Читать книгу A Brief History of Printing in England. A Short History of Printing in England from Caxton to the Present Time онлайн

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Caxton was immediately besieged with demands for copies of his translations, which, of course, he was unable to furnish, although he appears to have worked at it until time, strength, and eyesight failed. He thereupon determined to learn the new art of printing so that he might by that means multiply copies of this and other works which he might execute. Unquestionably he saw printing presses in operation in Cologne. It has been claimed that he learned to print there, and this claim receives some support from an ambiguous statement attributed to him many years later by Wynkyn de Worde. It is possible that Caxton may have worked a little in one of the Cologne printing offices, but it seems clear on internal evidence that Mr. Blades is right in his conclusion that Caxton did not learn the art there. The early printed work of Caxton is by no means equal to that of the Cologne printers, and represents an earlier stage of development than that which had been reached by Cologne at this period. Many of the compositor’s methods which were familiar to the Cologne printers of 1470 did not appear in Caxton’s books until years later.