Myrrour of the Worlde

Printer William Caxton (English | British, ca.1422-1491)

Binder Revière

Author Vincent de Beauvais (died 1264)

Place of OriginWestminster, England

Date1481

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineGift of Martin V. Kelley

Object number

1916.50

Not on View

Label TextCaxton, the first printer in England, was born in 1422 and died in 1492. He established his shop in the Almonry of Westminster Abby in 1477. The Myrrour of the World, the first book in the English language to be illustrated, was printed by him in the year 1481. This book therefore is one of the most remarkable, interesting and valuable documents in the English language. In it the world is described as being round eleven years before Columbus discovered America. This is the first illustrated book printed in the English language. For thirty years, Caxton, a well-born Englishman, was a prominent businessman and commerical diplomat in the low countries. His accociation with the Burgundian court in Bruges gave him the oppotunity to learn the printinh craft and he set up a press there in the early 1470s. In 1476 he returned to England, and he immediately established the first English press in Westminster. Although much of his paper and type had to be imported from the continent, he succeeded in printing and publishing almost 100 books, seventy-four of them in English, the rest in his own translations of French, Latin, and Dutch texts. Myrrour of the Worlde, an encyclopedia, was the first illustrated book printed in the English language. William Caxton, a businessman and scholar, learned the printing craft while associated with the Burgundian court in Bruges. In 1476 he returned to England, establishing the first English press in Westminster. Although much of the paper and type had to be imported from the Continent, he succeeded in printing and publishing almost 100 books, including the first editions of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Malory’s Morte d’Arthur.Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Looks Good on Paper: Masterworks and Favorites, Oct. 10, 2014-Jan. 11, 2015.