[1] _The exact date was probably as difficult to arrive at then as now._ The arrival of William Caxton in England may, with a certainty of being near the truth, be placed in 1475-6, the date 1474 given by most writers being a misconception of the language used by Caxton in the Preface to the Chess-book. The Art on its first introduction was looked upon suspiciously by the people, few of whom could read, its chief patrons being a few of the more educated among the nobles and the rich burghers of London. Another mistake is to suppose that Caxton printed in Westminster Abbey. His printing-office was a tenement to the south-east of the Abbey Church; its sign was the 'Red-pale', and Caxton rented it of the Abbot. There is evidence to show that Caxton and the Abbot were on distant terms of amity--none to show that the Ecclesiastic encouraged or patronised the Printer, notwithstanding Dean Stanley's assertions in a sermon lately preached by him in Westminster Abbey. The _only_ occasion upon which Caxton mentions the Abbot is to this effect--that the Abbot, not being able himself to read a passage in old MS., sent it to Caxton, with a request that he would translate it. (See _The Life and Typography of William Caxton_, by William Blades. 2 vols., 4to. London, 1861-63.) [2] _Fat Pages._ 'Fat' as a conventional word is not confined to Printers. 'A _fat_ living' is a phrase not unknown among churchmen, and is used in the same sense by the compositor, who charges the master-printer for the _fat_ pages, in which no work appears, at the same rate as if they were full. [3] This word 'counterfeit' in the sense of 'reprint' or 'duplicate', is certainly not used now-a-days by English printers; yet I find this in Marahren's Parallel List of technical Typographical terms:--'Counterfeit, to, or to Reprint, v., Nachdrucken.--Ré-imprimer.' With Bibliographers the word is still retained; _e.g._ 'Lyons counterfeits of the Aldine editions.' [4] _And Folly (doctor-like) controlling skill._ It is worth noting, that in none of the various volumes written to show Shakspere's knowledge of medicine and medical men, has the truth of this passage been brought forward in evidence. End of Project Gutenberg's Shakspere & Typography, by William Blades