Wynkyn De Worde & His Contemporaries From the Death of Caxton to 1535: A Chapter in English Printing

London, England: Grafton & Company, 1925. First Edition. Hardcover. Good. Large 8vo 9" - 10. A perfectly serviceable reference copy; nothing fancy, but complete and sturdy. A fine social history of printing in England and with a special focus on Wynkyn de Worde, who founded Fleet Street and who set up his press in 1500. Close friend to and contemporary of William Caxton. Blue paper over boards, light brown buckram cloth-backed. Dings to, scuffing of front fore-edge, a bit worn on rear panel, else with a clean interior. Abraded paper label to spine. Dealer stamp, neatly affixed. Fourteen fine black-and-white plates. From the preface: "In this work it is proposed to give the history of William Caxton's immediate successors. The limit of date coincides with the death of Wynkyn de Worde in 1535, and it may be called the second milestone on the highway of English printing, as well as marking the end of the old order of things, namely, the downfall of Papal supremacy in England. It embraces not only the lives of Wynkyn de Worde and Pynson, two of the most prolific of the printers in England at that time, but also of those two remarkable men, John and William Rastell, as, although the latter lived some years longer, he gave up printing in 1535. King Henry VII. As a book collector, King Henry VIII tilting at Martin Luther, Sir Thomas More wielding his pen and finally giving his life for the old religion; Erasmus, scholar, writer, and friend of booksellers and printers both abroad and in England; Dean Colet, his "gossip," and the founder of St Paul's School; Skelton the poet, and Andrew Borde the physician and jester, are but a few of the celebrated people whose work will be met with in the history of these presses." [6], 7-233 pp.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.