Caxton

William Caxton (born c.1415-1424; died 1492) was the first English printer. He printed the first English book (his own translation from French of Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye [~ The History of Troy]) while living in Bruges, in what is now Belgium, where he had learnt the art of printing and acquired a press and all that he needed to increase the copying speed of the books in which he had already begun to deal. (Up to this point, he had been a successful mercer, or dealer in cloth, who had considerable capital.) In 1475 or 1476, he brought his press to Westminster. Here he printed the first book printed in the country, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. In all, he is said to have printed over a hundred titles, including Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon. After his death, Caxton's press was run by Wynkyn de Worde, formerly his partner, and a better typographer and maker of books than his former master. ODNB suggests that Caxton was essentially medieval in outlook, but Worde was of the modern age.