Nigerian school stakes claim to have set up Africa's first printing press

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 ]
News tagged with: #sierra leone

Other news stories related to: "Nigerian school stakes claim to have set up Africa's first printing press"


C J Sansom's next Shardlake novel set during peasant revolt

C J Sansom’s seventh Matthew Shardlake novel Tombland will be published by Mantle in October. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Lupton moves to Viking for school siege thriller

Rosamund Lupton, author of bestsellers Sister, Afterwards and The Quality of Silence, has moved from Piatkus to Viking with her new novel about a school siege. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #rosamund lupton


Legal sports betting set to explode after court ruling. But get ready for a battle over the dollars

Suddenly, all bets are on regarding the future of American sports gambling. A surge in betting caused by the Supreme Court’s lifting of a federal ban on sports wagering is expected to trigger new gaming opportunities and burnish existing sports books in Las Vegas casinos — but also spawn a battle... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #supreme court #court ruling


Print Units Fell 3% in the First Week of May

Unit sales of print books fell 3% in the week ended May 6, 2018, compared to the similar week in 2017 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #week ended


Black Classic Press Marks 40 Years

Founder W. Paul Coates looks back at 40 years in independent book publishing, for which he feels a great deal of gratitude. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #great deal #paul coates


Honeyman claims seventh week at number one

Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Harper) has once again topped the UK Official Top 50, selling 19,984 copies for £111,356. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #eleanor oliphant #gail honeyman


Díaz pulls out of festival following harassment claims

Novelist Junot Díaz has reportedly pulled out of Sydney Writers’ Festival following accusations of sexually inappropriate behaviour. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #sydney writers


Librarians Set to Descend on Capitol Hill for National Library Legislative Day

The Week in Libraries, May 4, 2018: Among this week's headlines, librarians prepare to make their case to lawmakers in Washington D.C. as a rescission package looms; Congress could wade into the net neutrality battle. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #librarians prepare #capitol hill


Nigerian Publishers and IPA Hold First International Seminar in Lagos: Progress and Piracy

Nigeria's first collaborative seminar with the International Publishers Association will focus on issues including a fierce battle African publishers are waging with book piracy. The post Nigerian Publishers and IPA Hold First International Seminar in Lagos: Progress and Piracy appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #piracy appeared #book piracy


New Indigo Press reveals first title

The Indigo Press, launched by the MILD group in October, has announced its first title will be about the ousting of Robert Mugabe.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #mild group #indigo press


School library stock 'increasingly dated', warn professionals

School librarians are unable to buy the range of books they want due to budget cuts, meaning children are not getting access to non-fiction and diverse titles, library professionals have told The Bookseller. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #library professionals #budget cuts #school librarians


Sweden in the UAE: Kitab Sawti’s Arabic Audiobooks and Dar Al Muna’s Print

At Abu Dhabi Internaitonal Book Fair, two Swedish publishing specialists offer the contemporary and traditions of book technologies to Arabic readers—newly translated audiobooks and carefully crafted hardbacks. The post Sweden in the UAE: Kitab Sawti’s Arabic Audiobooks and Dar Al Muna’s Print... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #print appeared #post sweden


University Presses Are Not in Crisis

The Week in Libraries, April 27, 2018: Among the headlines this week, changing the narrative on university press publishing; FSU says it will bail on its "unsustainable" Elsevier contract; and, is open access making a difference yet? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #university presses


Cowell urges schools to let children write independently

Bestselling children’s author Cressida Cowell is spearheading a new schools writing campaign, encouraging teachers to let children write creatively and independently. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #bestselling children


Hay's School Days to be rolled out across UK

Hay Festival is launching a new initiative to live stream its “Schools Days” UK-wide following last year's pilot in Wales.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #live stream #school days #hay festival


Penguin claims two spots on Pushkin House Russian Book Prize shortlist

Penguin has scored two books on the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize shortlist, one about Stalin’s metereologist and another about an eight-year journey across “forgotten Russia”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


How Net-a-Porter’s 70-person content team operates online and in print

Content is a robust piece of both Net-a-Porter’s marketing and merchandising strategies: The company employs 70 people on its editorial team, and it publishes six issues of Porter’s print edition per year, which have featured celebrity cover stars like Viola Davis, Penelope Cruz and Bella... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #editorial team #merchandising strategies #print appeared


University Press of New England to Close

The University Press of New England’s Board of Governors has voted to close the press at the end of 2018. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #university press


Teen Vogue is ditching print, but it’s still making ‘magazine’ covers for Snapchat

Though Teen Vogue announced the shuttering of its print edition in November 2017, it hasn’t stopped the Condé Nast-owned publication from ensuring the art of the magazine cover hasn’t been lost as it embraces a now fully digital identity. The post Teen Vogue is ditching print, but it’s still... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #teen vogue #snapchat appeared


Obituary: Sam Hamill, Co-Founder of Copper Canyon Press

Poet Sam Hamill, the founding editor of poetry publisher Copper Canyon Press, died on April 14 at his home in Anacortes, Wash., after a series of health complications. He was 74. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #founding editor