Caxton-Margaret-of-York-Histoires de Troie

''Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye'' or ''Recueil des Histoires de Troye'' (1464) is a translation by

William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books. His parentage a ...

of a French

courtly romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalric ...

written by Raoul Lefèvre, chaplain to

Philip III, Duke of Burgundy Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged ...

. It was the first book printed in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

. ''Recuyell'' (''recueil'' in Modern French) simply means "collection" in English. Hence, the work in Modern English would read "A Collection of the Histories of Troy". Caxton's translations and sometimes his titles incorporated words from other European languages. Caxton, probably with the assistance of

Colard Mansion Colard Mansion (or Colart, before 1440 – after May 1484) was a 15th-century Flemish scribe and printer who worked together with William Caxton. He is known as the first printer of a book with copper engravings, and as the printer of the fir ...

and

Johann Veldener Johann Veldener (born in Würzburg, died in Leuven between 1486 and 1496), also known as Jan Veldener or Johan Veldenaer; was an early printer in Flanders. He worked as a punchcutter and printer in Cologne, together with William Caxton, who may have ...

, printed his translation in 1473 or 1474 (traditionally "ca. 1475") in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

. Just 18 copies still exist, and when the

Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke o ...

sold one in 2014, it fetched more than £1 million."First printed book in English sold for over £1m"
17 July 2014, BBC A presentation copy of the first edition with a specially made engraving showing Caxton presenting the book to

Margaret of York Margaret of York (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503)—also by marriage known as Margaret of Burgundy—was Duchess of Burgundy as the third wife of Charles the Bold and acted as a protector of the Burgundian State after his death. She was a daugh ...

is now in the Huntington Library, California, having previously been in the collections of the Duke of Roxburghe and the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and ha ...

. This royal "patronage" may have been more a form of advertising than a representation of traditional medieval patronage relationships. The English translation forms the source for the late Tudor

morality play The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...

'' Horestes'' (1567).Farnham (1936), p. 259 and Bevington (1962), p. 179

References

Sources

* Bevington, David (1962) ''From ''Mankind'' to Marlowe: growth of structure in the popular drama of Tudor England.'' Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP * Farnham, Willard (1936) ''The Medieval Heritage of Elizabethan Tragedy.'' Berkeley: University of California Press (reissued by Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1956) *Panzer, K., ed. ''Short-title Catalogue of English Books''. 2nd ed. STC 15375

External links

Facsimile of the first page

''Recueil des histoires de Troie''
From the Collections at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

{{Authority control 1475 books Trojan War literature Medieval literature History of printing

See also

References

Sources

External links