CHAPTER I
CAXTON AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES
he art of printing had been known on the Continent for something over twenty years, when William Caxton, a citizen and mercer of London, introduced it into England.
Such facts as are known of the life of England's first printer are few and simple. He tells us himself that he was born in the Weald of Kent, and he was probably educated in his native village. When old enough, he was apprenticed to a well-to-do London mercer, Robert Large, who carried on business in the Old Jewry. This was in 1438, and in 1441 his master died, leaving, among other legacies, a sum of twenty marks to William Caxton.
In all probability Caxton, whose term of apprenticeship had not expired, was transferred to some other master to serve the remainder of his term; but all we know is that he shortly afterwards left England for the Low Countries. In the prologue to the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye he tells us that, at the time he began the translation, he had been living on the Continent for thirty years, in various places, Brabant, Flanders, Holland, and Zealand, but the city of Bruges, one of the largest centres of trade in Europe at that time, was his headquarters. Caxton prospered in his business, and rose to be 'Governor to the English Nation at Bruges,' a position of importance, and one that brought him into contact with men of high rank.
In the year 1468 Caxton appears to have had some leisure for literary work, and began to translate a French book he had lately been reading, Raoul Le Fevre's Recueil des Histoires de Troyes; but after writing a few quires he threw down his pen in disgust at the feebleness of his version.
Very shortly after this he entered the service of Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, sister of Edward IV. of England, either as secretary or steward. The Duchess used to talk with him on literary matters, and he told her of his attempt to translate the Recueil. She asked him to show her what he had written, pointed out how he might amend his 'rude English,' and encouraged him to continue his work. Caxton took up the task again, and in spite of many interruptions, including journeys to both Ghent and Cologne, he completed it, in the latter city, on the 19th September 1471. All this he tells us in the prologue, and at the end of the second book he says:—