Re: [Wikiml-l] [Wikimediaindia-l] Samkshepa Vedartham, first book printed in Malayalam goes online

Dear all, This is a great success to share the effort of Shiju and other Malayalam Wikimedians to bring Samkshepa Vedartham, the first Malayalam book online. This is a news article which has come on The Times of India and copyrighted.[1] THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From a college library in Bangalore, a fragile copy of the first book printed in Malayalam -- SampkshepaVedartham -- has made a leap to eternity. Thanks to efforts by MalayalamWikipedians, the book printed in 1772 and kept in Dharmaram College in Bangalore is now available free on the internet, without any copyright restriction. The scanned copy of 'Sampkshepa Vedartham or Nasranikal Okkeyum Ariyendunna Sampkshepa Vedartham' will be a major source of information for those interested in the history and development of Malayalam script. The book by Italian priest Clement Peanices is in the form of Christian religious teaching in question-answer format. The first edition of the book was printed using Malayalam types in Rome in 1772 and was brought to the state in 1774. A scanned copy of 'Albhabetum Grandonico Malabaricum', the first book to use Malayalam types, is already available for public use. It is believed that the Malayalam portion of this Latin book was printed using the movable types made to print 'Sampkshepa Vedartham'. Shiju Alex, an active Wikipedian, had taken the initiative to bring out 'Sampkshepa Vedartham' on the internet with the support of other members of Malayalam Wikipedia. Ironically, one of the oldest copies of the book is housed in the Kerala university library. Though it was digitized using the state grant, it is not available for public use. "Sampkshepa Vedartham was printed almost 241 years ago. The book gives insights into the old type of Malayalam numerals. No space is left between words. Also signs, such as full stops, are not used between sentences," Alex said. He said the scanned copy of the book has been uploaded on archives.org, where interested people can read it online or download the PDF format. "We have begun steps to upload it in Wikipedia commons (an online repository of media files). A digitized version will also be available in Malayalam Wikisource," he added. 1. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/First-book-print… -- Best! Subhashish Panigrahi Programme Officer, Access To Knowledge Centre for Internet and Society @psubhashish _______________________________________________ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l