Bruges was at this time a city of wealth and culture, the Flemings being far in advance of the English in this respect. Life in these surroundings caused Caxton to become interested in reading and good literature, and in 1467 he undertook a translation into English of a collection of stories of Troy, or as he called it “Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye.” Shortly after this, Margaret, sister of Edward IV of England, married the Duke of Burgundy and came to Bruges to live. Caxton immediately came into friendly relations with the Duchess, who shortly after gave him a position in her personal service. It is not quite clear what this position was. It has been supposed by some that the purpose of the Duchess was to enable Caxton to pursue his literary labors with the special end of making continental literature known to the English through translation. A more probable supposition, however, is that he was the confidential business adviser to the Duchess. It is a well-known fact that royal personages at this period engaged freely in trade and that sometimes they engaged in extensive commercial transactions with other royal personages although trade between their two countries might be strictly prohibited by law, as was the case with England and Flanders during part of the reign of Edward IV. At an early period of their friendship Caxton showed the Duchess Margaret his unfinished translation of the Troy stories. Fortunately for the world, the Duchess was a friendly but candid critic. She saw both the strength and the weakness of Caxton’s work, and while she took him to task roundly for his rough and poor English she encouraged and commanded him to complete his translation and at the same time improve himself in English. Caxton thereupon renewed his work and completed the translation of the Troy stories at Cologne in 1471.
Caxton was immediately besieged with demands for copies of his translations, which, of course, he was unable to furnish, although he appears to have worked at it until time, strength, and eyesight failed. He thereupon determined to learn the new art of printing so that he might by that means multiply copies of this and other works which he might execute. Unquestionably he saw printing presses in operation in Cologne. It has been claimed that he learned to print there, and this claim receives some support from an ambiguous statement attributed to him many years later by Wynkyn de Worde. It is possible that Caxton may have worked a little in one of the Cologne printing offices, but it seems clear on internal evidence that Mr. Blades is right in his conclusion that Caxton did not learn the art there. The early printed work of Caxton is by no means equal to that of the Cologne printers, and represents an earlier stage of development than that which had been reached by Cologne at this period. Many of the compositor’s methods which were familiar to the Cologne printers of 1470 did not appear in Caxton’s books until years later.
On Caxton’s return from Cologne he associated himself with one Colard Mansion, who for a few years unsuccessfully attempted to carry on a printing business at Bruges. The probability is that Caxton learned the art during this association with Mansion. The association was terminated in 1476 by the bankruptcy of Mansion. During this period, however, Caxton and Mansion published five books, two in English and three in French. The first to be published, and the first book to be printed in English anywhere, was the translation of the Troy stories. One of the other books was the first book that was ever printed in French. It is interesting to note that the first book to be printed in French was done by an Englishman in Flanders.
In 1476 Caxton withdrew entirely from his business connections in Bruges, went to England, taking with him his presses, type, and workmen, and opened a printing office within the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It has often been stated that Caxton’s printing office was in the abbey building itself, but this is undoubtedly an error. English abbeys and cathedrals are commonly surrounded by a considerable extent of ground called a “close.” Within this “close” are dwelling houses and not infrequently shops. The entire property belongs to and is controlled by the abbey or cathedral authorities. Caxton’s shop appears to have been in a building known as the “Red Pale” within the abbey “close.” Caxton continued to print here until his death in 1491.
Within this period he printed ninety-three books and perhaps eight or ten more whose attribution is uncertain. Of these ninety-three, fifteen ran to two editions and three of the fifteen ran to three editions. Caxton was a good business man and was probably possessed of considerable capital when he began. He not only made the business pay, but took advantage of his somewhat independent position financially to lead and create the popular taste instead of following it. Caxton was thoroughly English. He knew his people and knew what they would take and he printed accordingly. He did a good business in service books, school books, and statutes or public printing. These were what we should call to-day “pot boilers” and kept his office going on a sound business basis. Beyond that he printed a large number of works of good literature, but he took no unnecessary chances even in this field. He always endeavored either to get the financial backing of some wealthy noble or to assure himself of a reasonable sale before he undertook a new publication.
In the field of literature his work was different from that of almost any other printer of his time. He printed no Bibles. Latin Bibles could easily be imported from the continent, probably cheaper than he could print them. English Bibles were not permitted to be printed unless the English translation had been made before the appearance of Wickliffe’s Bible in 1380. There were translations into English before Wickliffe, as well as a considerable number of later date, but with the loose and uncertain dating of manuscripts the printing of an English Bible was altogether a more risky proposition than Caxton cared to undertake. He printed no works on theology. There was no demand for theology in English, and theology in Latin and Greek could be cheaply imported. Moreover, although Caxton was a profoundly religious man and a perfectly loyal son of the Church, he appears to have had no personal interest in theology whatever. For similar reasons he printed no edition of the Fathers and only two volumes of the classics. He left all of these matters to the importers.
His field of publication was the putting before the public of good, recent literature in the English language. He did this partly through printing the works of Chaucer, Langland, and other good English authors and partly through translation of works in French and Latin. He was very much interested in English history and works relating to England, publishing several of the old chronicles and other matters of this sort. He believed that there was great help to be found in reading stories of good women and brave men and he attempted to lay a store of such stories before his readers. His own translations cover over five thousand closely printed folio pages, but he had many other translations made for him. He was a good linguist in French, Flemish, and Latin and a tireless worker at his literary and business labors. He meant that everything which he printed should be helpful to his readers and should make for the betterment of the life of his time, although he would have been the first to disclaim the title of reformer or missionary.
Two notable instances of his literary honesty appear. After the publication of his first edition of Chaucer, an acquaintance came to him and called his attention to the fact that he had followed a very imperfect manuscript. His friend said that his father had a very fine manuscript and Caxton at once arranged for a loan of it. Finding that through following an imperfect text he had omitted many things from Chaucer’s text and inserted many others which did not belong there, he at once printed a correct edition, probably at very serious loss to himself. The unsold copies of the first edition became useless and the cost of a second edition was equal to the first, as the work had to be entirely done over again from the beginning. The other instance must be judged by the standards of his time rather than ours, but showed his desire to present only correct texts to his readers. Caxton published in 1483 a translation of John Mink’s “Liber Festivalis.” An independent translation was published at Oxford in 1487. A few years later Caxton published a second edition, but followed the Oxford text rather than his own earlier translation.
Personally Caxton is a most interesting figure, a sturdy, honest, high-minded, common-sensible English gentleman, a man who loved and served God, honored the King, and helped his neighbor to the best of his ability, and who did his country an inestimable service not only by the introduction of a new art but by the opening of a new field of literature.
Caxton’s printing was not remarkable for typographical excellence. He used soft type and thin ink, very much to the detriment of the beauty of his impressions. The first type which he used was a font of black letter made in imitation of the handwriting of the Burgundian clerks of the time. This font had belonged to Mansion and was probably obtained by Caxton from Mansion’s creditors. Later he cut for himself several other fonts, some authorities say five, some seven. All of his fonts were black-letter Gothic and all more or less related to the Burgundian script with which he began. He used / instead of commas and periods. He had a habit of correcting typographical errors by hand after the books were finished. He went over the first copy, making the corrections himself, and afterward the other copies were made to conform by clerks or apprentices.