Nicholson Faculty Lecture

This is an annual series of lectures showcasing the work of University of Chicago Faculty in British Studies, including its empire and its legacies. We are delighted to announce that the 2023/24 Nicholson Faculty Lecture will be given by Ulrike Starke on April 24, 2024.

Shakespeare

The 2023/24 Nicholson Faculty Lecture will be given by Ulrike Starke on April 24, 2024

Majestic Patronage: Muslim and Christian Printing at the Lucknow Royal Press, 1819–1849

Despite its importance as the first Muslim-owned printing press in northern India, the Matba‘-i Sultani, established by the King of Awadh in Lucknow in 1819, has received little scholarly attention. Best known for its production of Haft Qulzum (1821), a Persian dictionary and grammar, the Royal Press epitomizes the momentous transition from movable type to lithography in North India at an early stage in the global spread of print technology. It coincided with a shift from Muslim to European agency at the press. This talk highlights an untold story of Christian educational printing at His Majesty’s Lithographic Press, complicating standard narratives of the trajectory of print in nineteenth-century India. In tracing the history of the Royal Press over its existence of thirty years, I examine the participation of Awadh’s Shi’i Muslim rulers and local European actors in the production of printed knowledge and discuss material and cultural factors shaping pre-commercial print culture in the multilingual setting of Lucknow.

Ulrike Stark is a scholar of modern Hindi literature and South Asian book history. Her main research interests are in the cultural and intellectual history of North India in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with a specific focus on print culture, public intellectual life, education, and gender.

Nicholson Faculty Lecture Events

Nicholson Faculty Lecture: Ulrike Stark, 4/24, 5pm

Nicholson Faculty Lecture: Ulrike Stark, 4/24, 5pm

The Nicholson Center for British Studies Nicholson Faculty Lecture (2023-24) Ulrike Stark Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Chicago Majestic Patronage Muslim and Christian Printing at the Lucknow Royal Press, 1819-1849 Introduction by...

Adom Getachew — 2022-23 Nicholson Faculty Lecture

Adom Getachew — 2022-23 Nicholson Faculty Lecture

2022-23 Nicholson Distinguished Faculty Lecture Adom Getachew Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Political Science and the College at the University of Chicago Lecture title: TBA Introduction by Jennifer Pitts March 28, 2023, 5:00PM Venue: TBA Adom Getachew is...

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