Caxton, William

Caxton, William, c.1421–91, English printer, the first to print books in English. He served apprenticeship as a mercer and from 1463 to 1469 was at Bruges as governor of the Merchants Adventurers in the Low Countries, serving as a diplomat for the English king. He learned printing in Cologne in 1471–72, and at Bruges in 1475 he and Colard Mansion printed The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, his own translation from the French, and the first book printed in English. In 1476 he returned to England, and at Westminster in 1477 he printed Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres, the first dated book printed in England. Caxton is known to have printed about 100 books, many dealing with themes of chivalry. He was the translator, from French, Latin, and Dutch, of about one third of the books that he printed, and for some he wrote original prologues, epilogues, and additions. His books are of superb craftsmanship and are carefully edited. One of the typefaces used by Caxton is the original Old English type. The size of this type of Caxton's (14 point) is known as English. Wynkyn de Worde, his successor as a printer, was his assistant at Westminster, and the printers Richard Pynson and Robert Copland refer to Caxton (possibly figuratively) as their master.

Bibliography

See biographies by N. S. Aurer (1926, repr. 1965), H. R. Plomer (1925, repr. 1968), N. F. Blake (1969) and G. D. Painter (1977).

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Caxton, William

(born c. 1422, Kent, Eng.—died 1491, London) First British printer. He was a prosperous mercer when he began to translate French literature and learn printing. He set up a press in Belgium and published his translation The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (1475), the first book printed in English. Returning to England, he set up another press and produced the first dated book printed in English, Dictes and Sayenges of the Phylosophers (1477). His varied output—about 100 items, including books on chivalric romance, morality, and history and an encyclopaedia that was the first illustrated English book (1481)—shows that he catered to a general public as well as to wealthy patrons.

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Caxton, William 

Born 1422; died 1491. The first English printer.

The first printed book issued by Caxton was a translation from French into English of R. Le Fèvre’s Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (Bruges, 1475). In 1476 he set up a press in Westminster (a London suburb). It has been calculated that 96 various editions, mostly in English, were produced by Caxton, including the first English book to bear a date—Dictes and Sayenges of the Philosophres (1477). There are no title pages in Caxton’s books. He began decorating his books with his printer’s seal (the letters “W. C.” in an ornamental frame) in 1487.

REFERENCES

Katsprzhak, E. I. Istoriia knigi. Moscow, 1964.
Duff, E. G. William Caxton. Chicago, 1905.
Biihler, C. F. William Caxton and His Critics. [New York] 1960.