AustLit

Quoting the blogsite of Indian journalist Raju Gusain, Mussoorie, 8 Jan: The Mofussilite newspaper has received a new lease of life. This newspaper, which was launched and edited by John Lang, who died here on 20 August 1864, is now being printed from Australia. It is now no longer a bi-weekly as it was in 1859. The New Mofussilite is a bi-annual journal published by an Australian publishing house under the John Lang Project. Disclosing this, Victor Crittenden says, 'The New Mofussilite is a small publication sent to Associate Members of the John Lang Project to keep them informed on progress. It will be issued twice a year and is published by the Mulini Press (Canberra).' Crittenden is author of 'John Lang: Australia's Larrikin Writer'. It will be recalled that Mofussilite made a humble beginning on 2 August 1845 in Calcutta. In 1846, Lang decided to publish it from Ambala and later it was shifted to Meerut and Agra. On 1 March 1859, Mofussilite again moved from Agra to Meerut... The journal aims at informing readers about the latest research on the first Australian novelist. Earlier, local people believed that Lang also published his newspaper from here. But author Victor Crittenden presents a totally different opinion. He says, "Lang was involved in creative work in Mussoorie during his stay. But he never established his press in the hill station. He was looked after by his Indian servants. He could send down copy for the newspaper to be printed in Meerut and occasionally make a short visit to check things, essentially leaving the business to his printer Gibbons, who continued to act as an assistant editor." The New Mofussilite should be looked upon as a move to preserve and promote the life and works of John Lang. Garhwal Post 9 January, 2007 Dehradun.