Although he probably would have thought of himself as primarily a merchant, and perhaps also as a diplomat, Caxton is now remembered for his role in bringing printing to English textual and literary culture. As the first Englishman to print books, bringing the printing press to England in 1475 or 1476, Caxton is arguably the most important figure in the history of the book in the English-speaking world.

Very little is known of William Caxton's early life. Born sometime between 1415 and 1424 (current thinking favours the latter end of that period), nothing is known of his family or place of birth, beyond the fact that it was in the weald of Kent: any specifics beyond that have not been identified in the historical record. We do know that he was apprenticed to Robert Large in the Mercers'

1554 words

Citation: Coleman, David. "William Caxton". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 December 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=801, accessed 19 March 2024.]

801 William Caxton 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.