By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
1. The first book printed by Caxton in English was a book about Troy.
Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (alternatively spelt Recueil des Histoires de Troye) was printed by Caxton in 1475. It was the first book printed in English, though it wasn’t actually printed in England: at the time, Caxton was living in Belgium and it was published in Bruges in 1475. (Actually, the date of publication may have been 1474 or even 1473, but ‘ca. 1475’ is the date given by Caxton.)
The book was a translation of a French courtly romance written by a chaplain to Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, named Raoul Lefevre. Caxton would go on to print nearly 90 different books over the next two decades. Caxton’s translation of this Troy book would also inspire an early Elizabethan play. Caxton’s Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye would serve as the model for the Tudor morality play Horestes (1567), about the Greek myth of Orestes (most memorably dramatized by ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus).