The Old Printer And The Modern Press (cambridge Library Collection - History Of Printing, Publishing And Libraries)

Charles Knight's The Old Printer was first published in 1854 and is partly a biography of William Caxton and partly an account of the development of the printing press and its role in English literature from the fifteenth century. William Caxton was not only the first printer in England, but also a prolific translator and importer of books. He established a printing press at Westminster and among the books printed there were Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and The Subtil Histories and Fables of Esop. Knight describes Elizabethan reading habits and traces the development of the types of books, papers and magazines that were most popular with the reading public in the mid-nineteenth century. The author is particularly interested in the availability of cheap popular literature as he regards this as an indication of the democratisation of society. Cover......Page 1 Frontmatter......Page 6 Contents......Page 12 PART I......Page 16 CHAPTER I......Page 18 CHAPTER II......Page 36 CHAPTER III......Page 61 CHAPTER IV......Page 79 CHAPTER V......Page 102 CHAPTER VI......Page 126 CHAPTER VII......Page 142 CHAPTER VIII......Page 170 APPENDIX......Page 184 PART II......Page 194 CHAPTER I......Page 196 CHAPTER II......Page 214 CHAPTER III......Page 235 CHAPTER IV......Page 255 CHAPTER V......Page 277 CHAPTER VI......Page 294 CHAPTER VII......Page 303 CHAPTER VIII......Page 320 This 1854 publication begins with a biography of William Caxton, the first English printer, who also translated and imported books. It goes on to describe the development of the English printing press from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. Part 2 focuses particularly on printers and readers of popular literature.