78).

The technology of printing that helped in making numerous copies and in

communication of ideas through the print medium, was not merely for Asia or Africa or
Europe only. All over the world, printing was the instigator and constant companion of
civilization.
The Beginning of Printing

History of printing began with Johan Guttenberg printing his famous 42 line Bible
using movable metal types. Prior to that, true, there were certain rudiments of printing.
Wooden blocks and metal sheets engraved with shapes and forms, stones and such other
media stamped with pictures and the like were used to make many ‘printed’ copies. They
have no more significance than being mere handicrafts, in the history of printing. The
popularity that printing acquired in later years was with the invention of the printing press by
Guttenberg. The technical advantage of printing is that it can produce countless number of
copies in surprisingly short time at a low cost. It was Guttenberg who made a press that could
print numerous copies within a very short time. The new generation presses are superfast
performers when compared to the presses of Guttenberg’s days. And, the predecessors to
Guttenberg’s press were incapable of the capabilities the presses made by Guttenberg and
they could not lend themselves to technical improvements or sophistication.

Copying was the means, in the pre-printing days, for making books and that, indeed,
was a laborious and time consuming as well as an expensive process. Monks, in their
monasteries, spent laborious years, making copies of the Bible, a collection of short and long
volumes. “It is said that the sight of Carthusian monks in the town of Maines copying the
Bible, spending their entire lifetime, touched the gentle hearted Guttenberg and made him
turn to printing” (P.J Thomas, 1989 : 332). It was, more or less, the same reason that made
Benjamin Bailey turn to printing too. And, his intense desire to see the Bible he had
translated get printed in Malayalam, was what made him turn to establishing a printing press
and to chisel Malayalam types for use in the press.

“No wonder that the Germans were the first to take to printing, considering the fact
that printing, using movable types, was a German invention and that it was in Maines, a
German city, that printing was done for the very first time” (S.H Steinberg, 1959:36). By the
end of the 15th century, printing presses came into being in about sixty German cities. In
many other European towns also, printing came to be in existence at the same time. Towns
like Cologne (1464), Basel (1466), Roma (1467), Venice (1469), Paris (1470), Geneva
(1478), London (1480), Stockholm (1483) were known for printing in the 15th century. The
German city of Cologne has a rather close relation with printing in England. William Caxton,
the father of printing in England, learned printing at Cologne during 1471- 72. Modern
printing took roots in Russia, Palestine, Japan, India, North America, Iran and China during
the 16th and 17th centuries.

Printing, during its early days, did wonders in book-publishing and thereby in the
dissemination of knowledge. The advantage of the new technology was astounding in
comparison with the work done by the copyists. Copies of books could now be made in a
month or two while the copyists took many months to do the same. That too, not one copy at
a time but several hundred copies at a time. The cost of a new copy was comparatively much
less than that of a hand-written one.

Proof reading and editing are the two basic things in the publishing of books and
periodicals. Their absence is, naturally, detrimental to publishing. The advent of the movable
‘character-units’ cast after the metal types, opened unlimited variety and diversity in
composing. It now was possible to effect corrections, deletions and additions in a text,
beginning with a single character (the symbol of a type or a sub-type or the symbol of a
number) to any number of sentences. The possibility that the same type could be cast in
different shapes and sizes and could be used in composing, opened doors to Lay-out
possibilities. Thus, a technically superior book and magazine publishing was made possible
through proof-reading, editing and lay-out, the result of the introduction of movable types.
This is an important development in the history of printing.
 Chapter 2

The beginning of Printing in Malayalam that led to Book-Publishing

Modern Printing came to India in the first phase itself of its conquest of the World.
According to Priyolkar, “a printing press was first established in India, on 6th September
1556. It was the Jesuit College of St Paul that accommodated the first printing press.
Doctrina Christa, a Scripture book, written in Portuguese by St Francis Xaviour is regarded
as the first book printed in Goa, nay, in India” (K.M. Govi, 1998: 22-25). This book was
printed in 1557. In the 17th century, in addition to St Paul’s College in Goa, St Ignatius’
College in Rachol also instituted printing. The books in Goa were printed mostly in
Portuguese and a few in the Konkini Language. There is another view that Doctrina Christa
was printed in Tamil at Goa. From Goa, printing came to Kerala.

“Two years after Francis Xaviour’s Doctrina Christa was printed in Goa, printing
was started in Kerala. Printing presses were active at Kollam, Kochi, Vypikota and
Ambazhakad in the 16th and 17th centuries. The first book printed in Kerala was the
Doctrina Christa printed at Kollam in 1578. Then in 1579 the Kochi ‘Doctrina’ was printed.
Both were in Tamil. It is evident from this that the first Indian language to be printed was
Tamil. Though historians agree that there was printing done at Vypikota, no samples printed
there are available” (K.M Govi, 1998:99-36). There is evidence regarding the printing of Six
Tamil works. In short, the first printing done, at the presses which were part of the Society of
Jesus at Kollam, Kochi, Vypikota and Ambazhakad was, in Tamil, not in Malayalam.

The first book, printed using the movable types is, Samkshepa Vedartham. It was
printed in Rome at the polyglot printing press in 1772. The second Malayalam book too, was
printed in the same press, in 1791. It was the translation of Paulinos Padre’s Centum Adagia
Malabarica : Cum textu originali et versione. Later, we see Malayalam printing entering
another phase when it was done in India itself.

Malayalam printing which appeared in Rome for the first time in history, reached
India by the end of the 18th century. It was at the Courier Printing Office in the city of
Bombay that Malayalam was printed for the first time in India. The first book in Malayalam
printed there, was Robert Drummond’s Grammar of the Malayalam Language. Because
almost all the lines in the book were of Malayalam words and sentences, it is not wrong to
call it a Malayalam book” (K.M. Govi, 1998:101). Though some think differently, it can be
overruled. The complete book in Malayalam printed at the courier Press Office is the Bible,
containing the four Gospels, in 1811.

Kerala and Printing

From these, two things are evident: that the first phase of printing in Kerala was in
Tamil and that the first phase of printing in Malayalam was outside Kerala. Printing in Kerala
had to wait till the arrival of Benjamin Bailey and the CMS. With printing in Bombay over,
Malayalam Printing came to Kerala. “It was the Church Missionary Society based at
Kottayam, and its missionaries, that paved the way for this. There is no doubt, that it was
Benjamin Bailey, who started Malayalam Printing in Kerala” (P.J. Thomas 1989: 354).

Benjamin Bailey and Malayalam Printing

Guttenberg thought of creating a printing press, moved by the hardships the

Carthusian monks faced, in making hand-written copies of the Bible. Similarly, the
motivation behind the starting of a printing press at Kottayam too, was the Bible. The
deliberations regarding the establishment of a press in Kottayam, to print and publish in
Malayalam, a flawless translation of the Bible, are mentioned in the ‘Missionary
Register’:“For the purpose of rendering the (Bible) version of the Malayalim as correct as
possible, arrangements have been made for furnishing the station at Cotym with a press, types
and paper, in order that the work may have the benefit of the translator’s revision” (1820,
october: 446) (sic.).
 It was Col Munro, the inspiration of the Kottayam Mission of Help, that first
suggested the establishment of a printing press at Kottayam, to print the Bible. “The
translation of the scriptures will be completed in the course of another month; and two or
three Catanars may be sent with the manuscript to Calcutta. But would it not be a better plan
to establish a press, and print the Scriptures in the college at Cotym? There is ample room in
the college, for a Printing and Book-binding Establishment, and the formation of such an
Establishment at that institution would, in my judgement, be very useful… If the proposition
of establishing a Printing-press at Cotym should be approved, its execution ought not to be
delayed. (Microfilm marked CMS-4, UTC Archives, Bangalore).

The establishment of a press in Kottayam, was made rather imperative, by the fact
that the translations of the many pamphlets and the various books of the Bible had been made
ready and because they would entail heavy expenditure and delay, if copied by copyists.
Moreover, a printing press in Kottayam was a pre-requisite and a necessity, to print books for
students in schools and the college, to print pamphlets for use in churches and for the
instruction of priests. It was under these circumstances, that the missionaries at Kottayam
submitted the following, before the Madras Corresponding Committee: “The necessity of a
printing Establishment at Cotym, is another thing which we beg leave to submit, to the
committee. We have distributed a few Malayalim Tracts such as copies of a single Gospel,
Catechism etc., but the expense is great. Besides, the English, Syriac and Sanskrit works,
which we shall very soon require at the college, procured from Madras, will be attended with
much expense; and, after all, we shall not be able to procure works in all cases, to suit our
purpose. It will not be long, before the attention of the students should (sic.) be directed to the
structure of the English Language, its idiom and its elegancies: to pursue, such a study
profitably, recourse must necessarily be had to the writings of our most elegant Poets,
Essayists, and Historians. A Syrian Press is, perhaps, even more requisite, from the great
expense of, Syriac Works in England,(sic) and the impossibility of procuring them in
sufficient number from home. But, of all the Presses needed here, the Malayalim Press is
undoubtedly of the first importance. (‘Missionary Register’, 1821 December 578).

Convinced that the request made by Col Munro and the missionaries in Kottayam was
quite acceptable, the Madras Corresponding Committee wrote immediately to their mother-
society in England, to make available from there, a press for Kottayam, English spare types
and the metal for casting types in Malayalam, Tamil and Sanskrit. On 18th October, 1821, the
printing press and the English types arrived in Kottayam, Via Bombay and Alleppy.

This was the first printing press to reach Kottayam, in fact, Kerala itself, during the
19th century. Yet, a missionary record quotes from a leaflet, published by the CMS Press,
which says that the Calcutta Bible Society had sent a printing press to Kottayam and in 1820,
St Luke’s Gospel was printed at that press. But, that is an erroneous statement, for no record
supporting this, has ever been come across. In addition, the statement made by the Malankara
Metropolitan, to Bishop Middleton, who visited Kottayam in April, 1821… “Printing has not
started in the Syrian College” reiterates the fact (Charles Web Les Bas 1831: 206).

The printing press arrived in Kottayam College on 18th October, 1821, but
Malayalam types were unavailable. Madras Fort St George College had agreed to cast
Malayalam types necessary for the Kottayam Press. Regarding this, the corresponding
Committee reports: “The steps, for casting types in Malayalam, have been taken. But the
fear, that at least a year would elapse before the types are ready to be sent to Kottayam,
persists. The difficulties here, for casting types in a new language, are many” (‘CMS
Proceedings’, 1820:150.)

In a letter to Col New Wall on 13th March, 1822, the Kottayam Trio wrote “The
Church Missionary Society has sent a press and English types. We are expecting the
Malayalam types to arrive”. In other words, though the press had arrived five months ago, the
Malayalam types were still lacking. The types were sent to Kottayam in July, 1823 from
Madras.

The understanding was to establish the press in the College, when it arrived. The
college was the centre of the ‘Mission of Help’ and the seat of the Department of Translation.
Many well known presses were, at that time, functioning attached to colleges like Fort St
George College Madras, Calcutta Bishop’s College and Serampore College. Col Munro
believed that the printing press could be accommodated within the space available in the
College. When it arrived, the press was kept in the College, at first. So it could not have been
that Col Munro had thought of a separate building for the press. But, the press that had
arrived from England, lay idle for almost two years. There are no records of having printed
anything here soon after its arrival, though, types in English was available then. By this time,
the translation of the New Testament by the Syrian Catanars was almost over. Joseph Fenn
was in charge of the College and Bailey was able to spend more time at the Arbuthnot
School, established close to his bungalow, which demanded a great deal of his attention.

There was also a geographical reason for not housing the press close to the ‘Cotym
College’. In the low lying area, on the river bank, where the college was, the atmospheric
humidity was rather high. If the press were to be set up in the College, the humidity there
would prevent the gum used for binding from setting and the ink on the printed material from
drying well. When Col Welsh and Marmaduke Thompson visited Kottayam in 1824, the
press was in a building near Bailey’s Bungalow. Since Bailey’s bungalow was atop a hill,
there was plenty of sunshine and pleasant winds and hence the humidity there, was much
less. It must have been between October 1821 (when the press had arrived from England) and
July 1823 (when the types from Madras had arrived) that Bailey built the building to house
the press between his bungalow and the Arbuthnot School. Cheru Paithangalkka
Upakaratham Emclishil Ninna Paribhashappeduthiya Kathakal (stories translated from
English for Children), is the work available as the first work printed at Kottayam. On it is
marked ‘Printed at Kottayam’ and not ‘printed at Kottayam College’. It must have taken at
least six months to print the ‘200 pages book in the 21x13 (centimetre) size’ considering the
slow speed of the press and its old technology. Taking all these into consideration, the
conclusion regarding the time of the construction of the building to house the press, becomes
more or less confirmed. So, the statements like ‘Printing started in the College itself’ and
‘Bailey built a building in 1820 to house the press’ etc, lose their veracity.

Ineffectual Madras Types

The long-awaited Malayalam types from Madras proved to be disappointing.

“Unfortunately the Madras Fort St George fonts were deficient in many respects. They were
lacking in two other counts too–the shape of the letters and in their numbers. There were
defects also, in their casting. In short, they were almost useless” (‘CMS Proceedings’
1824:151).

Driven by the still lingering indescribable thrill at receiving the press, by the intense
desire to see Malayalam printed and by the enthusiasm and eagerness to print and make
available to the people, copies of at least a few of the translations that had been made ready
quite a long while ago, Bailey began printing in the press as soon as the Madras types arrived.
The letter that Bailey wrote, gives details of the first printing work done with the Madras
fonts:

“Mr. Bailey writes as follows:-

... 600 copies of a pastoral letter, addressed by the Metropolitan of the Syrian Church
to his clergy, and 400 copies of the Sermon on the Mount, and some small works for the use
of the students in the College, have been struck off; but a fresh fount of types is required to
render the press effective; and it is feared that much time will elapse, from the delays
incidental to all business of this nature in India, and from the uncertainty still attaching to the
form of the characters, before a new and perfect fount can be supplied’’ (‘Missionary
Register’, 1824 September: 407) (sic.).

From this letter, written by Bailey, certain significant facts emerge. One: the first to
be printed was the Pastoral Letter, from the Syrian Metropolitan (600 copies), Sermon on the
Mount (400 copies) and in addition, certain light reading materials for the college students.
Of these, copies of the pastoral letter or of the Sermon on the Mount are not available now.
Also, no specifics are given about the materials printed for use in the college. Though there
are references as to the lesser works, copied on palm leaves and on paper, made ready for
printing when the press would start functioning, titles of the works are not made evident.

Two: If the press were to function efficiently, new fonts were a must. Three: The new
fonts, Bailey feared, would only be made available, after much further delay. In India, delay
is natural in such matters. Above all, uncertainty regarding the form of the letter still
prevailed. Madras Fonts did not make Bailey happy, on the contrary, they upset him. He
was afraid there would be much delay before the Malayalam fonts would be made available
and the stalemate regarding the shape and form of the Malayalam letters would prolong
indefinitely. Bailey outlived the two trepidations by making the Malayalam fonts himself.
Anyway, Bailey went on printing with the available but defective types and continued
printing with them, till his own types could put to use while never relaxing his efforts to get a
set of flawless types from the Madras Corresponding Committee.

Opinions put forward by K.M.Govi regarding the Madras Types, need to be

examined. “Was any article printed using these types? It is not possible to arrive at a definite
conclusion. The press reached Kottayam in 1821. The types from Madras arrived the next
year. It is difficult to take in, that the long awaited press that finally arrived in 1821 and the
types that arrived the next year lay idle till 1824. For, in the code of the Missionaries,
procrastination and indolence do not feature. At least, a few tracts would have been printed.
As per the entries in the ‘CMS Proceedings’ of 1823-24, the following two could have been
printed before 1824.

1. The Pastoral Letter from the Metropolitan (600 copies)

2. The Sermon on the Mount from the Bible (600 copies)

That these books were printed with the types from Madras, can be inferred from the CMS
Proceedings. It is possible to conclude doubtlessly and not merely infer, that certain articles
were printed using the Madras Fonts. But, labelling these ‘books’ and claiming that 600
copies of the Sermon on the Mount had been printed are not correct. Till Bailey made his
own types for use in the press, the printing was done with the Madras Fonts, in the CMS
press.

Though rather brief, an article in the Kerala Society Papers–Series 4-throws light in
the history of Malayalam Typography. In it, along with the articles ‘Rev Benjamin Bailey
and the Kottayam CMS Press’ written by John Chandy, opposite to page 215, a few
reproductions of printed materials and pictures are given on a separate page. The printed
evidences there on, are under reference here. He certifies that, of these printed evidences, the
first, is the specimen from the Courier Bible or Ramban Bible and the second is the specimen
of the material, printed using the Malayalam types given to Benjamin Bailey’s press by the
Madras Government, while the third is the specimen of the New Testament printed in
Malayalam, with the types Bailey had made.

That the first of the printed evidences referred to in the Kerala Society Papers is from
the Courier Bible is true and it shows the verses 8 and 9 of Marks Gospel.

Similarly the third specimen is from the Malayalam New Testament printed in 1829
using the Malayalam Types made by Bailey. The verses 7 to 12 of chapter 12 of St.
Mathew’s Gospel, “Ask and you will be given...”, is shown.

The second among the specimen in the Kerala Society Papers is the model of the
types given to Bailey by the Madras Government. These are what are referred to as the
‘defective fonts’ from Fort St George College. Only a small portion of it has been shown as
the specimen. This specimen, particularly its types, subjected to computer analyses, scrutiny
and comparison with the different variety of fonts yielded the following findings:

The Biblical portions (Bailey’s Bible) printed in the second sample, is from St
Mathew’s Gospel: chapter 5, verses 1-4.

The size of the above sample was reduced when its printing-block was made and its
surface disfigured by the printing ink. Yet, it is possible to distinguish a few words and
identify quite a few types. A comparison of the font used here and the once used for printing
Cheru Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna Paribhashappaduthia Kathakal will
confirm this. The sub-scripts (o) /ie/, (s) /e/ of the phonemes ‘i’ (C ) and ‘e’ (F )and letters
such as A(a ), f (la), h (wa), _ (ba), k (sa), · (nma) can be easily identified.

As made clear earlier, the Cheru Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna

Paribhashappaduthia Kathakal ‘was printed with the defective Malayalam types supplied by
the Madras Fort St George College. Thus the observations by K.M. Govi such as “... it has to
be assumed that the types used for printing Cheru Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil
Ninna Paribhashappaduthia Kathakal were made by Bailey and “... in the light of these
evidences, it can be stated without doubt that the types Bailey used in 1824 were made by
himself” cannot be accepted. K.M. Govi puts forward two ‘evidences’ to support his
observation. One: “Bailey was engrossed in type-making before 1824”. Two: “The Resident
was sent the material printed with types made by Bailey”. Both these statements are
incapable of proving that the fonts used to print Cheru Paithangalkka Upakarartham
Emclisil Ninna Paribhashappaduthia Kathakal were not the Madras fonts or that they were
made by Bailey. And, the first of the two statements is incorrect, objectively regarded.

Above the verses quoted in the second specimen, two lines, made indistinct by
printing ink, are seen. The part shown in the specimen is not the first page of printed
evidence but a page continuing from it. If so, the assumption that after printing the Sermon
on the Mount with the defective fonts from Madras, Bailey printed the Gospel According to
St Mathew entirely in the form of folios or light books, seems logical. The remark that a few
light works had been printed using the Madras Fonts and Bailey’s statement made before or
in 1824 “The Gospel of St Mathew is to be distributed as soon as the pages have been bound
together and given a book-cover or jacket” (‘CMS Proceedings’, 1825: 131) substantiate
this.

The designing and making of Malayalam Types

The defective types from Madras Fort St George College, were not acceptable to
Benjamin Bailey. The St George types were different from the Courier Bible types and
defective in their design and form. Despite this, Bailey started printing with these. Along
with this, he began his attempts to make better Malayalam fonts with the help of the Madras
Corresponding Committee. As a part of this, he requested the Committee to send a type-
maker to Kottayam. But the committee, after a lot of discussions and deliberations, turned
down the request.

Bailey felt that the Bible had to be printed in its entirety and if that were not possible,
at least in parts. To use the printing press efficiently to accomplish this, a new set of
Malayalam fonts were imperative. And, the attitude of the Madras Corresponding Committee
was not exactly helpful. Bailey found himself confused and perplexed by the situation he
was in. Then he decided to break the ground himself. But, that was not easy. Yet, with the
determination of a trailblazer, he faced and overcame the obstacles, against overwhelming
odds. Three vital records there are, that speak of the history of Bailey’s ‘Type Fonting’
efforts: a detailed memorandum submitted to the Madras Corresponding Committee by its
Secretary, regarding Bailey’s efforts; the extracts from the book by Col Welsh who visited
Kottayam and the third, a detailed report of Marmaduke Thompson who visited Kottayam.
The third record has been quoted partly in the books by W.S. Hunt and P.Cherian. The later
researchers were in the dark regarding the other two records. The memorandum presented to
the Madras Corresponding Committee that met on 7 January, 1824, is given below in its
entirety. Certain words are unreadable, the minutes book being very, very old. Words and
phrases that are illegible or vague are given in brackets and those words absolutely
undecipherable, are indicated with a line (-)

“Meeting the 7th January–24

Memorandum by the Secretary

 Mr. Bailey perseveres in his reply that a type founder should be sent to Cotym to
prepare a fount of Malayalim types.

This request was first made in a consequence of the defective state of the fount
executed at the College & sent to Cotym. The faults found were that the Blocks were too
poor in number & (having) unequal lengths-that some characters were (fitt)ing & others quite
incorrectly formed:-

When the letter containing these (inadversions) came before the committee,
information was at the same time given them that as soon as the Malialam types for the
college were finished the College Board had sent specimens of them to number of gentleman
(?) on the Malabar Coast where, who were known or believed to be qualified to appreciate
their merits that several reports in consequent received in which objections were made to the
types-some of which were admitted at the College to require alterations-& that the whole
subject was then before the College Board. Under these circumstances the committee
resolved to suspend sending a type founder to Cotym, on the ground that, with the extensive
assistance which the College Board could command more perfect fount of Malayalim (sic.)
types was likely to be produced there than elsewhere. In the meantime a specimen of the
College type was sent to Cotym & the Missionaries requested to examine it carefully &
submit the alteration which they thought should be made- This was dated in July last & no
notice was taken of it till in the present letter from Mr. Bailey. It is to be regretted that the
committee were not informed that Mr. Bailey himself was among the Gentlemen to whom the
circular reference of the College was made; & that he submitted in reply the most elaborate of
any, unless it be that from the Revd. Mr. Spring. This will explain a remark in his present
letter & the want of an earlier reply.

As the application for a type founder at Cotym has now again come before the
Committee, the Secretary thought that it might be of use for them to be informed exactly of
the present state of the business at the college. It has accordingly obtained the perusal of all
the answers to the circular reference, which it appears was sent to the Gentlemen named in
the margin: of whom Messrs. Bailey, spring, Lewin, Brown & Vaughan only have yet
submitted answers.

There are 349 characters in Malialam. Mr. Bailey has proposed alterations in 89 –
about 30 of these are confirmed by Mr. Lewin or Mr Spring. 24 which Mr Bailey has not
objected to,are objected to Mr Lewin or Mr Spring. In a few of these there is a material
difference in the figure proposed & the remarks are directly contrary to another: In the
majority the fault found appears to be rather on the score of elegance than intelligibility- Mr.
Brown submits a complete alphabet leaving the comparison to the college & Mr Vaughan
alludes to specimen which he intends to send, but which the secretary has not seen. In neither
case could the Secretary make any use of the answers, as he doesn’t understand the language.

Mr. (Dent) (sic.) the Malayalim (sic.) translator, who has the management of the
business, under the College Boards, expresses himself in a note to the Secretary last week as
follows:-

‘The different Gentleman who have made (objections) have with one or two
exceptions been liberal enough in (Finding) fault the none of them have placed within our
reach (the) means of rectifying the defect of which they complain; (-) the specimens they
send are worse in many respects (than our) own– I have been in correspondence with Mr
(Naidon) (-) Malabar and (thro) ? him with Col Newel in Travancore with a view to supply
this defect and I have got (soon) very beautiful specimens which I shall circulate to the Board
as soon I have examined them and it (was) then be for there for to determine either a new
fount to be cast or not’.

This is the present state of the business in the College.

The first work in Malialam which will be printed at the college press is an essay on
the 3 sects of Hindoos composed by the Diwan of the Rajah of Cochin-of which, when
printed copies are to be sent to his Highness. From what is stated in the foregoing
memorandum it appears to the committee (evident) the proper form of the Malialam letter is a
matter of some uncertainty & difficulty& that as the Regulations of the Government& the
Diwans Essay will be printed with the types now forming at the College, they are (seen) to go
a great way in fixing the Malialam.

Added to this the committee can have no doubt that with the pains taken & extensive
assistance availed of by the College the forms of the letters above fixed by them are far more
likely to be good & universally intelligible & acceptable than those made by Mr. Bailey
alone; & on these accounts appears to them, that even if a type founder were (?) sent to
Cotym as Mr. Bailey desires, it would be proper to him to the form of the letters adopted by
the College–But under this restriction, to send a type founder to Cotym would be, only to
leave the same work executed at a much greater expense there, instead of at a much smaller at
Madras-as both the founder his tools & materials/ with the exception of the metal of the
present useless fount, which might be returned to Madras for use at a small expense by sea/
must go from Madras; the former, most probably, by land, & at much higher wages & those
for a much longer time than if he worked here- It appears to the committee further that the
some delay may be incurred by waiting for the decision of the College Board, it is not likely
to be greater than would result foam the difficulty of engaging a type founder to go to
Travancore & from his journey thither: & that, even if it were, the object of obtaining a
substantially better font of types–of aiding to establish a uniform typography in a language
which is printing is nearly new- & of avoiding to give circulations & permanency to incorrect
form of letters-are well worth it.

Resolved accordingly to wait till the College Board have finally determined upon the
form of the printed alphabet: than to apply for an exact copy of the characters from which
their new type are to be cut, & to have a fount cast from them at the Mission House at Madras
and sent to Travancore.

Copy of this resolution to be furnished to the Missionaries at Cotym”

The second evidence is from a book by a visitor named Col James Welsh, a military
officer. Col Welsh who arrived in Kottayam on 6 December, 1824, speaks thus of Bailey’s
endeavours:

“Mr. Bailey had the management of the Malayalum or Native printing and the types
were actually made in his own house. The language being the Native, is, of course,
principally required for the great body of the Syrians; and I not only saw the whole process of
casting, cleaning, and fitting the types, performed by a silversmith, armourer and carpenter,
but on proceeding to the printing office, had several copies of the Lord’s prayer struck off for
me and placed in my journal”.

Another important record is the report that Marmaduke Thompson sent to his Mother
Committee after having visited Kottayam. It is mentioned in the report that Thompson
visited Kottayam ‘in the winter of 1824’. Although the exact time of the visit is not known, it
can be inferred that the visit was during September– November months, from the hint about
the writer. That is, just before the visit of Col Welsh. Thompson mentioned his visit to
Kottayam in the report he sent to the Home Committee, quite sometime after his return to
Madras. So, in the Annual Report, a mention of what he saw in person as well as the details
he could gather through correspondences, made after his visit, are included. The report in the
‘CMS Proceedings’ follow-

“The printing office appears to be well and substantially built. It consists of two large
rooms: one of these is sufficient for the easy working of four presses, and for all the
necessary types and apparatus; and the other, which is of equal size, receives all the paper and
other stores, and furnishes conveniences for book binding. The whole is enclosed with a
rather deep verandah; one end of which is, at present, formed into a dwelling for the Native
Printer, and the other end may be quite, sufficient for the Type foundry. The situation is
elevated and dry.

Mr. Bailey’s proceedings in this department ought to be put on record. How very
faulty the Malayalim Types were, the committee have long known. Hopeless of anything
better, at least for a long time to come, Mr. Bailey, without ever having seen a Type Foundry
or its apparatus of any kind, eager to get some portion of the Scriptures and some other works
respectably printed as soon as possible, set himself to endeavour to form his own types, with
such aid as he could find from books alone and from common workmen. He had recourse
chiefly to the Encyclopedia Britannica; and with the instructions which he derived from this
and another smaller work or two; a common carpenter and two silversmiths, it is pleasant to
report, that he succeeded so completely, that, some months ago, he sent a specimen of his
types, in print, to the Resident, whose reply to Mr. Bailey’s letter sent with them, I have seen
in the following terms:

‘Accept of my best thanks, for the specimen of the new types, which you have been so
kind to send me. The print is extremely beautiful and correct and reflects much credit on
your zeal and industry’.

The sight of this machinery and of the means, by which he has accomplished all, was
very gratifying to me. He counted upon being able to prepare a sufficiency of types for the
printing of the whole Scriptures, in little more than a quarter of a year.
 Besides the correctness and beauty of his types, noticed by Col Newall he has reduced
than in size that we can now print at one half of the cost of the old types. We can print in
Malayalim in Cotym, at the price of Tamil printing in Madras.

I have to conclude my Report with the welcome intelligence of a permanent reduction

in the expense of printing, involving another little interesting circumstance in connexion with
Mr Bailey. The printer sent from Madras we are obliged to dismiss. In the meantime, a
youth, adopted some years ago by Mr Bailey as a destitute orphan child, had acquired the art
of printing sufficiently to succeed as Head Printer, to which office we appointed him on a
salary of seven rupees per month. This little incident adds singularly to the completeness of
Mr Bailey’s work in the Edition of the Malayalam Scriptures, to issue from our press, we
trust, in a short time. The translation is entirely his own, the types formed by himself from
the very mould and the printing to be executed by an orphan boy, reared up by his charity.

Along with the above records, it is useful to go through a report on that Bailey had
been sent.

‘Mr Bailey, who conducts the PRESS, has been much occupied, during the last year
in the preparation of Malayalim Types and he has now a sufficient number ready to enable
him to commence printing. Nearly a thousand punches had been cut. And considerably more
than another thousand would be requisite in order to a complete fount. He writes on this
subject–It cannot, of course, be expected that these types will be quite so correct and
beautiful as we wish to have them; as it is the first attempt to cut and cast types here, and
particularly as the persons employed in cutting them had no previous experience in the art. In
order to give the new types a trial we propose striking off a few copies of a small tract. The
first regular work that will be printed with them will, I hope, be the New Testament.

‘That more means are required for the greater efficiency of the Press, will be seen
from Mr Bailey’s remarks.

Mr Thompson kindly promised to endeavour to get as experienced printer sent out

from England and I hope he will be able to succeed, as such a person would be a most
valuable acquisition to this Mission. We require another Press or two, as we shall have
abundance of work for them when we begin to print the Scriptures. Mr Bailey’s time has
been so much occupied with the preparation of the Malayalim Types, that he has been unable
to pay the same attention as before to the translation of the Scriptures, as appears from his
remarks with reference to this subject:-

The revision of the Malayalim Translation of the Scriptures has not occupied so much
of my time during the past twelve months as before...

In 1824, Bailey was engaged in two other important activities connected with
printing.

One: The printing of Sermon on the Mount, Pastoral letter, The Gospel According to St
Mathew and Cheru Pathangalkku Upakarartham Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal using the
specimen types received from Madras.

Two: The making of a set of new Malayalam Fonts, rectifying the deficiencies of the
defective types from Madras. Before the arrival of the press and the Madras Font, though
kept very busy by many activities and with the heavy responsibility of running the Mission
Centre on his shoulders, Bailey spent about four or five hours a day translating the Bible. But
when he turned to making the Malayalam fonts, he even postponed the translation work. It
was after a long struggle and hard work for over a year that Bailey was able to design new
Malayalam types, laying the firm foundation of Malayalam Typography.

The following are what can be inferred from the above information.

a) Madras Fort St George College sent the specimens of the Malayalam types made there, to
many philologists in Kerala, of whom Benjamin Bailey was one. He was one of the two who
sent quite a long letter each, to Fort St George College, expressing their difference of opinion
regarding the types they had received. (The other was Mr. F. Spring.) Fort St. George
College had prepared 349 types. Bailey pointed out that 89 of them needed to be changed.
The depth of Bailey’s knowledge in this field is evident from this. Based on these letters of
dissension, the Madras Fort College approved the facts regarding the changes to be made in
the types and this was placed before the College Board for their consideration.

b) In 1824, Madras Fort College sent specimen fonts to Kottayam asking for suggestions for
effecting changes, if needed, after a careful study of the types. But, the Kottayam
Missionaries never responded.
c) Bailey thought of making a perfect, flawless series of fonts in Kottayam itself and wrote to
the corresponding committee to send a type–founder to Kottayam for this purpose.

d) Because no decision was taken by the Fort College regarding the changes to be made in
the Malayalam types and because it was felt that the Madras Fort St George College could
make better types more efficiently than elsewhere, with the elaborate aids available then in
type founding within easy access, the committee decided not to send any type founder to
Kottayam.

e) Bailey submitted to the Corresponding Committee another request for a type founder,
considering the months slipping by, without any favourable steps being taken by the
committee. He had, in his request, appealed to the Committee for a reply at their earliest.
That Bailey had decided to make types in Kottayam without delay, irrespective of the
Committee’s decision, is obvious from his request for an early reply from the committee,
incurring no delay.

f) When the request for a type founder came before the committee again, the Secretary
prepared a memorandum to be submitted to the committee to make them aware of the exact
circumstances prevailing in the Fort St George College, regarding type-making. In the
memorandum submitted by the Secretary in the meeting of the Corresponding Committee on
7 January, 1824, details from a letter to the secretary, sent the previous week by the
Malayalam Translation, put in charge of Malayalam Type founding by the College Board,
were included.

g) Based on the details in the letter from the Malayalam translator mentioned earlier, the
Madras Corresponding Committee took the following decisions: Since the form and shape of
Malayalam letters, decided upon by the Fort St George College with all the elaborate
facilities and aids at its disposal, would be better than those of the Malayalam letters made by
Bailey all by himself, in their acceptability and comprehensibility. Even if a type founder
were to be sent to Kottayam, he would have to mould types there, after the design made by
the Fort St George College. Under these conditions, types could be made in Madras, at much
less expense than in Kottayam, where the type founder would have to reach with all the
materials needed like the type founding equipment and the metal needed, entailing greater
expense. Considering these, the Committee decided to wait for the decision of the College
Board, even if the Board’s decision regarding whether it should design and make a new series
of Malayalam fonts or to continue making the old specimen types. After this, types would be
cast in the Madras Mission House after the design decided upon by the Board and then sent to
Kottayam. The Corresponding Committee instructed that a copy of this decision be sent to
the Missionaries at Kottayam.

h) On knowing that the Corresponding Committee’s decision taken on 7 Jan, 1824 was
unfavourable, Bailey began his attempts to make types by himself without further delay. He
had already formed an idea as to the design of the Malayalam types (see Para ‘a’)

i) Literally, a blend of art and adventure became evident in Bailey’s endeavour from then on.
He had to see to making the types appear elegant and to make them along typographic lines
for making the matter printed using them, attractive. But he lacked the technology for
moulding types–and also, experienced workers. It was at this juncture that Bailey turned
adventurous and that made him attempt an extraordinary experiment that could be considered
an ideal action considering the time and the circumstances. And that was, resorting to certain
indigenous techniques to achieve his ends. He had no idea of the technology of moulding
metal types and not even the faintest notion of metallurgy. The type from Madras could not
be melted, for they were in use in printing. With the help of a blacksmith and a silversmith
and using their knowhow and his own knowledge from reading, Bailey succeeded in making
his Malayalam types. He chose silver for making the types. Since he knew nothing of the
ways for making an alloy of lead, antimony and tin with the result that all his early types
were of silver. But regrettably, his successors did not care to preserve at least a single one, for
posterity.

j) Though there was ample space in the Press, Bailey did the casting of types at his residence
for two reasons. One: Bailey’s type-making was an unofficial activity and was contrary to
the decision of the Corresponding Committee. Two: Bailey was sceptical as to the results of
his efforts since his technology, as he knew, was in its nascent stage and as there was no
assurance of a successful culmination to his efforts, he was very reluctant in attracting
publicity.
k) The first stage of Bailey’s Malayalam-type-making was already over, when Col James
welsh visited Kottayam in December, 1824. He had made about a thousand punches–letters
chiselled in steel. Using these, he printed minor materials such as the Lord’s Prayer. He sent a
copy of it to his ‘local guardian’ Col Newall, the then Resident of Travancore. Probably,
Bailey had thought that by winning the Resident’s approval and recognition, he could stave
off controversies and other related problems.

l) There are four important techniques in Printing, other than type-making, such as printing-
press making, type-setting, printing and binding. Bailey mastered the last three and instructed
his helpers in them before making types. The last one-, printing-press-making, Bailey did
later.

m) After printing the minor works like the Lord’s Prayer, Bailey printed a few copies of a
tract using his newly made types, as a trial. Printing of the New Testament was the major job
Bailey undertook, using the new metal types. Thus the first to be printed and published after
the types were made ready was St Mathew’s Gospel and the Gospels came to be printed one
after the other, later.

Bailey-Type and Typography.

There were three different kinds of indigenous scripts prevalent in Kerala, at the time
when the missionaries arrived. They were Vettezhuthu, Kolezhuthu and Malayanma.
Kolezhuthu and Malayanma were variants of Vettezhuthu and they were current in the
Cochin– Malabar area and south Travancore, respectively. With the increasing influence of
Sanskrit, the Arya Script or the Grandha script, gained popularity. Grandha script was used
by Brahmins in South India for writing Sanskrit and Prakrutham. With the Arya Script
gaining importance, Vettezhuthu slowly got side tracked, for it was incapable of expressing a
good number of phonemes. The Grandha Script was used, as it could represent Sanskrit
letters which could not be done by Vettezhuthu. With the growth of Manipravala, Literature
(literary works written in a curious mix of Sanskrit and Malayalam) the Grandha Script
gained acceptance and with Ezhuthaschan’s masterpieces, it gained wider popularity. The
missionaries, from the time of their arrival in Kerala, used Grandhaksharam script for writing
and later, for printing. “The Canons of the Synods of Diampore of the 16th and 17th
centuries, the Rules and Bye-laws of Ross, the Milan Papers and the Thirukural translations
were in the Arya Script” (P.J. Thomas, 1989:348) Samkshepavedartham Alphabetum
Grandhonica Malabaricum and Bombay Courier Bible (Ramban Bible) were in
Grandhaksharam Script that had a rather squarish finish. Grandha Lipi or the Arya Script,
which was widespread throughout South India, had a long history of evolution. “The period
of time up to the 9th century is regarded as the mid period of Grandha Lipi... from AD 1300
onwards, the script underwent more changes. This may be termed ‘the modern age of the
Grandha Script’. The Script had a squarish form and also a roundish one. The squarish shape
was given to the script by the Brahmins of Thanjavoor, while the roundish form was retained
by the Jains of Arcot. The Script used in Kerala was mostly the squarish one.

The Casting of Malayalam types is more complex, compared to the English, Tamil
and Sanskrit types since the Malayalam alphabet is constituted not by phonemes but by
letters. All the speech sounds in Tamil and Sanskrit are found in Malayalam and hence the
greater number of letters in Malayalam. The fact that the sub-scripts could not be separated
from the scripts, made the problem more complex. “To print the Samkshepavedartham, it
took 1128 types” (P.J. Thomas, 1989:350). This statement shows how complex the making of
Malayalam types was. It is said that Bailey cut about a thousand punches in the early stages.
Upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers, symbols–altogether about a hundred types are
enough to print in English. Knowledgeable persons on the subject say that despite the
reduction in number, in later times, of the Malayalam types, effected by the various
improvements and the resulting changes that were made from time to time, Malayalam type-
casting and type-corrections were still formidable propositions. About 600 types were needed
to print all the different consonant compound letters and the symbols that stood for the
various vowels, not counting another 200 types more for representing complex double letters.
Casting types for all these letters, typesetting and running the hand over the square pockets in
the racks holding all the various types, to pick the right one for composing, was indeed, a
formidable, mind-boggling task. The reason that printing errors have come to stay with
Malayalam Printing, is this” (A.D. Harisarma, 1967:149).

In the article ‘Malayalam Printing’ published in AD 1894, Kandathil Varghese

Mappila had written about the exacting difficulties and problems in making Malayalam types.
That being the case, the efforts and attempts that Bailey made in 1824, seven decades prior to
1894, are incredible, to say the least, for they are truly beyond words! It is interesting to note,
that when the efforts made in the Quilon LMS Press to make Malayalam types failed, they
appealed to Bailey for help (W. S. Hunt, 1968:134).
 There were three different makes of metal types, before Bailey began to design and
make Malayalam types. They were the Samkshepavedartham Type, Bombay Courier Bible
Type and the Madras Fort St George Type. Of these, the first two were of the squarish kind
and of the same series. “The courier types though slightly bigger, were not very different
from the ones made in Rome”(K.M. Govi, 1998:98). The Madras Fort St George types were
of a different series, made with changes in the Bombay Courier type. When both are
subjected to a close scrutiny, the differences between the two varieties and also, the
similarities, become clear. There are changes made in the structure and in the shape. The
Samkshepavedartham types have their type phase narrower than the type body. So, the
shoulder space of the types are more and in printing, it results in leaving gaps or space
between the letters. But in the case of the Madras Fort St George types, the breadths of the
type face and the type-body are almost the same. So, in printing, it leaves no space between
letters. There are substantial differences between the Madras Fort St George types and
Samkshepavedartham types in their shape. Fort St George types lacked the squarish shape
which the Samkshepavedartham type had, but they haven’t altogether left out the squarish
shape, either. In the attempt to retain the resemblance between the script ‘F’ and its subscript
‘s’, the subscript got bigger and a change of shape resulted. The forms of the subscripts of
‘C' and ‘Cu' ( n ) and ( o ) were reformed in the Fort St George types. Though they were
reformed, the subscripts were not cast independently. That is what K.M. Govi and others
argue, but the facts are different. For, the minor changes made in the structure and shapes of
types, create the illusion that the style of letters has changed in printing. One of the cardinal
points of typography, is to standardize the size of the type in terms of typographic points.
Attempts on these lines had been made in the Samkshepavedartham types, not in Madras Fort
St George College types. That was the main defect in the Madras Fort types. The defects
regarding the shape of types are secondary to this. Yet, Fort St George types do maintain an
advancement as regards the shape of many letters. The vowels /e/ and /a:/ are examples. The
types designed at the Fort St George College, appear better. Though Bailey accepted this
shape later, the form he gave to the above vowels, was similar to that of the
Samkshepavedartham types. Bailey did not accept the Fort St George College types at first,
due to the defects in their making and structure, as already pointed out. What Bailey tried to
correct in his types were also these defects. It is when he designed the Malayalam types, with
his insight into the basics of typography, that the astute and sagacious typographer in Bailey
is revealed. It is because of this, that, in spite of the growth and expansion of the printing
industry in Kerala, the types designed by Bailey did not need to be changed nor could they be
replaced with better ones. And, there is another fact to be noted. The CMS Corresponding
Committee had observed that the types made by the Madras Fort St George College, though
defective, would survive Time, through printing. But the metal types Bailey made, came to be
firmly established, through the extensive printing and publishing he had undertaken, in later
years. It was also Bailey, who had supplied the types, needed for the many presses that came
into being after the CMS Press. Whatever Malayalam types came to be made in later years,
they were made after the model of Bailey’s types, which had gained wide acceptance.

There were three defects in the Malayalam types made and supplied by the Madras
Fort St George College.

a) The number of types were rather limited. 1128 types were made for the
Samkshepavedartham and in their place, the Madras Fort St George College managed with
349. The expression ‘defective in number’ that appears in the statement ‘Madras Fort St
George College types were defective in number and form’ seems to have been
misunderstood by K.M. Govi as ‘the difficulty resulting from too many types’. “Bailey did
not like the shape and the large number of these types. He felt these types lacked elegance
and appeal. He must have experienced practical difficulties and other related problems in
printing with these” (K.M. Govi, 1998:113). By the end of 1824, finally, Bailey made ready
thousand punches, for the initial stage of printing. This was not to reduce the number of
letters, but to overcome the shortage of types for printing.

b) The length of the types, vertically, was not uniform and it varied from type to type
with the result that the printed letters would be like the letters copied by a copyist, not in a
straight line as they should be. This was because the types were cast without any idea of
typography.

c) There were defects in the form of the types: Bailey had instructed that changes be
made in 89 of the 349 types made at Madras Fort St George College. Of the changes
suggested by Bailey, Mr Levin and Mr F. Spring upheld 30 suggestions. It is clear from this
that the types had serious defects.

Bailey designed a new type font and made a new series of Malayalam types,
correcting the flaws of the Madras Fort St George College Types.
 By making the fonts for all the types required in Malayalam printing, Bailey
overcame the first shortcoming.

Printing is considered an art and an adventure and the artistic element in printing is
decided by the typographic design. “Around 1737, Simmone Pirre Fornier, standardized the
size of type through Typographic Points. It was done by dividing the type body equally with
precision, on the basic units of ‘points’. This enables the comparison of the differences and
similarities, in the measures of types of different sizes” (P.M. Viswanath, 1974:46).

Bailey conceived a typographic structure for Malayalam letters, which would give the
vowels, consonants and compound letters, the same vertical length and a proportionate
horizontal one. This could not have been from his knowledge of Simmone Pierre Fornier’s
Typographic points or following his method consciously. On the contrary, it could have been
that he was merely following the structure of the English types used in printing. He fixed a
‘base line’ for Malayalam letters, as in the case of English letters and classified them as
‘ordinary’, ‘high’ and ‘low’ and fixed their position, correlated to the baseline. At the same
time, he avoided the differentiations such as ‘main stroke’ and ‘substroke’, which English
printing followed and marked all letters with a line of uniform thickness. Just as the decision
to give Malayalam letters a perfectly rounded shape, this Bailean step also proved to be a
boon that decided the singular nature of Malayalam letters.

Though Bailey went the way of the English letters in the matter of the structure of
Malayalam letters, he took his own decision regarding the way Malayalam letters were to be
imprinted. If the form of Malayalam letters were designed with thick and thin lines, it would
have disfigured the resulting printed matter. When letters were given a typographic structure
and types were made following this structure, the types came to be standardized. When
letters, with the least ‘height’ or vertical length like Ra (d), Na (\) and Tha (X), were
regarded as ‘ordinary’ letters and also as the standard for size and structure, it became
possible to arrange letters, other than the ‘ordinary ones’, either above or below the level of
the ‘ordinary’ letters. Along with that, it was possible to avoid the problem of letters not
getting arranged perfectly along a straight line, because of the difference in the up and down
or vertical lengths. In other words, Bailey gave a scientific typographic structure to
Malayalam letters and thereby, he was able to make new metal types for Malayalam printing,
avoiding the defects of the Madras Fort St George College types.
 The third defect of the Fort St George College types was the defect in their shape.
Most of the Samkshepavedartham Types were squarish in form and a few of them were
shaped round, while the Fort St George ones were mostly rounded and the rest squarish in
shape. This ‘neither there nor here’ phenomenon caused an inconsistency regarding their
form. Moreover, some of them were deformed too, as exemplified by the subscript ‘s’ of the
script ‘F’. The inner curl of ‘s’ in the Madras Fort St George College was shifted to the
right and that naturally made it bigger. Bailey moved the curl to the left in his type and it
appeared smaller and elegant. It is to be noted that the square shape of the types was not the
reason for their deformity. Behind the deformity of the Madras Fort College types there were
many such reasons, as given above.

“The first principle that a typographer should conform to, is legibility”. To Bailey too,
legibility was paramount in designing types, Legibility demands a standard structure and
form, free from defects and differences. A significant thing that Bailey did in this regard, was
to give a perfectly rounded form to the square letters of the Courier Bible that got stuck half
way in their attempt to assume the round shape of the types of the Madras Fort College.
Along with that, he gave the misshapen letters a definite form, by making them also, perfectly
round in shape. The comment of Prof. S Gupthan Nair: “There is doubt that the elegance of
Malayalam letters is in their roundness” is significant (1986:108).

“It must be because of the grace of the script and the elegance in its printing that
Malayalam has not moved away from Bailey’s design of Scripts”, so points out Dr Skaria
Zachariah (P.J. Thomas, 1989: 356).

The expression “very elegant, round letters” refer to ‘legibility’ and nothing else.
Bailey also gave importance to making them proportionate. A comparison of the letters ‘U'
and ‘k' of the font of Fort St George College with those of the font that Bailey made, is
convincing in this regard.

Mr Marmaduke Thompson, Secretary to the Corresponding Committee who gave a

detailed report of the endeavours of Bailey records: “ Besides the correctness and beauty of
his types, noticed by Col Newall, he has so reduced them in size that we can now print, at one
half of the cost of old types” (‘CMS proceedings’, 1825:134).
 Bailey, not only gave a roundness to the Malayalam types, freeing them of their
deformities, he had also reduced the cost of printing by half, by casting types of letters made
smaller; thereby making the printing industry efficient and popular. Bailey must have felt
boundless joy and a tremendous amount of satisfaction on reading, when he saw it printed,
the above letter from Marmaduke Thompson to the CMS Corresponding Committee who had
once refused to send a typographer to Kottayam despite repeated requests and who had
resolved to let the fate of Malayalam Printing to be decided in Madras. What Bailey
achieved, without even once seeing a foundry, let alone a gadget or an equipment or
whatever, for printing, was something unique, something legendary, something of historic
dimensions.

Dr Skaria Zachariah and Mr K. M. Govi have made profound studies regarding the
history of printing and who have written remarkable books on it, have given the opinion that
Bailey had made efforts to reduce the number of Malayalam types. Dr Skaria Zachariah on
this topic says: “More important than giving a change of shape, was the reduction in the
number of types brought about by Bailey, through freeing the subscripts of the vowel
symbols ( n ) and ( o ) from their respective scripts so that the number of types dropped to a
mere 500” (P.J. Thomas, 1989:356).

“………because he made separate types for the subscritpts ( n ) and ( o ) of vowels

such as ‘C’ and ‘Cu’, the number of types came down to 500” (K.M. Govi, 1988:114). But a
close scrutiny of typography proves these observations incorrect. In the Samkshepavedartham
and Courier Bible, the vowel subscript for ‘ n ’ without a curl in its bend and subscript for
‘o’with a curl in its bend denoting the vowels ‘i’ (short) and ‘/i:/’ (long) were placed over
their respective consonant script (In the Madras Fort College types the subscripts were,
placed as ascending letters by the right side of the respective consonants to effect their
pronounciation. In his typographic design, these were retained as ascending or raised and
their top parts or the ‘heads’ were made smaller and made uniform in size. (In the Madras
Fort College Types this head portion was given different shapes). The above mentioned
scholars, misunderstanding the changes, thought that Bailey had made the subscripts
independent by making them separate types. If separate types are to be made, the type must
have its own type body. In types with separate type bodies (except letters without kern), the
typefaces do not project beyond the type body. But in the Madras Fort St George College
types, and in Bailey’s types the subscripts ‘ n ’ and ‘o’ project beyond the shoulder of the type
into its type body. From this, it is obvious that the letter or the main script and its subscript
have been moulded together. In other words, the subscript ‘ n ’ and ‘o’ lack independent
bodies. Saying that they were cast as kern letters for the sake of an argument, does not sound
true. The kern of the kern-letters does not pass the shoulder of the letter. If it does, then the
difficulty for the types to remain close to each other and the chances for the types to break
will be more. In the Fort St George College types and the Bailey types, the head portions of
the subscripts of ‘ n ’ and ‘o’ project beyond the shoulders of their respective scripts.
Moreover, these subscripts, which are used extensively, are not cast as letters with kern. In
most types to which these subscripts are placed with, the head of the subscripts touch the
main scripts. This indicates that these types were made after having been punch-cut together
and the fonts prepared. Comparing the independently cast subscripts of ‘a:’ and ‘e’ with the
subscripts ‘s’ and ‘m’ will make the difference clear. In short, the subscripts ‘n’ and ‘o’ of
scripts ‘C’ and ‘Cu' are not independent types. If they were, indeed, Bailey would not have
had to cut a thousand punches, as the first stage.
 CHAPTER 3

Malayalam Book Publishing and

the first Malayalam Book Published in Kerala

With the establishment of the first Malayalam press in Kerala by Benjamin

Bailey, the road was open for the publication of Malayalam books. Book-publishing was
his intention in establishing the press–publishing the Malayalam Bible. The printing done
in Kerala before the advent of Bailey, as is known now, was in Tamil. The first Book
Published in Kerala was Doctrina Christum Enlingua Malabar Tamul (1578) This was
printed at Kollam, in Tamil. The second book was also a Doctrina Christa printed at
Kochi in 1579 at the Mother of God Press, in Tamil. The third book Confessionario was
also in Tamil. Another book, believed by the historians to have been printed at Kochi is
Flos Sanctorum by Fr Henricus. “Since the frontispiece and the first few pages of the only
copy of the book, left in Vatican, are missing, it is not possible to say with authority
where it was printed. However, Graham Shaw in his South Asia Bibliography puts the
book as printed at Kochi” (K.M. Govi, 1998: 41).

Malayalam Book Publishing: Overseas

Attempts had been made outside Kerala to print and publish Malayalam
books, before Benjamin Bailey began printing in Kerala. The book that is often regarded
as the first one printed abroad is the Hortus Malabaricus (Horte Malabarici ). Published
between 1678 and 1693 in 12 Volumes of foolscap size, Hortus Malabaricus describes
the plants and trees of Kerala with the help of about 8000 pictures. The botanical names
are given in Arabic, Latin, Sanskrit and Malayalam. Two reports by Itty Achuthan who
assisted the author in writing the Hortus Malabaricus are in the book. Of these, one is in
the ‘Vattezhu script’ and the other is in the Malayalam script (K.M .Govi, 1998:88). In
this Latin book there are two statements in Malayalam: One by Itty Achuthan and the
other by the interpreter of the Dutch company, Emmanuel Carnairov and there are also a
few names of plants in Malayalam. Despite all these entries in Malayalam, the book has
no place in the history of Malayalam Book Publishing.

Another book, in the printing of which, Malayalam types were used

only partially, in the Alphabetum Grandanico Malabaricum sive Samscrudonium. This
book by Clement Piyaniyoos is in Latin.

In the light of the available data Samkshepavedartham emerges as the first book in
the history of Malayalam Book Publishing. This was written by the Italian padre Clement
Piyaniyoos residing at the Varapuzha Carmelite Monastery and printed and published in
1772 in the multilingual press in Rome. A facsimile of the transliterated copy of the book
was jointly published by DC Books and Carmel Publishing Centre Trivanrum, along
with its translation and interpretation the full name of the book is Compendiosa Legis
Explanatio Omnibus Christianis Scitu Necessaria, the book is commonly known as
Cumbenti, an abbreviation of the first word in its Latin name.

The contents of Samkshepavedartham is given at the end of the

book. “A short note of the contents of this book” is given in pages 269-276. “The
divisions of the contents are made as groups, lessons and cantos. The book is in the form
of a dialogue between a teacher and his student. The topics discussed touch the Cardinal
principles and faith of Christianity and spirituality. The mystery of creation, life after
death, the mystery of the Trinity and incarnation, mark of the cross, the Lord’s Prayer,
doctrines of Christianity, the seven sacraments, purity and sinfulness, vespers etc. are
explained by the author in their totality in a very easy-to-understand manner”. (Chummar
Choondal, 1980: 13)

The printing of Samkshepavedartham is excellent. In the book 21cms long

and 14cms wide, with forums each with 16 pages, there are 276 pages. It in rather
interesting to note that books published today are usually in demy 1/8 which was the
same for the Samkshepavedartham. The title page is the first page. The book’s title is
printed in Latin and Malayalam, that the book’s language is Malayalam, is printed in
Latin. The year of publishing is given in Malayalam and Roman figures. The place of
publication is given in Latin and Malayalam. That the publication has official approval, is
given in Latin and Malayalam. These are on the title page. In addition, there is also a
beautiful picture printed on it.The next page–‘half title page’, in modern terms–has only
the legend Samkshepavedartham on it. The text begins on the first page and on this,
before the text, are the Sanskrit words ‘Sarveshwaraye Nama’, a prayer to God. Thus,
three languages, Malayalam, Latin and Sanskrit, appear in this book.

From then on, in one line each is put, one below the other:

Samkshepavedartham, ‘first lesson’, ‘knowledge of God and of our ends’ as subtitles.

Then follows the discourse between the teacher and the student and at the end is given an
errata.

The Second book in the history of Malayalam publication is Centum Adagia

Malabarica (100 proverbs). This was printed in Rome in 1791. “In this, is given 100
proverbs with Latin translation and all these are the popular usages, idioms and
expressions among the Hindus and Christians, says the padre” (P. J.Thomas, 1989:128).
First, the Malayalam adage is given and below that its translation in Latin–it is in this
order that the book is organized. Many contemporary maxims and old adages in the form
of small poems are also included in the collection by the padre.

Malayalam Book Publishing: Attempts Outside Kerala

Though Malayalam printing, the harbinger of Malayalam publishing, had

its origin in Amsterdam, because of the problems prevailing in block-printing, book-
publishing could not thrive and establish itself. Rome was the seat of modern printing
with movable types in those days and the multilingual press there became the cradle of
Malayalam printing and publishing. Though only two Malayalam books were published
from there, it proved to be a very significant event in Malayalam publishing. The next
scene of book-publishing opened in Bombay, India.
 The attempts made outside Kerala to publish Malayalam books, were at
the Courier Press ( Courier printing Office) in Bombay. The East India Company had
presses in Calcutta and Madras but it did not have its own press in Bombay. So, the
printing jobs for the company were done by the Courier press. “It was from this press that
the daily ‘Bombay Courier’ was published. The courier press that collected Roman types
for printing in English, grew into a multilingual press of those days. The press was able to
take advantage of the expertise and know-how of Jiji Bhai Chapker, one of its employees.
The first one to make Malayalam types in India was Chapter (K. M. Govi 1998:82). The
Bombay Presidency Governor tookover Malabar which came under British rule,
according to the treaty of Sree Ranga Pattanam of 1792, along with Mysore (Later,
Malabar came under the Madras Presidency). Malayalam types were made in the Courier
Press with the help of Jonathan Duncan, the Bombay Governor, to print the government
regulations and notice of the Malabar area.

Robert Drummond’s Grammar of the Malabar language (1799) was the first
book printed with the Malayalam types of Courier Press.The Malayalam types were used
for printing such sentences as ‘It wasn’t beneficial to me’ and ‘the father earns bread for
the children’ in Malayalam.This Malayalam Grammar book was printed in English for the
benefit of the officers of the East India Company working in Malabar .Though this book
has significant in the history of Malayalam printing, it cannot be assigned much of
position in the history of Malayalam Publishing.

It was in 1811 that the first book in Malayalam was printed

at the Bombay Courier Press and that book was the Bible, a compilation of the four
Gospels. This was the third book in the history of Malayalam printing. The translation of
the four Gospels into Malayalam with the help of the Malankara Metropolitan Mar
Dionesius I was the result of the persuasive efforts of Claudius Buchanan who visited
Kerala in 1806 and in 1808. Kayamkulam Philipose Ramban, the scholarly priest of the
Syrian Church, translated the Syrian Bible that was widely used in Kerala. Buchanan took
a handwritten copy to Bombay and had it printed at his own responsibility. This Bible
translation is known by the names Buchanan Bible and Ramban Bible, because of their
involvement in the translation and publishing of this invaluable work. This great book is
also called the Courier Bible, having been printed at the Courier Press.
 The Ramban Bible contains the Gospels according to Mathew, Mark, Luke and
John, the title of the book is printed in English and in Malayalam:

“The New Testament of our lord Jesus Christ Translated into the Malayalam part I
Containing the Four Gospels, Bombay printed at Courier Press 1811”.

This book has 564 pages sized 26x19. Though it belongs to the
Samkshepavedartham model, the types used are slightly big, squarish ones. An errata is
also given. In short, like the Samkshepavedartham, ‘the layout’ of the Ramban Bible can
be said to be scientific .

Though the initial stage of Malayalam printing and publishing is historically quite
significant, the output was rather on the ‘one or two’ counts, in fact it was more on the
meagre and nominal side.

Initially, printing in Kerala was done in Tamil. And, the printing and publishing of
books were, then, done outside Kerala. During the four decades, AD 1772 to AD 1811,
only three books were published–Samkshepavedartham, A Hundred Proverbs and the
Ramban Bible. Also, the copies of these books were limited .The books for ordinary
reading were Samkshepavedartham and the Ramban Bible. Even these two could not have
been of much use, for, most of the people were illiterate. Because of these reasons,
neither the initial stage of publishing in Malayalam nor the first books, could make any
difference in Kerala even on a lesser scale unlike the tremendous explosion of ideas and
knowledge which printing and publishing had brought to the rest of the world at large.

When Benjamin Bailey established the CMS Press in Kottayam the

hallowed moment in the history of printing and publishing in this part of the world was
marked. The variety and the volume of the books and the printed materials, printed at
CMS press by Benjamin Bailey, was amazing.

The copies, written by scribes, of the works, translated by missionaries, were

distributed in advance in the churches and among the people.

Public reading of these were held in different parts of the land; education was
similarly popularized widely through college, grammar school and the schools attached to
churches. Thus, reading and listening to reading, made the people to take an interest in
reading books and periodicals published by Benjamin Bailey. When printed materials
became available, the eagerness and interest to read them increased in the society. Thus
quiet and unobtrusive efforts were made in the society to create in people the reading
habit as a prelude to book publishing .

Benjamin Bailey and Book Publishing in Malayalam

For book publishing to thrive, in any language, a congenial technical and social
condition is required. The technical condition is one where books are available for
reading inexpensively. Printing, the mechanized form of the handicraft of copyists, made
possible the mass production of materials for reading. The social condition congenial to
book publishing is the keenness that people show in buying books to read. The
missionaries had prepared the ground for book publishing, through providing formal
education and through various casual educational activities. The observation of Dr. Robin
Geoffrey in this regard is significant.

“ … in the 1820s the missionaries introduced English Education. They made available
printed books in Malayalam” (1979:43). Benjamin Bailey began to print and publish
books when the time was ripe, with the social ambience and technical conditions,
congenial.

The first printing press arrived on 18 October , 1821 from England. By 1824, Bailey
cast his self-styled types. When one press proved to be insufficient, he made a new one in
1827. In 1828 he got down two more presses from Bombay. By 1828 Bailey’s ‘Press
office’ was fully equipped. During the two following decades, he published an amazingly
long line of books—religious and secular. A complete list of books, published during this
time, is not available. The available details themselves are enough to give an idea of the
magnitude of Bailey’s book publishing.

The book that Bailey published, with the utmost importance, is the Bible. He published
the Biblical books separately the books of the New Testament as one single volume, and
the books of the Old Testament in three separate volumes
 An excerpt from a description by Mr. Pratt about his visit to Kottayam
goes: “40,000 copies, wholly or in parts, have been put in circulation in this country”
(‘Malayalam Mithram’, 11 January, 1905) regarding the Bailey Bible. Of these, many of
the editions have had three thousand or four thousand copies each printed. “ In 1826 the
Gospel of St Luke’s press-copy was made ready. The next year, 5,000 copies were
printed. In 1827 the same number of copies of the Acts of the Apostles were printed.
Press-copies of the rest of the books of the New Testament were ready but since there was
only one press in Kottayam, the printing of the Bible took a long time. (W. H. Dalton,
1854: 25). It was perhaps, owing to this delay and also the delay in getting the necessary
machinery, in addition to the urgency in getting the rest of the Bible and the text books
and other materials printed, that Bailey hazarded to think of making a press himself. Here
is something note worthy: In 1811 only 500 copies of the Ramban Bible were printed
while 5000 copies each of the Acts of the Apostles and St Luke’s Gospel were printed. In
1828 various portions of the Gospels and Epistles were printed. In 1829, the printing of
5000 copies of the New Testament books was completed. In 1837, the printing of the five
books (Old Testament: First Part) began. When the printing of the first part was over, the
printing of the second part commenced. In 1840, another 5000 copies of the Epistle to the
Romans were printed. In 1841, 5000 copies of the Old Testament books and 5000 copies
of the Book of Psalms were printed. Each of the three parts of the Old Testament were
printed in 1839, ’40 and ’41 respectively. In 1843, 3000 copies of the Gospels and the
Acts of the Apostles together, were printed using the smaller types and along with it 5000
copies of the same were published, composed with the old types. 2000 copies of the 16th
edition of the proverbs were published. In 1849, 3000 copies each of the Book of Psalms
and the Book of Proverbs were reprinted (W. H. Dalton, 1854:28).

“It is seen that in the Kottayam Press, not only the Bible, but also literary
works in Sanskrit and Malayalam were printed. Mr Hawksworth has reported that in
1860, the Government of Travancore bought books worth Rs 600/- from the press. This
shows that books, other than religious ones, were also printed here. It is not possible for
the lovers of Malayalam to think of the press that has printed Bailey’s Bible and a
Dictionary, Rev George Mathen’s Grammar of Malayanma and Satyavadakhedam Arch
Deacon Koshy’s ‘ Pullelikunju, without gratitude (P. J .Thomas, 1989:297).
 In a note regarding the Kottayam Village Mission and the Church Mission
Press which were under Bailey, Henry Baker (Sr) wrote in 1850 “ … certain Sanskrit
books, the history of the Bible by Watts Pilgrim’s Progress, Question and Answers and a
few Smaller books, have had their printing done here (W.S. Hunt 1968:34). By ‘smaller
books’ he meant tracts. A number of tracts were published from the CMS Press. Though
some were meant to spread Christian principles, there were a good number of tracts
meant to give moral instruction. These tracts played an important role in the people,
especially in leading the youngsters and the Youth along the path of righteousness. Books
were also made later by putting together the tracts. ‘The story of lambs’ that appear in the
book Cheru Paithangalkku Upakarartham Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal is from the
tract ‘Two Lambs’. Cheru Paithangalkku Upakarartham Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal
is the first book in Malayalam Literature for children.

“It goes without saying that English Printing was also done in the CMS
Press. Apart from Bailey’s two Dictionaries, certain reports of the Travancore
Government and a few books on Travancore were also printed at the CMS Press.
Hawksworth Day down [?] in Travancore (1860), Notes [?] on Cochin (1859) etc were
some of the early titles”. Some Historical Notices on Cochin on the Malabar Coast is the
full title. The complier of the book is T. White House. Outlines of the Evidences of
Christianity is a big book written by John Chapman. This book with 448 pages (xxv+424)
was made for use in the ‘Syrian College’.

In the early days of printing, printing and publishing were not two
different things. Both were done by the same person. The printer was also the publisher.
The job of the printer is to give the manuscripts, the form of a book. The publisher is the
entrepreneur who makes a product that passes from hand to hand, beginning with the
author until it becomes a printed book and is ready to reach the readers. But in the early
days, the printer’s jobs like type casting, composing, printing and binding and the
publishers’ jobs like procuring the manuscript, copy-editing, distribution of books… all
were done by the same person. Johan Guttenberg, William Caxton, and Benjamin Bailey
were all printer-publishers. Caxton and Bailey had to be the writers too, in addition to
being the printer and publisher.
 In the early days, the situation of the pioneer who ventured into
book publishing was more or less akin to that of the magician who makes something out
of nothing. But the magician, at least, knew the do’s and don’ts or rather, the ‘ropes’ of
his business. The publisher, on the other hand, was all at sea in his predicament. There
was no prose, no prose works, and no prose writers in fact, nothing to go on with. The
print medium (all other media too) employs prose, all the world over, for communication
of ideas and the dissemination of knowledge. But, in the Malayalam of those days used
for special discourses, there was no developed prose. A refined prose for formal discourse
was lacking in the Malayalam of those days. And, the apology for prose, occasionally
used for formal discourse, found in Royal Decrees, in Bhasha Kautaleeyam by
Kautilyan, ‘aattaprakaaram’, ‘Kramadeepika’, Brahmanda Puranam, Dooda Vakyam ete.
were far removed from the language used by the common people and hence, was unfit for
the exchange of ideas. Had there been a heritage of prose, rich in literature and competent
in the exchange of ideas, before the advent of printing, some of the works mentioned
above, could have been printed. The Bible could have been translated along the lines of
that prose and a new literature for publicizing religion could have been created.
Malayalam prose, under developed through disuse was side tracked by Poetry which
became the only vehicle for literature in the land. In short, Malayalam prose was much
forced to restrict itself to the confines of the spoken language. It remained impossible to
create a world of written prose, as developed as the spoken Malayalam. In a place where
the prose is incompetent to handle the exchange of ideas and enfeebled to bear literature,
prose writings and writers can never be. For Benjamin Bailey who took up the mission of
book publishing, certain things connected with publishing were more challenging and
arduous than making types and printing-machines. And, they were the finding of books
and the making of their press copies.

In the absence of original works, dependence on translations is the

only choice open, for a publisher. Benjamin Bailey did just that. Translation was nothing
new to the CMS missionaries. For, in the mission of the CMS, printing, translation of the
Bible, educational activities, et al, were paramount. Bailey landed in Kerala with the fore-
knowledge regarding translation he had picked up during his missionary training. The two
things entrusted upon him on arrival by John Munro were the superintending of the
College and the translation of the Bible. Munro,Bailey and the Madras corresponding
Committee thought of establishing a press in Kottayam when a part of the translation of
the Bible was ready. There were other translation works, as important as that of the Bible,
to be done. Books for use in the College and schools had to be translated. Also, the
translation of the tracts had to be done along with this.

Translation remains an important means of communication in the cultural

life of mankind as long as different languages and cultures exist. If language is the means
of communication for people of the same speech-community,translation in the means of
communication for people of different speech-communities. When translation is regarded
as the means of communication between two communities different from each other in
their language and culture, it ought to be seen in the wider perspective of being the index
of everything cultural, of the give-and- take of everything and not merely from the narrow
point of view of its being the means for the exchange of literary or scientific concepts. It
is when translation is viewed from such a cultural point of view, not as a mere linguistic
activity, that we begin to recognize the religious, political and social influence behind the
ideas transmitted from one community to another.

Works with a touch of the classic and better cultural values are the ones usually
translated. Translation is not merely the means to make available books in languages,
wherein none are available. Through translation it also provides models for writing basic/
fundamental books. There is nothing unusual in the early books in Malayalam being
translations. In Malayalam poetry the first works were also translations. The very ancient
classic works were the poetic translations of Hindu mythologies. The Rama Charitham of
Chee Raman, The Ramayana, The Maha Bharatha, The Bhagavad Geetha by the
Kannassas, The Krishna Gadha (the re-narration that Cherussery gave the Bhagavatham
in the form of a story in verse form),The Adyathma Ramayanam, Bhagavatham,
Bharatham by Ezhuthachan who gave a poetic language itself to Malayalam through
translation, are examples. The Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilippattu and the Malayalam
Bible belong to Malayalam and thus, to every Malayalee. So, there is no point in
classifying books as basic works (Original Works) and translations, to evaluate then
differently, in varying degrees of importance.
 A separate section, headed by Benjamin Bailey, functioned in the
College for translation alone. When steps were taken to establish the press, Bailey had to
assume its responsibility too. Frequent references to Bailey’s bearing the responsibility
of the translation and the printing sections can be come across in the missionary records.
To get hands who knew both the languages to help Bailey was not easy. So Bailey had to
struggle hard, to learn Malayalam, as in doing the translations. It was only when he had
attained enough proficiency and scholarship in Malayalam that his struggles ended. But,
when printing started and Bailey turned his attention to type casting, translation and
revised editing slowed down. Occassionally, Bailey got the help of certain people in
doing the translation, especially in Bible-translation. Chathu Menon on a monthly pay at
Rs.30- was one of them. There were copyists and helpers apart from Chathu Menon.
Chathu Menon left the work in the press as translator, for a better pay elsewhere but came
back to work again with Bailey when he failed to get what he had hoped for. Bailey got
the help of Prof. Moses Isarphati, professor of Hebrew in the college, in translating the
Bible, especially the Old Testament. He left when his services were no longer required at
the college. Translation and revised editing were done by Bailey. He used to hold
consultations with his fellow missionaries and local scholars regarding translation and
accepted their suggestion and directives. After the publication of the Bible, Bailey was
engaged in the translation, preparing press copies and proof reading of other works.

Bailey’s translation section was comparable to the editorial department of a

modern publishing house. The editorial department is known as the ‘generator’ of the
publishing house. That is because the editorial department supplies the ‘energy’ for all
other sections of the publishing house like, production and marketing. It is the editorial
section that, somehow or other, makes available the manuscripts indispensable for the
survival of the publishing house and makes them ready for printing. Bailey and his
associates worked very hard in making printed books through translation. Bailey was
publisher and author, rolled in one.

To a publisher, selling or distributing the books are equally important as

finding the right books for printing and publishing. It should also be possible to publish
books easily. In a society dominated by scribal culture, the interest to hear is more than
the interest for reading. (Reading the sacred poetical works at temples and in the
residence of the nobility are examples). Those able to read would be less in number. The
Bible being a voluminous book, to print and publish it as a whole was difficult,
considering the technology available then. As a publisher, Bailey had to face quite a
number of such difficulties and, he adopted certain remedies.

The various books in the Bible were published individually in the

beginning and so were other works like Watt’s Book of Questions and Answers. At a later
stage, he published them all together as one. (Example: New Testament, 1829.) He made
readers and the clergy read in public and in the churches respectively. He distributed the
Biblical books free of cost with the help of the Bible society. These freebie books
encouraged reading among the people and this continued till 1840, after which, a small
token –price was levied to instill the feeling that books are not exactly cheap.

Bailey followed the style of making the first page the Title Page.
Half- page, copy right page etc were not printed then. On the title page name of the book,
the author’s name or the original books name, name of the press (CMS Press or church
mission press). Name of the place (Kottayam), the year of publication etc. But there was
no order in showing the language of printing–English or Malayalam. In the New
Testament printed in 1829, there are two title pages with the same contents–one in
English and the other in Malayalam. In the dictionaries, the title page was in English. In
Watt’s Book of Questions and Answers, the title page was in Malayalam. Depending on
their importance, the title pages were given a beautiful layout by printing then with types
of different sizes and with varying point size.

The First work: Cheru Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna

Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal

In the year of Our Lord, 1824, the book printed at Kottayam is the Cheru
Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal. “Until
(George ) Irumbayam wrote his essay on this book, the New Testament was regarded as
the first Malayalam book printed in Kerala” (K.M. Govi 1988:109). In 1824 the only
printing press in Kottayam was the Church Mission Press. There is evidence to show that
printing had started in the Church Mission Press from 1828. Therefore that Cheru
Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal was printed
at Kottayam Church Missionary Press is indisputable “As far as it could be made out, the
first book printed in Malayalam and the first book in Malayalam literature for children, is
this work” (George Irumbayan, 1981:115). All of the contents of this book Cheru
Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal are
translation from English, for children. In 1824, the book was published for children but
nor for all children at large but it was in intended for use only by students of school and
the college, established by the missionaries. There are hints in the book itself, regarding
this. In the story ‘The History of Edward VI’, after concluding the story at the end of the
fifth chapter, there is an appeal by the narrator. In that appeal, the narrator addresses the
reader as ‘student’, one who studies is of course, a student, (“So student, do as you are
told…”)

The Kottayam Missionary Trio made a division of labour for their

convenience and according to this the responsibility of translation was Bailey’s. It was
Bailey who did the translation works and supervised it. At the time when the translation
of Cheru Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal
was made, the missionaries in Kottayam-Henry Baker (Sr)’Joseph Fenn–apart from
examining the translation and giving their opinions, never interfered with the translation
work in any way. Moreover, they had their own share of the heavy responsibilities and
duties. So as in the case of other translations, made by Bailey, he himself did the
translation, the proofreading, making of the press copy, printing and publishing of this
work. ‘The story of Two Lambs’ that appears in the collection of stories, is one of the
works mentioned in the missionary records as having been translated by Bailey in the
early days. This story is long enough to be published as a small book by itself, This and
the other stories in the collection, must have been published individually as tracts. It must
be assumed that all the stories must have been printed and put together as a book, for use
in schools and the college

The translator has, on two occasions, used the original words

themselves for want of the exact corresponding words in the Malayalam translation. The
translator was at a loss for words in the story of ‘Theophilos and Sophia’. Sentences on
page 150 has the English words ‘paradise’ and ‘genesis’ in two places and the words are
transliterated in Malayalam, obviously for want of equivalent Malayalam words. From
this, it is obvious that the translator has a better command of English and that it hints at
the fact that the translator is not a Malayali, but an Englishman. From these details, it can
be surmised that the translator of Cheru Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna
Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal is an English missionary, possibly, Bailey himself”. This
observation by G. Irumbayam sounds plausible (1981:51).

Cheru Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna Paribhashappeduthia

Kathakal is a 21x 14 cm size book with 197 pages. On the title pages are given the name
of the book, place of printing, the year of printing and the next page, the contents. The
order of the stories is given in Malayalam figures, as are the page numbers. Where each
story begins, the titles of the stories are given in Malayalam letters. There are eight stories
in this collection –One : the story of a four year old English girl named Marjorie; Two:
the story of a wise child; Three: story of lambs; Four: Fortitude; Five: Story of George
and his coin; Six: History of King Edward VI; Seven: A matter of courage and Eight:
Story of Theophilus and Sophia. Of these, though the title of the second story is ‘Story of
a wise child’ the title given for the story inside the book is ‘wise child’. Similarly there is
a slight change in the title of the third story. In the list of contents the title of the story is
‘story of lambs’, but inside the book where the story begins, the title is ‘Story of Two
Lambs’. The title of the fourth, ends in the list of contents, as ‘Katha’ while inside the
book it is given as ‘Katha ’ without long vowel /a:/ .

Each story is long drawn out. In the story of Marjorie, there are
three sections . The story of Edward VI has five chapters. There are pure narratives
(story of Marjorie, story of a wise girl), moral stories (Fortitude and a Matter of Courage)
and histories (Edward VI, Theophilus Sophia) among the stories. All are stories with
morals. In the text books of the early days, such an admixture is often come across. In the
text books published by Keralavarma Valiyakoyithampuran as president of the
Travancore book committee, there are Semblances of this admixture found in Cheru
Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal. Dr. N.
Sam speaks of the specialties of Travancore text books: “when the Government took over
the onus of public instruction in the state, a syllabus divorced of religion came into effect.
But the new syllabus had a close resemblance to the syllabus prepard by the missionaries.
Both had stories with morals in their short, prose lessons” (1988; 107).
 Modern Malayalam prose, used for the first time in a literary work was in Cheru
Paithangalkka Upakarartham Emclisil Ninna Paribhashappeduthia Kathakal. The short
stories in this collection are well organized and sound in their form and content. As the
means for creative works, narration and conversation–the prose forms–are very
effectively employed in this work. The first short story to be printed in Malayalam was
‘The story of Marjorie a four year old English girl’ of this collection. During the pre–
printing days in Kerala, prose was not in use as an important written form. What was
actually in use, as the most important written form of the language, was poetry.

The nominal prose used in decrees was not competent–not even as able as
poetry– to be used in communication. At this juncture, when it became necessary to print
books for the spread of Christianity and for education, it was found practical to use the
spoken language in printing. For the missionaries who lifted the spoken language of the
common people for printing, it was impossible to set aside Sanskrit, which was the
language of the educated in Kerala like the Brahmins and Nairs. In the spoken language
of the educated, there was an influence of Sanskrit. Also, in the available literary works
and science books, there was an admixture of Malayalam and Sanskrit. Books, to
facilitate communication among people of all sections and categories, must be acceptable
to all. For this, the author of Cheru Paithangalkka… tried to create a prose style by
blending the expressions in the language of the common people who formed the
majority, with the Manipravalam diction, common in the literary and scientific books
and in the spoken language of the upper class people. Without a model to follow, when he
tried to create such a language blend, he seems to have been troubled by misgivings
regarding the amount of the features of the speech habits of the common people and the
number of Sanskrit words that were to be included in the blend. Sometimes, preference
was given to the local parlance and sometimes the influence of Sanskrit was more. At
other times, the ancient idioms, common in poems, was used. Anyway, each story in
Cheru Paithangalkka…was more or less was an experimental piece (Two examples are
quoted for comparison .The first is from the ‘stories of Marjorie, four year old English a
girl).

As the first Malayalam book was to be printed in Kerala, Cheru

Paithangalkka…has great significance as far as Malayalam Typography is concerned.
The metal types used to print this was cast at the foundry in Madras Fort St George
College. The ‘height’ of these types were not uniform and so was their size. The letters
had a partly squarish form. Most of the letters were misshapen. Leaving a space between
words, had not been made a standard procedure, perhaps because of following the style of
handwritten Malayalam–one word close to another, then the next one again close and so
on. After three or four words, a little space was left. Full stops and question marks were
left out. But occasionally, quotes were put within double inverted commas. The layout of
the book was good, on the whole. The title page and content words were included
attractively. Each story had been given a title. In the ‘History of Edward VI’ subtitles
were given, where needed. The blank space left close to the title, was rather wide in the
beginning. Later, in the stories that followed, the length of the blank space near the title
was shortened. The titles were highlighted with a short line under them. The spelling, in
any language, is fixed through printing. In this work, the irregularity in spelling, at least
in the case of a few words, had been come across. The same word was printed differently
with different scripts and subscripts. Compound letters were printed in many different
ways– joining the halves of each of the two letters, joining both the whole letters, joining
a part of one letter to its full from etc.

Just as there are no subscripts for the vowels /e: / and /0/, close vowels are
also absent. But in the transliteration of English, a mark is placed over the letter to
indicate its pronunciation, like a diacritical mark. In transliterated English words, this sign
indicates the close vowel.
 Chapter 4

CONCLUSION

It was a flood of books that Benjamin Bailey, the first book-publisher in

Malayalam, let loose upon the Kerala Society that had only hearsay knowledge of the
Samkshepavedartham printed in Rome and of the Courier Bible or the Ramban Bible printed
in Bombay-a deluge of religious and secular books for general reading. In addition to this,
were the text books for schools and the college, not to mention the many periodicals. It is
printing that has aided the spread of general education all the world over. Before the arrival
of printing, only a small minority had access to education in any society. Education became
prevalent and societies moved towards literacy as a result of the spread of printing.
Education gets universalized only when printed text books are available for instruction. This
relationship between printing and general education has decidedly influenced the course of
the history of general education in Kerala.

Printing and general education are indeed the two vital factors that effect the
standardization of languages. It is through its two main activities, which are bookpublishing
and the publishing of periodicals that printing achieves this. Printing, all over the world, is
the driving force behind cultural renascence.

The contributions of Hindu Literature, to the development of regional languages and

their Literatures up to the 15th century, are well known, though they were confined to the
growth and spread of poetry in these languages. The work of the missionaries that was wide
spread from the 16th century onwards in India and the resultant Christian Literary
movements were instrumental in the development of prose and its different ramifications in
the various regional Languages. Printing, made popular by the missionaries, made prose a
powerful medium for communication and an ideal vehicle for Literature. In Malayalam too,
printing was instrumental in the development of prose literature and the standardization of
Malayalam prose.

Printing helped the evolution of a standard Malayalam, from the different variants like
the Southern, the Northern and the Central Travancorean Malayalams. The regional and the
provisional peculiarities prevalent at the word-level and in sentence-structures were
eliminated. It was printing that standardized Malayalam in this way. This language
standardizing note of printing was the same in all languages. How printing standardized
English is explained by S.H. Steinberg, the prominent authority on the history of printing.

“Having fortified the ‘language walls’ between one nation and another, the printers
proceeded to break down the minor differences of speech-most noticeably of vocabulary,
grammatical forms and syntax–within any given language group. If today the ‘Queen’s
English’ has become the standard idiom of millions of writers and readers, beside which the
dialects of Kent, Lancasture, Northumberland and all the rest have vanished in to local
insignificance, William Caxton and his brothers-in- the-art may justly claim the credit for it.
It was Caxton who overcomes the perplexing confusion of Middle – English dialects, and, by
adopting that of the Home Counties and London, fixed a standard never to be abandoned.
Caxton was very conscious of his service to a unified English Language. He reinforced his
argument by the charming anecelote of the Kentish woman off North Foreland whom a
London merchant asked for some ‘eggys’. ‘And the good wife answered that she cude spke
no Frenshe’. It was only when another man asked for ‘eyren’ (cp. German ‘Eier’) that she
‘sayd she vnderstood hym wel’... The standardization of the English Language through the
effects of printing had lead to a tremendous expansion of the vocabulary, a virtual ban on the
development of accidence and syntax, and an ever-widening gulf between the spoken and the
written word. Local and regional differences tend to be ironed out or suppressed, though a
very large number of provincial words and phrases have conversely been raised to the
national level... The most remarkable, or at least the most visible, expression of the
standardization of the English Language through the egalitarianism of the press is to be seen
in our modern spelling. Up to the invention of printing, spelling was largely phonetic; that is
to say, every scribe rendered the words on parchment or paper or paper more or less as he
heard them’’ (1959:88-89) (sic.).

All that have been said about printing being instrumental in the standardization of
English by Steinberg are applicable, theoretically, to Malayalam too. Invention of printing
has made far reaching effects in the development of languages. Printing acts on languages in
three ways: it causes the evolution of a standard language out of the various variants of the
regional language; new words and expressions that evolve in the language are given
circulation: the errors in spelling that creep into the language through the carelessness of
copyists or scribes or their ignorance or through the mistakes made through mishearing get
eliminated, establishing a definite system of spelling. If the spelling was confusing in
English, it was the writing of compound letters and the placing of the subscripts with their
respective compound letters and consonants that the confusion existed in Malayalam. At the
time Bailey was engaged in the translation of various books and at the time when printing
started, prose was negligibly insubstantial while poetry was in its heyday. When modern
printing began in Malayalam, ‘Kolezhuthu’ and ‘Malayalanma’ were as wide spread, or even
more, than ‘Arya script’ or the ‘Grandha Script’.

But Malayalam printing took to prose as the popular medium for communication and
used the ‘Grandha script’ for printing. It was this factor that paved the way for the growth
and development of the very weak and neglected prose, ignoring the very rich and substantial
poetic language. In short, printing standardized Malayalam prose and caused the
development of Modern Malayalam Prose.

If printing were an art and an adventure, it later blossomed into a technology and an
industry. Today, printing does not confine itself to the world of publishing books and
periodicals. Printing, directly or indirectly, touches all the areas of human life. Printing and
its associated industries–paper-making, machinery-making, ink-making, making building
materials, book selling–exert tremendous influence on the social and economic spheres of the
society. Bailey championed the printing industry in Kerala, by making types and press for
printing, binding-materials and paper and made large scale printing possible. He is the prime
mover of the printing industry in Kerala.

It is widely known that three inventions caused the renascence in Europe. The
invention of the printing press and the making of paper led to the cultural reawakening in
Europe. One of the chief factors that led to the cultural development and progress of modern
societies was printing. The two things invented contemporarily were paper and gunpowder.
When gunpowder was used to redraw international boundaries in blood, printed matter on
paper helped in unifying the world population through a social advancement. It was the
printed word that made the people of the world realize that all their interests and problems are
the same everywhere, irrespective of time, country and language. Printing which led to social
renascence throughout the world, opened the way for the cultural awakening and progress of
the Kerala Society. The development of the prose language, the standardization of language,
book publishing, publishing of periodicals, the making of materials for general education,
industrialization etc. which are the many creations of printing that contributed to the
renascence. The study of the changes made in Kerala’s social life by printing and book-
publishing reveals Benjamin Bailey’s contributions and their magnitude.