Robert Copland (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1508–1547), English

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

and author, is said to have been a servant of

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 (publisher), printer to be the first English retailer of printed boo ...

, and certainly worked for

Wynkyn de Worde Wynkyn de Worde (died 1534) was a printer and publisher in London known for his work with William Caxton, and is recognised as the first to popularise the products of the printing press in England. Name Wynkyn de Worde was a German immigra ...

. The first book to which his name is affixed as a printer is ''The Boke of Justices of Peace'' (1515), at the sign of the Rose Garland, in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

, London.

Anthony à Wood Anthony Wood (17 December 1632 – 28 November 1695), who styled himself Anthony à Wood in his later writings, was an English antiquary. He was responsible for a celebrated ''Hist. and Antiq. of the Universitie of Oxon''. Early life Anthony W ...

supposed, on the ground that he was more educated than was usual in his trade, that he had been a poor scholar of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. His best known works are ''The hye way to the Spytell hous'', a dialogue in verse between Copland and the porter of St Bartholomew's hospital, containing much information about the vagabonds who found their way there, including

thieves' cant Thieves' cant (also known as thieves' argot, rogues' cant, or peddler's French) is a cant, cryptolect, or argot which was formerly used by thieves, beggars, and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in other English ...

; and ''Jyl of Breyntford's Testament'', dismissed in ''

Athenae Oxonienses Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

'' (ed. Bliss) as a poem devoid of wit or decency, and totally unworthy of further notice. He translated from the French the romances of ''Kynge Appolyne of Thyre'' (W. de Worde, 1510), '' The History of Helyas Knyght of the Swanne'' (W. de Worde, 1512, 1522), and ''The Life of Ipomydon'' (

Hue de Rotelande Hue de Rotelande was an important Cambro-Norman poet writing in Old French at the end of the 12th century. Life He was a cleric and a native of Rhuddlan. He wrote in Credenhill, Herefordshire. Gilbert de Monmouth Fitz Baderon, a grandson of ...

), not dated. Among his other works is ''The Complaynte of them that ben too late maryed'', an undated tract printed by Wynkyn de Worde. William Copland, the printer, supposed to have been his brother, published three editions of ''Howleglas'', perhaps by Robert, which in any case represent the earliest English version of ''

Till Eulenspiegel Till Eulenspiegel (; nds, Dyl Ulenspegel ) is the protagonist of a German chapbook published in 1515 (a first edition of ca. 1510/12 is preserved fragmentarily) with a possible background in earlier Middle Low German folklore. Eulenspiegel is a ...

''. ''The Knyght of the Swanne'' was reprinted by W. Copland possibly in 1560, in

William John Thoms William John Thoms (16 November 1803 – 15 August 1885) was a British writer credited with coining the term "folklore" in 1846. Thoms's investigation of folklore and myth led to a later career of debunking longevity myths, and he was a pione ...

's ''Early Prose Romances'', vol. iii, and by the

Grolier Club The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Tr ...

(1901); the ''Hye Way'' in

William Carew Hazlitt William Carew Hazlitt (22 August 18348 September 1913), known professionally as W. Carew Hazlitt, was an English lawyer, bibliographer, editor and writer. He was the son of the barrister and registrar William Hazlitt, a grandson of the essayist ...

's ''Remains of the Early Popular Poetry of England'', vol. iv (1866). See further the Forewords to

Frederick James Furnivall Frederick James Furnivall (4 February 1825 – 2 July 1910) was an English philologist, best known as one of the co-creators of the '' New English Dictionary''. He founded a number of learned societies on early English literature and made pion ...

's reprint of ''Jyl of Breyntford'' (for private circulation, 1871) and

John Payne Collier John Payne Collier (11 January 1789, London – 17 September 1883, Maidenhead) was an English Shakespearean critic and forger. Reporter and solicitor His father, John Dyer Collier (1762–1825), was a successful journalist, and his connection ...

, ''Bibliographical and Critical Account of the Rarest Books in the English Language'', vol. 1 p. 153 (1865). For the books issued from his press see ''Hand-Lists of English Printers'' (1501–1556), printed for the Bibliographical Society in 1896.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Copland, Robert English translators 15th-century births 16th-century deaths English printers 16th-century English poets 16th-century translators 16th-century printers English male poets English male non-fiction writers