The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1888-03-07
PRINTING BOOKS IN LUCKNOW.
An Immense Concern Where the Koran
and Other Books Are Prepared.

An Immense Concern Where the Koran
and Other Books Are Prepared.
The Kishore publ shing house is sit
uated on the Hazrat Gunge, the main
street of Lucknow. The buildings
are numerous, but low, mostly of one
story. after the native fashion, and ez-
ceedingly plain. Many of them are
mere sheds, where the work is done in
full view of others on the premises.
The roofs are of brick tiling. These
bu ldings cover vast space, which Is
divided into many alleys and monde
script passageways running at all
angles with each other, and describing
such curves as one can find in the
denser parts OF Lubbock and Nurem-
berg. I entered the premises by a
long lane running at right angles from
the main street, says Bishop Hurst, in
Harper's Magazine. No one in pass
ing along the street would suspect, un-
less he should turn into the lane, the
number of men hard at work at the
farther end or the 'nderful magnl-
tude of their operations. The orders
are constantly coming Ia from all India,
and even from Afganistan, Arabia, and
Turkey in Europe. The many people
engaged in carrying on this business
have all they can do to fill the orders
and prepare for new ones on the way.
We're the buildings covering such an
area as this in Europe, and four or five
stories high, yet turning out no more
work than these primitive huts and
sheds, their value could not be less
than S500,OGO. But in Lucknow value
those many buildings and the ground
covered by them would not sell for
more than about $4,000 The huts
have no wooden floors. Mother earth
is the common resting-place. The men
and boys in great number sit on the
earthen floor in all possible positions
and ca ry on their work. They Set
type, read proof, and bind the sheets
while sitting squat on the ground.
There is great disproportion be-
tween the amount of type and the vol
umes printed. While there is an i'm
mense quantity of type used II his
hore's house, tie lithographing OF q
whole book is fayorite procedure. l
have copy of the koran, bought upon
the premises, which is one foot long
and eight inches broal, and l am quite
sure that not type was used IN the
printing Of it. The plates are
autographs, and OF excellent finish:
AS this particular volume was intended
to be illustrated in colors, the difficulty
was to supply the cuts. This, OF
course, could have been met by sep
arate impression. But that is not
kishore's methods. All these blanks
are filed by colored illustrations ap-
p led by hand. These are quite rudely
done, and yet the pictures are striking,
and to an Oriental eye must be attract
We. For the koran which I bought,
av;ng 81 pages, with numerous
annual illustrations, bound in full
leather, the price was only $3.50.
But while large portion Of the work
iu this Mohammedan publishing house
is done upon stone instead of type,
there is also an immense amount of the
usual type-setting and casting. The
Arabic and some of the Hindoo tongues
are very favorable for engraving on
stone. The whole alphabet, in several
cases, consists of curves which can be
sasily executed by sharp tools.