The Hope Waddell Training Institution, a school in Nigeria founded in 1895 by Presbyterian missionaries, is laying claim to have set up Africa's oldest press. But could it be so?Hope Waddell, in Calabar, Cross River State, had a functioning printing press from 1903, initially to serve the school but later used to print newspapers. In an interview with Nigeria's Daily Trust, the school's principal, Edet Inyang, was unequivocal: "Our school had the first printing press in Africa."According to Wikipedia a large Wharfedale flat-bed printing press, donated by "friends in Scotland" was still in use in 1960. But another Wikipedia entry, about the development of media in Sierra Leone, states that although the first printing press in Africa, which arrived in Freetown in 1794, was destroyed by a French raiding party, another one became operational in 1800.And a paper on printing presses in sub-Saharan Africa, published last year (July 2013) by Julia Cagé and Valeria Rueda, contends that several mission societies acquired presses in Cape Colony between the 1820s and the 1870s.And, they write, the Methodists acquired a printing press in Grahamstown in the 1830s while the Anglicans set up presses at several places in the eastern Cape in the 1860s and 1870s.So Hope Waddell's claim to printing fame looks rather shaky. On the other hand, to be using a flat-bed printing press as late as 1960 must be some kind of record. More of a last than a first, perhaps. Sources: Daily Trust/Wikipedia... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The long awaited launch of BookRiff, the system that promises to let people mix and match content from various sources to create their own book, is now slated for the end of September. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Even as readers grow more comfortable with digital books, some continue to question why so many of the most popular new ebooks are priced so high. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Tom Tivnan Publication Date: Fri, 09/09/2011 - 14:54 Oxford University Press c.e.o. Nigel Portwood has signalled a new strategic direction for the publisher by saying he will be looking to acquire other businesses more ambitiously. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With Random Houses announcement last week that it is officially dropping its print catalogues in favor of digital, the countrys biggest publisher joins the growing ranks of houses that have done away with the traditional catalogue. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 09/09/2011 - 11:02 The nationwide celebration of libraries and librarians that is to be National Libraries Day has been confirmed for Saturday 4th February. Author Alan Gibbons of Campaign for the Book, a prime mover behind the initiative, said... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 09/09/2011 - 08:30 Independent children's publisher Catnip is using Twitter and bloggers to source original and out-of-print titles for its list. It will publish Katherine Roberts' out-of-print fantasy Song Quest in February 2012. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With his trademark bowtie and button-down shirt, Christopher Kimball, founder of Americas Test Kitchen, doesnt look like a gambler. Yet he publishes magazines without advertising, charges for recipes while his competitors give them away, and produces dependable cookbooks for the home cook in a... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Thu, 08/09/2011 - 09:00 French publishers Albin Michel, Flammarion and Gallimard appear to be dropping charges against Google for digitising copyrighted books without prior permission, at least for the moment, the trade weekly Livres Hebdo has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 05/09/2011 - 07:30 Chatto & Windus will publish an illustrated edition of its The Hare with Amber Eyes by Galaxy New Writer of the Year 2010 Edmund de Waal, hoping to attract Christmas gift buyers. The book will include more than 100... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 01/09/2011 - 08:54 Bloomsbury has acquired independent food list Absolute Press, set up by publisher Jon Croft in 1979. Absolute Press specialises in high-end cookery titles, publishing Keith Floyd's first title in 1981. Its titles include... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Tue, 30/08/2011 - 08:40 Puffin is to release an initial print run of half a million copies of the new Wimpy Kid title, Cabin Fever, published on 16th November. The print run is the largest in the history of the children's publisher, and will be Penguin's largest initial UK... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bonniers MotorBoating magazine, a part of the Marine Group Network that includes Yachting and SaltWater Sportsman, is folding its print issue. The July/August 2011 installment will be its last. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 19/08/2011 - 13:52 Authors of Macmillan titles put on hold during the recent Serious Fraud Office investigation say they have been given a "glimmer of hope" for the future, with "sensible" discussions now beginning with the publisher after... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon moved aggressively to fulfill its new ambition to publish books as well as sell them, announcing that it had signed Timothy Ferriss, the popular self-help guru. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 11/08/2011 - 09:20 Canadian retailer Indigo Books & Music has reported 170% acceleration in digital sales growth, but blamed a drop in overall revenue for its first quarter on declining physical book sales. Indigo attributed the hike in its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 1985, Nintendo released Super Mario Brothers, Commodore launched the Amiga personal computer, Steve Jobs founded NeXT, and Bill Gates issued the first version of Windows. It was also the year PW launched the first report covering the Asian printing industry, of which you are now holding the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 05/08/2011 - 08:40 The government's lack of coherent support for school libraries is one of a number of factors contributing to the fall in children's literacy, according to a report by an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education. The report... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The purchase sets off speculation about publishing ambitions at Facebook, and puts renewed focus on its highly-anticipated iPad app. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 03/08/2011 - 09:14 Facebook has bought the innovative ebook publisher Push Pop Press but will not use the company to publish ebooks. The giant social networking website will instead use PPP's platform and technology to give "people even richer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 29/07/2011 - 09:20 Macmillan has walked away from its education business in east and west Africa, and is understood to have put all its education publishing companies and interests across the continent (other than in Botswana) on the block.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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