William caxton famous works

William caxton education
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William Caxton

1418–1492

GREATNOBLESVISITED CAXTON'SWORKSHOP

William Caxton was an Englishmen who lived for many years in Bruges, in Flanders. He was at first a merchant but later became a translator, and in this context became familiar with the new printing inventions of Gutenberg. In Bruges he produced the first printed book ever written in English, a translation of the story of the Trojan War. Shortly thereafter learned the printing business, acquired all that was necessary to set up his own shop, and returned to England where he worked for some time out of a monastery. For the following sixteen years he worked at a furious rate, translating many books and pamphlets to English, printing, and distributing them.

Caxton worked on a great variety of texts, but most of his famous works were written for purposes of entertainment rather than philosophical or religious works. His two most famous productions included the story of King Arthur, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, both of which, thereafter, became exceedingly widely read. He also published books of prov

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William Caxton

English merchant and printer (c. 1422–c. 1491)

William Caxton (c. 1422 – c. 1491) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books.

His 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.

Shortly after Large's death, Caxton moved to Bruges, Belgium, a wealthy cultured city in which 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. When Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV, married the Duke of Burgundy, they moved to Bruges and befriended Caxton. Margaret encourage

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William Caxton and the introduction of printing to London

William Caxton depicted in a stained-glass window in the crypt of the Guildhall.

Until the latter part of the 15^th century all books had to be written by hand. In earlier centuries parchment was used but by the end of the 14^th century paper was being imported, some from Genoa and later from France and the Rhine region. The printing press is thought to have been invented in Germany by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450 and by the end of the century printed books were available in London. At the end of the 1460s the Earl of Worcester arranged for the Hanseatic League at the Steelyard – the Germanic traders who had their London base where Cannon Street station now stands – to acquire two printed bibles for him and some merchants began importing quite large quantities of books to England. Around the end of the 1470s Henry Frankenburgh was importing hundreds of historical books and Peter Actors was also shipping similar quantities.

The first person to bring printing to England was William Caxton. He was born in Kent,