E12 Copy 2 770.176 Stanfordbrary SEP 8 1954 Original Series, No. 176. PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. PREFACE IN 1861 William Blades published his Life and Typography of William Caxton: that work will always remain a classic, but in prefacing the Prologues and Epilogues of Caxton with a biographical introduction I have sought to supplement Blades' account of the printer's life. Documents concerning Caxton have come to light from time to time and have been published in academic periodicals; these and a considerable number of others that I have been fortunate enough to discover are collected in the Appendix. Because we now know so much more about Caxton as a representative merchant abroad I have endeavoured to present him in his proper setting amid the problems of fifteenth-century commercial relations; because he was a diplomat I have tried to show the significance of his relations with the Hansards and with Burgundy. Unlike the early continental printers, he was not a professional scrivener turning to the new method of quicker reproduction: he was an English gentleman, a merchant of responsible position, an emissary for the English king, a lover and critic of fine books and literature who, late in life, was seized by the romance of the new Art and who took upon himself the immense responsibility and labour of introducing that art into England. The matter does not rest even there: the books he chose to print were the best works English literature had produced, and these he supplemented by his own diligent translations from French and German books which had attracted him in the original. Truly this was, in his own words, "a merytory dede." My aim throughout the actual edition has been to present to the reader a minutely accurate copy of the actual texts as they were issued from Caxton's press, and at the same time to make the reading of the material as simple and as pleasurable as possible to the modern eye: for this latter reason I have avoided the usual mark | signifying the end of the printed line, which at first curiously disjoints the sense of the words, by reproducing the text line for line; thus this sign is used only in the case of double-columned pages, to denote the foot of the first column. The sign ||, as is customary, denotes the end of a page. On the same principle of simplification I have expanded the typographical contractions into italicised letters: thus 'me' is printed 'men'; translacōn, translacion; thene, thenne; ppetuel, perpetuel, etc. On the other hand I prefer to use the common Middle English sign for 'and' rather than the ungainly modern one. In the case of obvious printer's errors I have restored to the text the form which I conceive Caxton intended to print, in each case however referring the reader to the bottom of the page, where the form as it appears in the text will be found. The works I have consulted appear in the Bibliography, but I must make special acknowledgment of my indebtedness to Miss C. L. Scofield's volumes, The Life and Reign of Edward IV, from which I drew many facts and certain other hints and clues. In conclusion I desire to thank all those who have aided me in the preparation of this work: more especially are my thanks due to Professor Sir Israel Gollancz for the inspiration to set about this book and for sponsoring it throughout; to Professor A. W. Pollard, late Keeper of the Printed Books at the British Museum, Mr. J. J. O'Reilly of the Public Record Office, and Mr. A. H. Thomas, Keeper of the Records at the Guildhall; to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey for their courtesy in allowing me to consult the Muniments, and to Mr. L. E. Tanner, the Keeper of the Muniments, for his friendliness and readiness to put his time and knowledge at my service; to Mr. H. R. Plomer, who corresponded with me on interesting points and to whom the discovery of several documents is due; to my good friends Mr. G. S. Humphreys, who discovered the entries in Appendix XXIV, and Dr. Odon Schram, who has always been ready to advise me upon the Dutch and German documents; and last, though perhaps most, to Professor A. W. Reed, without whose constant supervision, advice, ideas and encouragement this book would not have been what it is. London School of Economics. W. J. B. C. |