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Etching its name on the pages of history Andrew Pereira | Sep 28, 2014, 02.00AM IST Tucked away in a quiet, leafy, beautiful corner of Bastora in Bardez lies a piece of history that defined the reading lives of several generations of Goans. That part of our history probably came about due to an event that took place two-and-a-half centuries ago. The Jesuits, who had been publishing written works since 1556, had been expelled from Goa in 1759 during the rule of the Marquis de Pombal. As a result, the publishing of books came to a halt in Goa for some time. It was during those days when Vicente Joao Janin Rangel was born, on March 16, 1858, at Piedade, Divar. Losing his father at the age of six, he was shepherded by his mother Luisa Maria Lobo e Rangel and mentored by his priest uncle, Caetano Francisco Lobo, who had a lasting impact on his life. The Rangel family shifted from Divar to Bastora, and Janin grew up into a young man with an entrepreneurial spirit. "At the age of 28, he, along with his sister, had ventured into a business known as 'industria de conservas', which involved the packaging of fruit, vegetables, milk and meat products. His company, 'J Rangel e Companhia', was thus set up," recounts Jaime Rangel, physician and writer, the great grandson of Janin Rangel. By 1886, when a few individuals had set up printing presses and ran their own newspapers in Goa, Janin sensed there was an opportunity in the world of printing and publishing and plunged straight into it.He set up the 'Tipografia Rangel' at his home at Boa Vista, Bastora, and then started coordinating and publishing the Elementos de Musica for the teaching of Solfeggio, a music education method of pitch and 'sight singing'. "It was the first such book, not just in Goa, but also, in British India. It continues to be used in today's time," says Rangel. The first book published at Bastora was the Almanaque de Bofete (almanac on food). This was followed by Almanaque de Parede (wall almanac). Among other works published later was a fortnightly magazine called O Indispensavel, which he co-founded with Dr Pitogoras Lobo of Socorro. He also authored the Regulamento das Comunidades Agricolas de Goa, a book on the agricultural communities of Goa. Besides works in the Portuguese language, 'Tipografia Rangel' also published books in Konkani, English and French. It was in 1909, when Tipografia Rangel published a book Almanach Illustrado Parede e Bofete that signified the coming of age of printing in Goa. It was a book that used the CMYK four-colour process, had photographs and layout and designs that were done at a time when computers and Coreldraw were still eight decades away. Janin's pedagogical works later included the Primeiro and Segundo Tomo in the Konkani and Portuguese languages, elementary Portuguese grammar and elementary metric decimal system. "In 1933, he published his magnum-opus, a monumental work titled A Gramatica da Lingua Concani (Grammar of the Konkani language) in Konkani and Portuguese. This book had a 28-page preface written in Konkani by his son, Dr Jaime Valfredo Rangel, detailing the history of the Konkani language," says Rangel. Valfredo soon took over the printing and publishing business from his father. "It was during Valfredo's era when the business expanded and flourished," says Rangel. Valfredo ran his own weekly newspaper, O Independente, from 1933 to 1945. He was also editor of the Arquivos da Escola Medica de Goa (Goa medical college archives), which was published by Tipografia Rangel. "He took up the responsibility of printing the Boletim do Instituto Vasco da Gama, which was later renamed as the Instituto Meneses Braganca, and the bulletin was also renamed as the Boletim Instituto Meneses Braganza," says Rangel. Other books published were the archdiocesan bulletin Boletim Eclesiastico de Goa and its earlier form, A Voz de S Francisco Xavier. Besides publishing books for students in languages and sciences and medical journals, Valfredo wrote and published the book Imprensa de Goa in 1956, commemorating four hundred years of the printing press in Goa. All this was done even as Valfredo exercised the responsibility entrusted to him as the Presidente de Camara Municipal de Bardes (municipal council of Bardez), a position he held for 10 years. Valfredo passed away in 1959 at the age of 62, handing over the reins of the business to his son, Jose Rangel. Jose's first test came in 1961, when Goa went through tumultuous times and the changes that came along with it. "A lot of work remained uncollected and Tipografia Rangel remained unpaid and faced financial losses," says Rangel. Jose tided over those testing times and continued publishing multilingual works. "With the dominance of English and the vernacular languages in the coming years, many publishing houses did not see business sense in publishing works written in Portuguese. My father, Jose, though, gave these writers an output and helped them publish their works," says Rangel. 'Tipografia Rangel' soon became a popular name among school children, with the printing of school calendars of the nearby educational institutions in Bastora, Aldona and Mapusa. As Jose grew older, he ceased operations for a number of reasons and Tipografia Rangel rolled out its last works in 1994. Jose's son, Jaime, says he does not intend on restarting the printing press. "I revived the institution, though, with the publication of a commemorative issue, 'Let a Million Blossoms Bloom', which was linked to the 125th anniversary of the Tipografia Rangel and the founding of the Holy Cross High School at Bastora, which was built on land gifted by my grandfather, Jaime Valfredo Rangel," he says. >From manual printing machines to using diesel to run the printing press, and later switching to electricity, Tipografia Rangel has indelibly etched its name on the pages of Goa's history. Stay updated on the go with The Times of India’s mobile apps. Click here to download it for your device P +91-832-2409490 M +91-9822122436 W http://goa1556.in T @fn on Twitter R Saligao, Goa, India Stay in touch. I reply email.