It may be interesting to know how the first Holy Quran was printed and how it gradually evolved into its modern form. The earliest prints of the Holy Quran in Iran date back to about 188 years ago. First, the holy verses would be engraved in stone, the stone would then be placed in a special ink dip machine. The ink-filled stone would then be pressed on animal skin or paper to print letters. A Quran written by Abol-Ghasem Ibn Zain Alabedin in 1835 printed using stone-based typesetting is an example of this method of printing.

Early methods of printing Holy Qurans

In the past, Holy Qurans were printed using various methods including stone and hot-lead typesetting which are some of the more well-known cases. Hot lead typesetting, also termed mechanical typesetting or hot type, refers to the process of typesetting lead letters to be pressed on paper. The first uses of this printing method in Iran were termed typography.

Following the grand transformations occurring in the country during the reign of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar, hot-lead typesetting machines were imported into Iran. In the meantime, Mirza Zein Al-Abedin Tabrizi was sent as Iran’s cultural attaché to Russia to learn of existing printing techniques. Upon his return to Iran, Mirza Zein Al-Abedin established the printing house in Tabriz which worked with hot-lead typesetting machines. In 1825, Zein Al-Abedin was ordered by Fath-Ali Shah to be joint with Manuchehr Khan Motamed Al-Dolah in Tehran, to build the first printing house in the capital using hot-lead typesetters.

Years later, in 1853, the era of such printing houses in Tabriz, Tehran, and Isfahan came to an end with the printing of the last hot lead typesetting book in Tehran, followed by the admission of lithography to substitute hot lead typesetting. Unlike typesetting, in which letters were typeset on metal plates, lithograph plates were made of marbles, and printing was performed based on the immiscibility of water and oil, or simply put, why oil and water don’t mix. The first lithography printing companies were established in Tabriz by Mirza Saleh Ibn Haj Bagher Khan, A.K.A, Mirza Saleh Tabrizi. In his return from his mission in Russia, Mirza Saleh brought back a 1935 printing machine used in the first printing house in Iran to print the Holy Quran.

Printing Holy Quran in Jangal Printing Company

Nowadays, various publishing houses in Iran print the Holy Quran in different sizes. Jangal Printing Co has also contributed to the Holy Quran printing service as one of its prominent services, with a large volume of printed Qurans exported to neighbouring countries and nations of the Persian Gulf.

The printing team at Jangal Printing Company tries to utilize the best printing machinery available to print this valuable book for its domestic and foreign customers. The Holy Qurans printed by the company are in various sizes with different designs, and in both soft and hardcover.

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