ABSTRACT
So,thesecondexperimentinprintinginBahrainwascarried outinanuptodatewaybefore1934.Thisisprovedbyaletter whichwassentbyal-Ustadh'Abdal-RahmanIbnHassanal-Hassan, oneoftheworkersatthepress,dated2/10/1352AH,or17/111934 AD.Itwassenttoal-UstadhAbdallahal-Zaidandindicatedthat'the secondprintingpressofBahrainwasinfullflowerbytheyear1934.' Thesenderoftheletterwastrainedatthepressuntilhebecamea typesetter.Thenheleftthepress,asthesalarythatheearnedwasso small.Itisknownthatal-Ustadhal-Hassanwasnotoneofthefirst peopletoworkforthesecondprintingpressofBahrainaccordingto whatwearetoldbythelateRashidIbnSabahal-Jalahamaand Ibrahimal-Zaidwhowereattheheadofthosewhofirstworkedat thepress.Inorderforal-Hassantobecomeagoodtypesetter,there isnodoubtthathewouldhavehadtoundergoaperiodoftrainingof nolessthansixmonths.Heconfirmsthathedidundergothisperiod oftraininginaletter,whosetextwearepublishinginordertoshed lightontheoriginsoftheinitialworkonthesecondprintingpressof Bahrain.Thetextoftheletterisasfollows:
'2/10/52InthenameofGod. DearAbdallahIbnAlial-Zaid, Isendyougreetings.Iamwritingtotellyouthatyourdeputy, 'Abdal-LatifIbnJawhar,hasinformedmethatyouwishmeto returntothepressonconditionthatIworkhardandmake progress.IwouldsaythatIwasagoodtypesettertherebeforeI leftthepress,asItookgreatpleasureinit.Iamparticularly wellversedintheartisticlineofArabicandthesensitive placingofitslettersalthoughIonlysettheEnglishasIdidnot havethetechniques.Godwilling,Iwilllearnthosetechniques ifIcouldonlygetadecentincreaseinsalaryfromyou.Asyou know,Ialsohaveanotherjob,namelycalligraphyinallits forms.Ifthepublishinghousewereinitsinfancyyouwould nottalkinclichesandyouwouldnotdispensewitha calligrapher,asifoneoftheownersofthepublishinghouse
wantedabookofwhatevertitle,thecalligrapherwouldpenit. Themoneyearnedwouldgototheowner,forthecalligrapher onlyhashissalarythatisagreedupon,withtheconditionthat hissalarywillexceedthatofthetypesetterbyatleastaquarter. Thisisunlessthetypesetterisabletopenandsetinboth EnglishandArabic,inwhichcasehissalarywouldbeequal.I ambothacalligrapherandasettersoifyouwantmetoreturn, IamreadytodosoontheconditionsIhavementioned.So, thinkitover,anditdoesnotescapethosewhohave experiencethatthehighestsalaryforsomeonewhoworksfora printingpressafterthetypesetter,istheadministrator. 'Abdal-RahmanlbnHassan.'
