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A manuscript written by David Aubert, possibly
for Margaret of York, Vita Christi. The British Library
MS Royal 16 G iii f.8. Larger
image for comparison with image below
Printing types of early printed books had to follow the style of
contemporary hand-written books, for there was no other model to
follow. Then, as now, books were aimed to meet the expectations
and tastes of their buyers. Caxton’s earliest book, produced
in Cologne,
was for a well-educated group and was printed using a type similar
to the gothic handwriting used in universities.
This type was probably designed by Johann
Veldener. Once back in the Low Countries, Caxton used a different
type for his Recuyell of the Histories of Troy, the first
book to be printed in English. Caxton had new type created for
this. It was based on the style of writing used for sumptuous manuscripts
produced for the Burgundian Court, perhaps on the handwriting of
David Aubert, who at much the same time was writing manuscripts
for Caxton’s patron Margaret
of York. The type also incorporated some special features of
English, compared to Latin and French, such as the letters “w”
and “k” and the characteristic flourishes at the end
of letters.
When Caxton left the Low Countries for
Westminster he took with him two other sets of type, both probably
designed by Johann Veldener. One of these was again based on the
sumptuous Burgundian scripts, and is the type used for the first
edition of the Canterbury Tales. This style of type is
called littera bastarda. In 1480 he acquired a smaller
version of the same design, which was used for the second edition
of Canterbury Tales. Because it is smaller it is more economical;
much more text fitted onto each page and less paper was needed.
Caxton’s postscript to Recuyell of the
Histories of Troy
on his work as a translator. The British Library, C.11.c.1, f.351
r. Larger image for comparison with image above
Towards the end of his life, Caxton turned
to Paris for a new type face in a different style. This style of
type is called textura – Latin for woven, because
the strong horizontal and vertical lines of the type give the page
an appearance similar to woven cloth. This type face was used in
the second edition of Mirk’s Liber festivalis. This
became the basis for ‘black letter’, the letterform
which was to become dominant in England for centuries. A detailed
study of Caxton’s typefaces and their development will be
part of Lotte Hellinga’s forthcoming volume XI of the Catalogue
of Books Printed in the XVth Century now in the British Library
[formerly Museum].
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