The Word Imprinted

Way back in 1476, William Caxton returned to England from the continent with some fancy new tech to show off. While in Flanders he learned the relatively young art of printing. After a few years practicing the trade there, he packed up his press and headed home to see if there was an appetite for the printed word in England. There was.

Over the next 15 years, Caxton produced the earliest printed works in England. His taste was decidedly English. His first publication was Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, but he followed with other major works of English history and literature. We only have one complete work printed by Caxton--an oration by Cicero that Caxton himself translated into English--but we have a leaf from his 1477 printing of Chaucer. The typeface is a beast for the modern eye, but you can work it out with a little patience. That you can still read it shouldn't be taken for granted. How many human production still work as they were originally designed 550 years after they were made? Some buildings, a few bits of machinery, and a whole lot of books.

To see the Chaucer leaf, ask for Hickmott 201. The Cicero oration is Hickmott 203.