to the Company of Mercers; by which means he acquired sufficient credit to receive the appointment from Edward IV. of one of the commissioners to conclude a treaty of commerce with the Duke of Burgundy.

A marriage having taken place between the King's sister and the young Duke, Caxton was included in the lady Margaret's suit of English domestics; and to her he was indebted for great improvement in his native language, and for many valuable presents, probably with a view to encourage him in his eager observation of the progress of printing, then practised at Mentz, that she might eventually communicate the invention to England through his means.

Not long after he became one of the Duchess's family, he received her commands to translate a French work into English, relating to the history of Troy. This he undertook with reluctance and diffidence, as he had never been in France, and had nearly lost his own language. He, however, completed it in 1471, four years after he began it, and it was printed; whether by himself or through the immediate interference of the Duchess does not appear; but she was highly gratified on his presenting it to her, and well rewarded him. Dr. Middleton observes of this book, "That it has all the common marks of earlier antiquity," that "the letter is rude, the language incorrect, and

I 2

1

and that there is a greater mixture of French words in it than in his later pieces, done after his return to England; and that this is one proof of this being the first book that Mr. Caxton printed, though not the first he printed in England."

It is supposed that Caxton formed a connexion with Wynkin de Worde, Theodoric Rood, and Thomas Hunte, who were printers at Cologn. De Worde came to England with him, and the others went to Oxford not long after. It is by no means certain when Caxton established himself here as a printer, but it has been conjectured it was about 1474; and his residence was at Westminster, where some of his books were printed in the Abbey, through the generous encouragement of Abbot Milling, who assigned him the almonry as his office.

The government seems to have justly appreciated the value of this art; and in the 1st of Richard III. an act of Parliament was passed, which permitted the importation of printed books for sale; and a subsequent statute expressly mentions, that there were but few printers in England expert in the use of types. This worthy and valuable man died in 1492.

Mr. Lewis observes, "As to Mr. Caxton's printing, that his first performances are very barbarous;" his letters resembled the character of the writing then in use. Instead of the com

mas

mas and periods, we find this mark/." Mr. Palmer observes, "That he used a letter peculiar to himself, a mixture of Secretary and Gothic, and of the size at times (particularly in names) of Great Primer." Most of the characters are joined, which led Mr. Bagford to suppose his types were not distinct as at present.

His titles are in the German text, of the size of Great Primer; there are no catch words on his pages, and the signatures occupy their usual place. Many of his books have small initial letters, as directions for an illuminator, who decorated the heads of the chapters; in others, a large capital flourished occurs.

The pages are not numbered, though the leaves are in some instances. As he did not give a list of errors, he carefully collated all the copies with his original, and made such corrections as were necessary with a pen. The paper is fine, thin, and lasting, and his ink perfectly black and good.

The following is a specimen of his orthography and style. Many gentlemen censured him, "saying, That in his translacyons he had overcuryous termes, whiche coude not be understande of comyn people: those persons requested him. to use olde and homely termes in his translacyons.

"As he fayn wolde, he said, satisfye every man so to doo, he toke an olde book and redde therein; but certaynly thenglyshe was so rude and broad

that

that he coude not wele understande it. Lord Abbot of Westmynster did do

Also, the shewe to

him late certayn evydences wryton in olde englyshe, for to reduce it into our englyshe then used; but, that it was wreton in such wyse, that it was more lyke to duche than englyshe, so that he coude not reduce ne brynge it to be understonden.

"And certainly our language now used varyeth ferre from that which was spoken whan I was borne. For we englyshe men ben born under the domynacyon of the mone, which is never stedfaste, but ever waverynge, wexing one season, and waneth and dyscreateth another season. And that comyn englysshe that is spoken in one shyre varyeth from another."

"In my days happened that certayn marchauntes were in a ship in Tamyse for to have sayld over the see into Zeland, and for lacke of wynde thei taried atte Forland (in the isle of Thanet), and wente to lande for to refreshe them. And one of them, named Sheffelde, a mercer, cam into an hows, and axed for mete, and specyally he axyd after eggys.

"And the good wyf answerede, that she coude speak no Frenshe. And the merchaunt was angry, for he also coude speke no Frenshe, but woude have hadde egges, and she understode him not. And thenne, at last, another sayd, that he would have Eyren; then the good wyf sayd, that she understood hym wel,"

Wynkin de Worde succeeded Caxton in his art and house, and Richard Pynson, an apprentice or assistant to the latter, became printer to Henry VII. De Worde appears to have excelled his master, and first introduced the Roman letter, which he used in the manner we now do Italics.

I feel not a little gratified in the reflection, that while I illustrate the customs of literary men, the tone of their minds, their independent or abject spirits, by the ensuing extracts, I rescue many curious dedications and ingenious copies of verses from the neglect they have undeservedly experienced; indeed, that circumstance has induced me to make them more numerous than the first object required.

The reader will observe, that I purposely select from both eminent and almost unknown authors, in order to give the general state of literature; besides, the works of the former are so familiar, that it would be absurd to dwell on them exclusively.

A black letter work, "imprinted at London, in Fletestrete, within Temple barre, at the sygne of the Hande and Starre, by Richard Tottel, the x day of September, in the yeare of our lorde, 1554. Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum,' as we are informed on the last page of the book, has the title page arranged as follows.

A TREATISE