William Caxton

“ Donat's at Bruges, that William Caxton learned the art which he was the first to introduce into England. A Kentish boy by birth, but apprenticed to a London mercer, Caxton had already spent thirty years of his manhood in Flanders as Governor of the English gild of Merchant Adventurers there when we find him engaged as copyist in the service of Edward's sister, Duchess Margaret of Burgundy. ”

“ The argument is of little value, however, because the manufacture of cloth was the leading Kentish industry in the fifteenth century, and well-to-do parents invariably endeavoured to apprentice their sons to London mercers. In 1474 one Oliver Causton was buried at the church of St. Margaret's, Westminster, and in 1478 one William Caxton. The great printer was settled in Westminster at the latter date, and the William Caxton then buried may have been his father; but nothing is known for certain. His parents, whatever their names and condition, gave Caxton some education. ”

“ Authorities.—Earlier biographies of Caxton were superseded by the work of William Blades, whose Life and Typography of William Caxton (2 vols., 1861–1863) remains the standard authority. It contains a bibliography of each of the works issued from Caxton’s press. For later discoveries see George Bullen’s Catalogue of the Caxton celebration loan collection exhibited at South Kensington in 1877 ”

“ Erroneously attributed to Caxton in Ames's "Typographical Antiquities," Vol. I., p. 70.
Elizabeth, St. (See Catherine.)
Eneydos. (See Virgil.)
England. The Chronicles of England. First Edition. "Emprynted by me William Caxton, in thabbey of Westmynstre." Folio. 1480.
(Cambridge, Public Library AB. 10. 32. 2.)
England. The Chronicles of England. Second Edition. "Enprynted by me William Caxton, in thabbey of Westmestre." Folio. 1482.
British Museum C. 21. d. Another copy C. 10. b. 4.
England. The Description of Britain. "Fynyshed by me William Caxton." Without Place. Folio. 1480. ”

“ Thus you perceive that our natural position was one highly creditable to us, proving the soundness of our finances and the gentility of our pedigree,—of which last more hereafter. At present I content myself with saying on that head that even the proudest of the neighboring squirearchs always spoke of us as a very ancient family. But all my father ever said, to evince pride of ancestry, was in honor of William Caxton, citizen and printer in the reign of Edward IV.,—Clarum et venerabile nomen! an ancestor a man of letters might be justly vain of. ”

“ Mr. Blades has given full particulars of all the sales in his “Life and Typography of William Caxton” (1863) ; but there have been many sales since the publication of his great work, and particulars of these are given chiefly from two valuable articles, entitled Caxtoniana, by Mr. Frederic Norgate, which were published in The Library, Nos. 8 and 9 (August and September 1889) . That accurate bibliographer has kindly allowed the author to see and use his manuscript corrections and additions to these articles. ”

“ In body they are precisely the same, and in most of the letters they are to all appearance identical; and the fact of their making their appearance about the same time in the Lectura super institutionibus of Angelus de Aretio, printed at Louvain by Veldener, and in the Quatre derrenieres choses, printed at Bruges by Caxton, would certainly appear to point to some connexion between the two printers.
Furnished with a press and two founts of type, both of the West Flanders kind and cut in imitation of the ordinary book-hand, William Caxton and Colard Mansion started on their career as printers. ”

“ Now in the village church there was a beautiful brass monument to one Sir William de Caxton, who had been killed at the battle of Bosworth, fighting for that wicked King Richard III. And about the same time there lived, as you know, the great printer, William Caxton. Well, your father, happening to be in town on a visit to his aunt, took great trouble in hunting up all the old papers he could find at the Heralds' College ”

“ The text begins with a dedication:--" (T) o the right noble/ right excellent & vertuous prince George duc of Clarence Erl of Warwyk and of Salisburye/ grete chamberlayn of Englond & leutenant of Ireland oldest broder of kynge Edward by the grace of god kynge of England and of France/ your most humble servant william Caxton amonge other of your servantes sendes unto yow peas. helthe. Joye and victorye upon your Enemyes/ Right highe puyssant and." The text ends on the seventy-third recto, thus:--"And sende yow thaccomplisshement of your hye noble. ”

“ The story has often been told how Dibdin, the well-known writer of romantic bibliography, persuaded the lax Dean and Chapter of Lincoln to part with their Caxtons to Lord Spencer. We must, however, give even Dibdin his due, and point out that he was quite ignorant of the transaction, which was carried out by Edwards, the bookseller. The letter from Lord Spencer to Dibdin is still in existence, in which he describes the new Caxtons he had acquired, carefully omitting to say through whom or from what source. ”

“ The whole of this Caxton revised, and continued the chronicle up to the year 1460, this continuation [pg 54] being the only important piece of Caxton's own composition which we possess. This book shares with the Golden Legend the position of being the commonest of Caxton's books, and like it is unrepresented by a single absolutely perfect copy, the blank leaves, five of which occur throughout the book, being always in part wanting. ”

“ If no specific transfer to a new master had been made under the will of the old, the executors were bound to supply the apprentices with the means of continuing their service. That Caxton served his full time we know to have been the case, since he was admitted a few years later to the Livery of the Mercers' Company, but it is clear that he did not remain in England. In the prologue to the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, written in 1471, he says: "I have contynued by the space of xxx yere for the most part in the contres of Braband, Flandres, Holand, and Zeland" ”

“ Enprynted atte westmoster," is De Worde's device printed upside down, the reason no doubt for the rejection of the sheet.
The last book, the Golden Legend, is a small, thick folio of 436 leaves, with a number of illustrations which had been used in [pg 82] previous editions. The colophon is reprinted verbatim from the first edition, with the simple alteration of the date and regnal year. It ends, as do those of the preceding editions, "By me William Caxton," a circumstance which gives Blades the opportunity of remarking on the carelessness of Wynkyn de Worde. ”

“ One point which gives this book a peculiar interest is, that in it is found for the first time Caxton's well-known device. It consists of his initials, divided by his merchant's mark, with a deep ornamental border at top and bottom. Many ingenious writers have attempted to read into this mark several items of information. The merchant's mark they say is not a merchant's mark at all, but the figures 74 significant of the time when he began to print. Two small ornaments shaped like an S and C stand for Sancta Colonia, where he learned the art of printing. ”

“ Margaret. The abbots of Westminster themselves were in the wool trade, and according to Stow had six wool-houses in the Staple granted them by King Henry VI. Some such special causes, or perhaps certain privileges obtained from Margaret, Henry VII.'s mother, who was one of the printer's patrons, must have made Caxton fix his choice on Westminster rather than on London, the great centre for all merchants, and which might have been supposed more suitable for a printer. ”

“ Father, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson appear to have all been experts in the canon law. [26]
The reference to the "first book of the Truphes of the Philosophers by figure" does not convey a very definite idea as to the particular work intended. It must have been somewhat miscellaneous in character, for one extract describes the fountain of the syrens (p. 122) , and the other is an anecdote, which though told here of Julius Cæsar (p. 71) , is really the story of the soldier who had fought at Actium with Augustus Cæsar. ”

“ The Paris and Vienne was reprinted in 1492 by Gerard Leeu at Antwerp in small folio, with illustrations. He reprinted also in the same month the History of Jason, and in the year following the Chronicles of England. The apathy in book production which seems to have immediately succeeded Caxton's death may have encouraged him to attempt printing for the English market, but [pg 66] his own death while his edition of the Chronicles was passing through the press put an end to the trade. He printed one other English book, the Dialogue of Salomon and Marcolphus, of which one copy exists. ”

“ This translation, as he tells us in the epilogue, he undertook at the express desire of Henry VII., who himself lent him the manuscript with the original French text. It is not improbable that the identical manuscript which Caxton used is one which is now in the British Museum, and which formed part of the old Royal collection. It was written for John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, who died in 1453, and by whom it was presented to Queen Margaret, and it agrees very closely in every way with Caxton's English version. ”

“ The Recuyell is a small folio of 352 leaves, the first being blank, and each page contains 31 lines, spaced out in a very uneven manner. The second leaf, on which the book begins, contains Caxton's prologue, printed in red ink. The book is without signatures, headlines, numbers to the pages, or catchwords.
Although a considerable number of copies—some twenty in all—are still in existence, almost every one is imperfect. The very interesting copy bought by the Duke of Devonshire at the Roxburghe sale in 1812 for £1,060 10s. ”

“ Scott, of the British Museum, who is at present engaged in calendaring these documents, and to whom I wrote on the subject, replied: "I believe it to be quite impossible that Caxton's will can be in the Muniment Rooms at the Abbey, because all the wills are together in one bundle, arranged chronologically, and also I have calendared, so far as I can see, all papers and deeds relating to Westminster." There is just the possibility that at some period the will, having been recognized as of supreme interest, has been removed to some place of greater security and its whereabouts forgotten. ”

“ Si vous fera on So men make to you 32 Ung biau lite; A fayr bedde; Vous ne aures pys Ye shall haue no werse Que nous mesmes.” Than we our self.” P. 29. “Bertran, ce seroit asses; “Bertram, this shall be ynough; 36 Car se il ny auoit For yf he haue Fors que du pain Nothing than brede Et bon ceruoyse And good ale Il me souffiroit, Hit shold suffyse me, 40 31 NAMES: BARNABE—CYPRIEN. Baking, Washing.
Si comme a chescun So as to euerich Doibt souffire.” It ought suffyse.” “Barnabe, alles vous ent! “Barnabe, goo ye hens! Nous ne auons cure We haue no charge 4 De vostre companie. ”

“ Amongst these priceless volumes one stands out pre-eminent. It was until recently in an old calf binding, lettered on the back, "Old poetry printed by Caxton," and contained eight pieces, the Stans puer ad mensam, the Parvus Catho, The Chorle and the Bird, The Horse, the Shepe and the Goose, The Temple of Glas, The Temple of Brass, The Book of Courtesy, and Anelida and Arcyte. Five of these are absolutely unique; of the others a second copy is known. ”

“ In August, 1474, in an edition of the Consolatio peccatorum of Jacobus de Theramo, printed by him, there is a prefatory letter addressed "Johanni Veldener, artis impressoriae magistro," showing that he was by that time a printer. He was also, as he himself tells us, a type-founder, and in 1475 he made use of a type in many respects identical with one used by Caxton. ”

“ He compressed the quires signed X and Y, which contained the awkward number of nine leaves, into a single quire X of eight leaves, and instead of having a blank leaf at the end of the book he added the life of St. Erasmus. The parts of the book which are of the second issue may be readily distinguished from [pg 72] the first by the head-lines. In the first issue they are in the larger type No. 3; in the second, in the smaller type No. 5.
On the 14th of July, 1489, Caxton finished printing a translation of the work of Christine de Pisan, entitled the Fayts of Arms and of Chivalry. ”

“ Earl Rivers and the Earl of Worcester were not only intimate friends of Caxton, but translated books for his press, and Margaret, countess of Richmond, and Henry Bourchier, earl of Essex, showed him many attentions. To Richard III Caxton dedicated his ‘Order of Chivalry.’ Henry VII bade Caxton print the ‘Fayts of Arms,’ and the ‘Eneydos’ was dedicated to Arthur, prince of Wales. William, earl of Arundel, allowed him a buck every summer and a doe in winter. Sir John Fastolf eagerly purchased his books, and many rich mercers were his fastest friends. ”

“ Nous en aurons toute jour
We shall haue all the day Plus chault en nous membres.” More hete in our membres.” 4 “Arnoul, verses du vin, “Arnold, gyue us wyne Et nous donnes a boire.” And gyue vs to drynke.” “Non feray; ie poyle des aulx. “I shall not, I pylle the gharlyk. Alles ainchois1 lauer; 1 amchois Goo erst wasshe; 8 Vous beuuries bien a temps.” Ye shall drynke well in tyme.” “Aubin est a le2 porte, 2 ? la “Aubin is at the gate, Mais al huys. But at the dore. Vase le laisse ens. Goo late hym in. 12 Je croy quil maporte I trowe that he bryngeth me Ce quil me doibt.” That he me oweth.” ”