So that the British rulers of Bengal could learn the language, in 1778 English orientalist and philologist Nathaniel Brassey Halhed published A Grammar of the Bengal Language, from Hoogly in West Bengal, India. This was the first Bengali grammar.
To publish this book Halhed set up his own press, and commissioned the first successful Bengali type font from the orientalist and typographer, Charles Wilkins, who has been called the "Caxton of Bengal." In turn Wilkins hired the Indian inventor Panchanan Karmakar to create the first Bengali typeface.
One unusual aspect of the book is an "Advertisement" facing the first page of text, taking into account the very humid environment in which the book was printed: It reads, "It is recommended not to bind this book till the setting in of the dry season, as the greatest part has been printed during the rains."
Fiona Ross, The Printed Bengali Character, London: Curzon Press, 1996.
