First book printed in EnglandIn 1477, English printer William Caxton, (c.1422 - c.1491) produced the first book printed in England, Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres (Sayings of the Philosophers). A few years earlier, in Europe, he had learned the art of printing in Cologne (1471). In Bruges, in partnership with a copyist and bookseller, Colard Mansion, he produced the first book in the English language, Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, (late 1474 or early 1475) translated from French by Caxton himself. In 1476, he returned to his native land, England, where he used his experience from abroad to set up a printing and publishing business "at the sign of the Red Pale" within the precincts of Westminster Abbey. In the next 15 years, he printed 107 works, including 74 books.« |
