The key dates

1387 Chaucer begins writing the Canterbury Tales

1400 Chaucer dies, leaving the Tales unfinished

1420? Caxton is born

1443 Caxton moves to Bruges, as a wool merchant

1455 Gutenberg invents the printing of books in Mainz, Germany

1473 Caxton prints the first book in English, while in Bruges

1476 Caxton, now in Westminster, prints the first edition of the Canterbury Tales

1483 Caxton prints the second edition of the Canterbury Tales

1492 Caxton dies

1773 King George III buys his copy of the first edition

1791 John Harris is born

1828 George III's collection arrives in the British (Museum) Library

1840 John Harris makes facsimile leaves to make up for gaps in first edition

1846 Thomas Grenville leaves his library, with his second edition, to the British (Museum) Library

2002 Keio University digitises the British Library's copies of the first and second edition