The well-known device of Caxton was not used by him till 1487. It is
usually understood to stand for W.C. 74, but its exact meaning is not
known. Blades believes that it refers to the date of printing of _The
Recuyell_, the first product of Caxton's typographical skill.
[Illustration: CAXTON'S DEVICE.]
In 1480, three or four years after Caxton had settled at Westminster,
John Lettou, a foreigner of whom little is known, established the first
London printing-press.[4] His workmanship was particularly good, and he
was the first in this country to print two columns to the page. He
subsequently took into partnership William de Machlinia, and according
to the colophon of their _Tenores Novelli_ the office of these two
printers was located in the Church of All Saints', but this piece of
information is too vague to assist in the identification of the spot.
Machlinia is afterwards found working alone in an office near the Flete
Bridge. His later books were printed in Holborn.
[4] It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that at this period
Westminster was quite distinct from London.
A well-known name is that of Wynkyn de Worde, a native of Holland, and
at one time assistant to Caxton. At Caxton's death he became master of
the Red Pale, and issued a number of books "from Caxton's house in
Westminster," including reprints of several of Caxton's publications. He
made use of some modified forms of Caxton's device, but he also had a
device of his own, which first appears in the _Book of Courtesye_
printed some time before 1493. He printed, among other works, the
_Golden Legend_, the _Book of Courtesye_, Bonaventura's _Speculum Vitæ
Christi_, Higden's _Polychronicon_, which appeared in 1495 and is the
first English book with printed musical notes; Bartholomæus' _De
Proprietatibus Rerum_, which appeared about 1495 and is the first book
printed on English-made paper, and which has already been noticed as the
authority for supposing that Caxton learned printing at Cologne; the
_Boke of St Albans_, the _Chronicles of England_, _Morte D'Arthur_, _The
Canterbury Tales_, etc., etc. He also issued a host of sermons,
almanacs, and other minor works.
[Illustration: TYPE OF WYNKYN DE WORDE'S HIGDEN'S POLYCHRONICON, LONDON,
1495 (_exact size._)]
In 1500 Wynkyn de Worde moved from Caxton's house in Westminster to
the Sign of the Sun, in Fleet Street, and presently opened another place
of business at the Sign of Our Lady of Pity, in St Paul's Churchyard.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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