Who was William Caxton?
Prose writer, translator, and printer.
Date and Place of Birth:
1422, Kent, England.
Family Background:
Early biographical information is difficult to
find and can only be gleaned from the frontispieces of his work.
It is likely however that he came from a minor merchant family.
Education:
It is likely that his parents gave him a basic
education. Apprenticed to Robert Large a rich mercer.
Chronology/Biography of William Caxton:
1438: Took up apprenticeship
with Robert Large a rich mercer who would later become the Lord
Mayor of London.
1441: After large's
death he moved to Bruges in Belgium and built up a successful textile
business.
1453: Visits England
to be admitted to the Mercers Company.
1463: He was appointed
Acting Governor of the Merchant Adventurers in the Low Countries.
1464: Failed to
renew a wool treaty with Philip Duke of Burgundy.
1468: This time
successfully negotiated a wool treaty with Charles the Bold, successor
to Philip. He was hired to be an advisor by Charles to his wife
Margaret who was the sister of King Edward the Fourth of England.
Encouraged by the Princess to take up his work again on the translation
of Raoul le Fevre's "The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye"
a popular French romance. He went to Cologne for a year to learn
the art of printing and then set off back to Brussels to set up
his own printing press.
1474: Prints first
book in English "The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye"
in greater quantities at the press of Colard Mansion. Prints "The
Game and Play of the Chesse" which was the first printed book
in English to contain woodcuts.
1476: Sets up printing
press in Westminster under the sign of the Red Pale.
1477: His first
printed work here was "Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres",
which was the beginning of a stream of ninety-six books in total.
He made the first printing of Chaucer's
"Canterbury Tales".
1484: First printing
of Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde".
1485: First printing
of "L'Morte D'Arthur" by Malory.
1490: Began using
a more open typeface originally devised by the parisian printer
Antoine Verard which was based on the French lettre batarde.
Marriage:
Unknown.
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
British Library, St. Pancras.
Date and Place of Death:
1491, London, England.
Age at Death:
69.
Site of Grave:
St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster , London,
England.
