William Caxton

William Caxton
William Caxton was born in around 1422 in Kent and it was likely that his parents gave him a basic education which then furthered him in becoming an apprentice to Robert Large a rich mercer. At a much later date, in the 1470s, Caxton spent time in Cologne learning the art of printing. Caxton originally took up apprenticeship with Robert Large, a rich mercer, who at a later date became the Lord Mayor of London. Not long after Large's death, Caxton moved to Bruges in Belgium and built up a successful textile business but Caxton still visited England to be admitted to the Mercers Company. William Caxton was appointed Acting Governor of the Merchant Adventurers in the Low Countries due to his dedication.
But before this, Caxton associated himself with the household of Margaret, the duchess of Burgundy, who was also the sister of the English king Edward IV. His relationship with the Margaret household meant that she became very fond of him and in addition became one of Caxton’s most important patrons, who encouraged him with his translation of 'The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye' from French to English. Caxton had a wide literary taste, due to many factors such as his association with the translation of manuscripts from French to English. This ensured that he was able to gain a wider vocabulary of words as well as spelling which helped him establish his printing empire.
In the year of 1476, Caxton decided to return to London and as a result from his previous findings, he decided to establish a press at Westminster. His printing press became the first printing press in the whole of England. Overall he printed more than 100 books in his life time and amongst the books he printed were Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales', Gower's 'Confession Amantis' and Malory's 'Le Morte d'Arthur'. Usining his French, Latin and Dutch knowledge, Caxton was also able to become the translator of many of the books he published,