William Caxton’s Contributions to the English Language and Books & Libraries

7/29/2019 William Caxtons Contributions to the English Language and Books & Libraries

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William Caxtons Contributions to the EnglishLanguage and Books & Libraries

LIS 612

Dr. Rebecca Knuth

Fall 2006

Dainan Skeem


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Introduction

Having been an English major, I already knew a little of whom William Caxton

was; his role as the first English printer cannot be overlooked. However, not having had a

chance to study him in-depth, I knew I wanted to take this opportunity to do so. I feel

pleased with the decision I made, for through the research of the paper, I have discovered

that Caxton was more than the first English printer, but also a translator and a linguist. It

was through his efforts that the English language came out of obscurity and into everyday

use. Without Caxton, the process would have taken longer or may have gone in a direction

totally different than what it is today.

A language that does not change is a language that is dead. Latin was once a

thriving language, spoken by thousands of people all over the European continent.

However, when the use of the language declined and few people spoke it (usually only

scholars and religious figures), it ceased to morph and became a dead language. Through

Caxtons efforts, English developed from a vulgar language to a common mans language,

emerging into the limelight to never be obscured again, nor to become a dead language.

Many of the texts used in colleges throughout the world are in English, a language

that has become international. Millions of books are printed in English in England, the

United States, Canada, Australia, and many other countries. Caxtons efforts to print books

in the English language can be seen as a breath of life for books in general and in the old

practice of collecting them in libraries.


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Biographical Information

William Caxtons date of birth is not known for certain. It is assumed to be close to

1415. However, most sources seem to agree that 1422 is probably a fairly accurate date.

According to the bookWilliam Caxton, Much of what we know about him is derived

from what he tells us about himself in the prologues and epilogues to the books he printed,

written to persuade prospective purchasers that the books were worth buying (11).

Caxton was born in Kent, England and was accepted as an apprentice in London in

1438. This was not a regular apprenticeship. According to N. F. Blake,

[Robert] Large was an important and influential merchant. Caxton had thus becomeapprentice to one of the more important men in the city. That Large was his master

would have been of great value to him. He became part of what was certainly aflourishing business, which would have provided him with useful contacts and

future trading partners. (26-7)

Seven years later, in 1445, he moved to Bruges, Belgium as a mercer to take part in the

trade there of the Merchant Adventurers of whom the London Mercers where prominent

members (William Caxton 10). Many Englishmen were attracted to Bruges due to its

production of fine cloths, which also made other textiles of import.

The move to Bruges was important in the scheme of Caxtons shift to printing. As

the years progressed, so did his skills as a mercer and his career. He eventually became an

important figure among his colleagues, which would again benefit him in the future with

printing. In this period Caxton learned how to finance projects and he acquired

considerable wealth. Both were necessary for the successful completion of his venture into

printing (Blake 45).

With the trouble that ensued with the government, Caxton began to look elsewhere

for merchandise to sell. English mercers where not allowed to sell fine cloths for a while


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and it is assumed that Caxton supplemented his sales with manuscripts. He worked closely

with many of the noble who were the only ones that could afford such luxuries as reading

materials. Through his handling of manuscripts and even books, he gained an interest in

literature. (Blake 32-45)

Translator

His first effort with literature was not in printing, but in translating. He knew

enough Dutch, Flemish, French and Latin to translate books into English. This was

unheard of before; English was not a scholarly language like French or Latin, but one used

only by the common folk. The first book to be translated by him was the Latin book

History of Troy (1475), that had been translated into French. However, he had such a

difficult time in translating that hed almost given up on the notion.

He had begun translating in 1469 and then given it up. The reason, according toCaxton, was his incompetence as a translator and his lack of command of English.

It is not a convincing one, for in the centre of the European book trade he couldprobably have found someone else to do it for him if he had just wanted a

translation. He evidently wanted to make the translation himself and was preventedfrom completing it for two years. (Blake 50)

Luckily for English speakers today, he ended up showed Margaret of Burgundy his

sampling of translated text, who ordered him to finish the translation and to improve his

style, which he did (Blake 46).

Opinions of Caxtons translations vary greatly. The following examples, given by

Blake, illustrate the differences of opinions between two editors as to the quality of his

translations. The first quote is from the editor Sommer:

The language of the first English printed book is, to say the least of it, very

peculiar, owing to the facts, that Caxtons rude englissh had probably becomesomewhat rusty during his long absence abroad, and, that his knowledge of French


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must have been rather superficial. It is therefore not wonderful when WilliamFiston, who corrected the text for Th. Creedes edition (1607), doubted Caxtons

being an Englishman. -Sommer 1894 p. 801 (125)

The second example that Blake uses is from Kellners introduction toBlanchardin

and Eglantine:

I contend that he was as good and free a translator as any of the 15th

century, and inhis style certainly not inferior to Peacock, the greatest prosaist of this time. What

makes Caxtons style appear so awkward in the eyes of a modern reader, is hisrepetitious, tautologies, and anacolutha. But these irregularities are, for the most

part, conscious sins, committed not only by him, but also by all the writers of histime. Kellner 1890 p. cxi (125)

Many of the translators in Caxtons day stated that they attempted to stay as close

to the original text as possible, even though this was more of a selling point for their work

than reality. Caxton made the same claims, probably out of obligation. How would it look

if everyone were doing it except him? His number one priority was not accuracy of

translation, but ensuring that there was always something on the press. Because he owned

it, it was up to him how many books he had available for printing and if nothing was

printing, he wasnt making money. To keep the presses working may have appeared more

important than a finely wrought phrase (Blake 126).

In his closing remarks on the subject of Caxton as a translator, Blake says,

In general he can hardly be distinguished from the host of translators who crowd the

fifteenth-century scene, except perhaps in the sheer quantity of his output. Of the 106works printed by or attributed to Caxton, he translated at least 28. It is hardly surprising

that he did not always have time to polish his version for the press. (150)

Printer

Caxton eventually resigned as the Governor within the Merchant Adventurers, a

post he held for several years, so he could travel to Cologne, Germany. He lived there from


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1471 -72, a total of 18 months. It is assumed that his intention in traveling there was to

learn how to be a printer so he could print his own book, The Recuyell of the Historyes of

Troye, translated from the French. Cologne, with a press dating from about 1465, was the

town nearest to Bruges which had a press at that time, and Caxton had little choice where

to go (Blake 56). It had become the capital of the Low Countries because of its university,

which attracted a lot of scholars and students; an important archbishopric; and strong trade,

especially with English tradesmen.

An interesting aspect to the printing world is the fact that there was an immediate

division of labor within the profession. There were the skilled craftsmen who actually did

the work on the presses and then there were the tradesmen that already had connections to

sell the books who were considered the publishers and entrepreneurs. Paper was the most

expensive investment that had to be available upfront, before any books were sold, and it

was the tradesmen who had the money readily available for purchasing. Surely Caxton

learned how to print, for it was his responsibility to teach his assistants once he returned to

Bruges and set up shop as a printer. Blake explains it thus: Normally he would not have

interfered in the actual printing operations, and it is not right to think of Caxton as a

printer. He was the publisher and entrepreneur. He provided the capital, chose the books

and distributed them, leaving the printing to others (59).

Once he returned to Bruges, Caxton used the patronage of Margaret of Burgundy to

help him publish his book. The first book he printed, and the first book to appear in

English, was his own translation of theHistory of Troy (Blake 60) in 1475. Before

returning to England to set up a printing press there, Caxton printed six or seven other

volumes while in Bruges. Two were in English, the one already mentioned and Game of


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Chess, and four were in French. A seventh pamphlet is attributed to him but has not been

confirmed to be his work. (Blake 60). Caxton finally returned to England to set up his own

printing press in 1476.

Since Caxton settled in Westminster instead of his hometown of London, it was

supposed that the relations between the scribes and the printers were at odds. It was

thought that perhaps the scribes felt threatened by this new device that would ultimately

outdate them, stealing all of their work. However, this has never been proved and, in fact,

there are several accounts of printers working closely with the scribes. As an example,

The first known item to be printed in England is an indulgence which must be dated prior

to 13 December 1476, since that date has been entered by hand in the surviving copy. It is

printed in Caxtons type 2 with six letters in his type 3 (Blake 79). Obviously he was

working with the abbots, who were also scribes, in the production of indulgences.

So, the question may be asked, why did Caxton set up press in Westminster instead

of London? Blake expresses the opinion that, Apart from the benefits of being associated

with the Abbey, Caxton chose to set up his press at Westminster in order to be near the

court. He printed books which would appeal to its members, from among whom he sought

to find his patrons (80). Others have thought that perhaps Caxtons decision was based on

the fact that family could have already been there. There are records of Caxtons or Castons

living in the area. However, this is pure speculation, which Blake seems to mention and

then set aside.

One may wonder what the audience of most books would be. How literate was the

general population in England during the 15th

Century? Henry R. Plomer, author of the

bookWilliam Caxton (1424-1491) writes about the conditions of the English. Many of the


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nobility were educated men and book-collectors, and these again not only welcomed the

advent of Caxtons press, but brought him books out of their libraries to print. But the

largest class of educated persons in England at that time were the clergy (62).

Having watched a wonderful video at the beginning of the semester of Dr. Frank

Baxter making papyrus in his studio from the 1950s, I found a similar video from the same

series on printing. Dr. Baxter, in this video titled Written Word: New Worlds for the Book,

tells of the influence William Caxton played in English Literature. He does a brief history

of who William was and makes an important statement. He said that Caxton was a realist

and that few of the books he published were religious works. Instead, Caxton stayed away

from those and worked on many gentlemans books. Some of these included, Geoffery

Chaucers Canterbury Tales, Thomas MalorysMorte dArthur, and John Gowers

Confessio Amantis (The Lovers Confession). Plomer says, His ambition was not to put

money in his pocket, but to use his press mainly for broadening the foundations of

knowledge by printing books of a more general character (111).

Caxton couldnt have ever hoped to have the entire publishing market of England

in his hands for the rest of his life. And accordingly, rivals began to arrive, setting up their

own print shops. The first few were no real threat to the well-known Caxton; however, by

1480, a real competitor entered the stage. John Lettou, a native of Lithuania, moved into

London and actually had better books than Caxton. It at once became evident that the new

printer had learnt his art under a much better master than Caxton had (Plomer 107). This

became a wake up call to Caxton, letting him know that he needed to begin fixing some of

the problems with his own printing so as not to lose the business entirely and this he did.


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Linguist

At the time of Caxtons translations, English was a language that was still new. It

had begun to change from the Old English to a more modern English but different ways of

spelling and pronunciation abounded. This was bound to make any printer go insane. We

are told about this time, The English vernacular was only just beginning to develop a

prose form, and Caxton coped with the problem of meager vocabulary and wide variations

in the spelling of even the simplest English words (Buhlervii). As an example, the word

little can be spelled several ways in Caxtons texts. Two variants are litil and lytel.

Buhler continues,

At this very period, the English language was still passing from its mediaevalpronunciation into that state with which we are familiar today, and it was precisely

then that the press began to crystallize the orthography of a language still in flux.Gradually, the spelling tended to become fixed, while the pronunciation continued

to evolve. (4)

Caxton knew of these difficulties personally and recognized the need for a remedy.

Through his efforts as a printer and publisher, things began to slowly change. This event

alone constitutes Caxtons literary heritage to us (Buhler 4).

An interesting side note about this event in English history is the current spellings

and pronunciations found in the language today. Because the written word began to take a

more permanent form while the spoken word had not, many variants developed on how to

pronounce the same word. For this reason, we see many differences in the pronunciation of

British English and American English. Even within England there are dialects with

differences in word pronunciation. This all developed due to the solidifying of the written

and spoken language at different times. (Buhler 5)


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As stated before, many people like Caxtons writing while others think it lacking in

skill and beauty. Buhler agrees that not all of his work is to the level of a master poet.

However, if taking into account all of the other responsibilities that he performed, one will

see the influence he had over the people of his time. Perhaps there were others who wrote

poetry or prose in a more beautiful manner, but who was there to know of it? Their public

was necessarily more limited and the influence, consequently, was more circumscribed

than would have been the case had their writings been broadcast by the press (Buhler 8).

Caxton not only acted as author and editor of his own works, but as printer and publisher

as well. The influence he has left behind has touched more people than those with better

prose.

Conclusion

William Caxton was a very important man in the history of English printing and

even in the development of the language. Due to what many of the authors called luck,

he was able to get an apprenticeship with an influential mercer that ultimately allowed him

to progress in the profession and obtain the needed funds to bring printing to the English

language. Such an untested and risky endeavor would never have been possible without his

previous successes.

Caxtons influence has reached throughout the ages as he juggled the tasks of

translator, printer, and linguist. All we have to do is extend our hands, pick up a book, and

we ourselves reach back to William Caxtons time, whether we know it or not.


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Bibliography

Blake, N. F. Caxton and His World. London: Andre Deutsch, 1969.

Buhler, Curt Ferdinand. William Caxton and His Critics. Syracuse : Syracuse UniversityPress, 1960.

Plomer, Henry. William Caxton (1424-1491). London: Leonard Parsons Ltd., 1925.

William Caxton: An Exhibition to Commemorate the Quincentenary of the Introduction of

Printing into England. London: British Museum Publications Limited, 1976.

Written Word: New Worlds for the Book. Perf. Dr. Frank Baxter. [Videorecording] NetFilm Services, 1956.

Documents

William Caxton’s Contributions to the English Language and Books & Libraries