Caxton, William

Caxton, William
(ca. 1422-1491)
   The first Englishman to practice the new art of printing. A native of Kent and a member of the Mercers' Company of London, he spent many years living abroad, chiefly at Bruges in the Netherlands. In 1470 he moved to Cologne and took charge of a printing firm. After printing several books there, he returned to Bruges and founded a new printing shop. About the end of 1473, he brought out the first book printed in English, a translation of a French historical romance, Recuyell of the Histories of Troy. In 1476 Caxton moved back to England and set up shop at Westminster, near the royal court. There he printed about a hundred titles, of which the most famous is the first edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1477); but his products also included works of religious edification, English translations of lives of the saints (notably the Legenda aurea of Jacobus de Voragine), a book on chess, Aesop's Fables, and Reynard the Fox. At the very end of his life, he translated into English a book of the lives of the ancient Christian Desert Fathers, published by his successor Wynkyn de Worde.

Historical Dictionary of Renaissance. . 2004.

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  • Caxton, William — • Born in the Weald of Kent, c. 1422; died at Westminster, 1491; the first English printer and the introducer of the art of printing into England Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Caxton, William — (ca. 1421–1491)    Businessman, critic, writer, translator, and printer, William Caxton is most celebrated for establishing the first printing press in England. Caxton was born in Kent sometime between 1415 and 1422, most likely in 1422. Besides… …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature

  • Caxton, William — (c. 1421–1491)    Commencing operations after EDWARD IV had seemingly ended the WARS OF THE ROSES, cloth merchant William Caxton introduced printing to England in 1477. With the patronage of courtiers and members of the royal houses of YORK and… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • Caxton, William — born с 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… …   Universalium

  • Caxton,William — Cax·ton (kăkʹstən), William. 1422? 1491. English printer who published the first book in English, Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (c. 1475). * * * …   Universalium

  • Caxton, William — ( 1422, Kent, Inglaterra–1491, Londres). Primer impresor británico. Era un próspero comerciante en telas y artículos de mercería cuando comenzó a traducir literatura francesa y a aprender el arte de la impresión. Instaló una imprenta en Bélgica,… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • CAXTON, WILLIAM —    the first English printer, born in Kent, bred a mercer, settled for a time in Bruges, learned the art of printing there, where he printed a translation of the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troyes, and The Game and Playe of Chesse ; returning to …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Caxton, William — (1422 1491)    Printer and translator, b. in the Weald of Kent, was apprenticed to a London mercer. On his master s death in 1441 he went to Bruges, and lived there and in various other places in the Low Countries for over 30 years, engaged… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Caxton — William Caxton (* um 1422 in der Grafschaft Kent; † 1491 in Westminster) war der erste englische Buchdrucker und gleichzeitig auch als Verleger und Übersetzer tätig. Er gilt als bedeutender Bildner und Reformator der englischen Sprache, da er in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Caxton — (* um 1422 in der Grafschaft Kent; † 1491 in Westminster) war der erste englische Buchdrucker und gleichzeitig auch als Verleger und Übersetzer tätig. Er gilt als bedeutender Bildner und Reformer der englischen Sprache, da er in seinen Drucken… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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