William Caxton

Lore & Background

Caxton's parentage and date of birth are not known for certain, but he may have been born between 1415 and 1424, perhaps in the Weald or wood land of Kent, perhaps in Hadlow or Tenterden. In 1438 he was apprenticed to Robert Large, a wealthy London silk mercer. After Large's death, Caxton moved to Bruges, Flanders, where he was settled by 1450. Successful in business, he became governor of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London. On his business travels, he observed the new printing industry in Cologne, which led him to start a printing press in Bruges in collaboration with Colard Mansion. Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV, encouraged Caxton to complete his translation of the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, which he did in 1471.

On his return to England, heavy demand for his translation prompted Caxton to set up a press at Westminster in 1476. The first book he is known to have produced there was an edition of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. He went on to publish chivalric romances, classical works, and English and Roman histories. He was the first to translate Aesop's Fables in 1484. Caxton was not an adequate translator, and under pressure to publish as much as possible as quickly as possible, he sometimes simply transferred French words into English. His precise date of death is uncertain, but estimates from records of his burial in St. Margaret's, Westminster, suggest he died near March 1492, though his output suggests no books later than 1491.

Reader's Guide

William Caxton's significance lies in his role as the first English printer and his impact on the English language. By setting up a press at Westminster in 1476, he made printed books available in England, publishing works such as Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. He translated many works himself, including Aesop's Fables (1484) and the Golden Legend, which contained some of the earliest verses of the Bible printed in English. Although his translations were sometimes criticized for directly transferring French words into English, his use of Chancery Standard helped promote that London dialect as the standard throughout England. Caxton printed 68 percent of his works in English and is credited with printing as many as 108 books, 87 of which were different titles. His legacy includes the establishment of printing in England and the standardization of the English language. In 2002, he was named among the 100 Greatest Britons in a BBC poll.

Did You Know?

• Caxton was apprenticed to Robert Large, a wealthy London silk mercer, in 1438.
• He produced the first translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses in English.
• The first book he printed in England was an edition of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.
• Caxton's translation of the Golden Legend (1483) contains perhaps the earliest verses of the Bible to be printed in English.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"William Caxton (c. 1420 – 1492) was the first English printer and publisher.

He was also a prolific translator of French romances, and an author in his own right." — William Caxton "The worshipful fader and first foundeur and enbelissher of ornate eloquence in our Englissh.

I mene Maister Geffrey Chaucer." — William Caxton "Epilogue to Boethius De Consolacione Philosophie (1478); cited from Daniel Wakelin Humanism, Reading, and English Literature, 1430-1530 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) p. 15." — William Caxton "He that wil wynne he muste laboure and aventure." — William Caxton