1824

The Athens printing house

Stanhope’s role had been influential for the creation of a printing house in Athens as in Missolonghi. Initially, the printing press sent by the Philhellenic Committee in London, which Stanhope had brought himself, operated in Salamina. On 18 July 1824, the first print was titled Εἰδοποίησις [Notice], announcing the publication of the newspaper Ἐφημερίς Ἀθηνῶν [Newspaper of Athens], edited by Georgios Psyllas and printed by Nikolaos Varotzis. The first issue was published on 20 August 1824. The printing house moved to Athens in the end of that month. It was housed in a building granted by the community and continued to operate regularly until May 1825, when it was again moved to Salamina, due to fears of an imminent attack by the Turkish army. Later, it returned to Athens and operated until April 1826, when it closed permanently.

The main product of the printing house was the Newspaper of Athens. Its singularity lay in the fact that its content was not limited only to news about the war, as in the case of the other newspapers published by the printing houses of the Revolution; this one included various articles about political theory, texts promoting education, even news about everyday life in Athens and its problems. The rest of the production was small and comprised proclamations of the Philomuse Society, decrees by Fabvier and pamphlets for the needs of the Struggle. Special note should be made about the book Τὰ Λυρικὰ καὶ Βακχικὰ [Lyrical and Bacchic Poetry] by A. Christopoulos, which was singled out due to its content among the typical publications of other printing houses during the Revolution.

The Missolonghi printing house

Due to the fact that Missolonghi was one of the most important centres of the Greek Revolution, it was essential to have a printing house there to meet the relevant political and military needs. The role of three significant people decisive for the creation of a printing house there: they were Lord Byron, British Colonel Leicester Stanhope and Alexander Mavrokordatos. In December 1823, Stanhope arrived at Missolonghi, sent by the Philhellenic Committee in London to organize a post office, a healthcare service, and a printing house. He focused on the publication of a newspaper, whose title had already been determined as Ἑλληνικὰ Χρονικὰ [Greek Annals] even before the printing equipment reached the town thanks to the Philhellenic Committee of London. Johann Jacob Meyer, Swiss Philhellene, became the editor of the newspaper and on 18 December 1823 printer Dimitrios Mestheneas published the announcement for the circulation of the newspaper, using a makeshift printery that pre-existed. The printing house continued to operate during the siege of the city and its staff died while fighting during the Exodus.

The Greek Annals published proclamations and announcements of the Greek government, domestic news, and news from abroad, military communiques as well as information about the movements of the Turks and the Greek army and navy. Moreover, the newspaper often included literary articles and fiction, letters from subscribers, translated excerpts from European and American newspapers, especially those related to the Greek Struggle, and articles by Mayer about the basic principles and ideas of the Enlightenment. Finally, thanks to the presence of Lord Byron, Colonel Stanhope and Pietro Gamba, Byron’s friend and secretary and publisher of the foreign-language newspaper Τelegrafo Greco, and many other Philhellenes, the Greek Annals presented news, information and interesting pieces from the philhellenic movement.

Beside the Greek Annals, in 1824 the printing house also published a foreign-language edition titled Telegrafo Greco with articles in Italian, English, French and German, to promote the Greek cause abroad. A series of other publications also circulated in Missolonghi, such as single-page leaflets, pamphlets and books, whose subject matter comprised the health of the armed forces, prose or poetry about events of the Revolution, various political and administrative regimes. The Hymn to Liberty written by Dionysios Solomos was also first published on Greek soil in Missolonghi in 1825.

The Hydra printing house

Iakovos Tompazis already operated a small makeshift printery on the island since 1822, printing pamhlets for the needs of the administration as well as other similar publications. During the first months of 1824, two new printing presses arrived, one of them donated to the Greek nation by A.F. Didot, French Philhellene. The arrival of a fully modern printing equipment helped to make the wish for the publication of a newspaper a reality. On 25 February, Italian Iosif Kiappe who had been living in Hydra from May 1820 published the Προκήρυξιν τῆς ἐφημερίδος τῆς Ὕδρας ἐπιγραφομένης ὁ φίλος τοῦ Νόμου [Announcement of the publication of the newspaper of Hydra titled The Friend of the Law] and on 10 March 1824 the first issue circulated, edited by himself and printed by K. Tompras. Kiappe aimed for the newspaper of Hydra to become a Government Gazette and for his printery to become a sort of Administration Printing House where all the essential government publications would be printed. This was the state of things until the mid-1825, when the new Administration Printing House started to operate in Nafplio. The printing house in Hydra continued to operate individually until 1827, when it closed.

Beside the newspaper Φίλος του Νόμου [Friend of the Law], proclamations and decrees of the Provisional Government were also published, as well as documents needed for daily administrative tasks and services, such as administrative orders, certificates for warships and merchant ships, “passports” and “residence permits” etc. The printing house in Hydra also published the Law of Epidaurus, which was the Provisional Regime of Greece as revised in Astros, and the Letter of Greek Women to Philhellene Women, written by Evanthia Kairi and signed by thirty-one more Greek women, to raise awareness for support of the Greek Revolution by women in Europe. The publications of this printing house also included a small number of books for the needs of the Struggle and the future Greek State, such as Ἀλφαβητάριον Μεθοδικόν [Method for an Alphabet] by N. Varotsis, printer in Athens,  Πολιτικὴ Κατήχηση εἰς χρῆσιν τῶν Ἑλλήνων [Political Indoctrination for the Greeks] and Συλλογὴ τῶν ἀρχῶν τοῦ δικαιώματος γιὰ τὶς θαλάσσιες λεῖες καὶ τὴν οὐδετερότητα [Compilation of the Principles of the Original Rights regarding Marine Prey and Neutrality based on the European Treaty of the Rights of Nations] by  A. Palma, Italian Philhellene. Finally, in 1827 Kiappe also published a French-language newspaper titled L’ Abeille Grecque (Greek Bee) to inform the European public about the Greek Struggle.