Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/107

 EARLIEST EUROPEAN WRITERS 83 To such a great scholar, Bengal owes the establishment of the first vernacular printing press. ! The Preface to Halhed’s Grammer sets forth some in- teresting details as to the difficulties which Wilkins had to overcome and as to how with Extract from the এ Preface to Halhed’s patient preseverance he ultimately sue- hago a ae pate ceeded. “Publie curiosity” it says ing. “must be strongly excited by the beautiful characters which are displayed in the following work ; and although my attempt may be deemed incom- plete or unworthy of notice, the book itself will always bear an intrinsic value from its containing as extra- ordinary an instance of machanie abilities as has perhaps ever appeared, That the Bengal letter is very difficult to be imitated in steel will be readily allowed by any person who shall examine the intricacies of the strokes, the unequal length and size of the characters, and the variety of their positions and combinations. It was no easy task to procure a writer accurate enough to prepare an alphabet of similar and proportionate body throughout, and with that symmetrical exactness which is necessary to the regularity and neatness of a fount. Mr. Bolts (who is supposed to be well-versed in this langnage) attempted to fabricate a set of types for it with the assistance of the ablest artist in London. But as he has egregiously failed in executing even the easiest part, or the primary alphabet, of which he has published a specimen, there is no reason to suppose that letter by Warren Hastings. See Cal. Rev. vol. iii, 234; Seton-Karr, Selections from the Calcutta Gazette, i. 130. ‘ About the first introduction of printing in the East, see Dr. Garnett’s paper read before the Second International Library Conference (Transactions and Proceedings of the Second International L ibrary Conference held in London, 1897, London, 1898.)