Caxton’s Chronicles of England and its Printer’s Copy

The H. E. Huntington Library’s manuscript of Brut’s Chronicle, MS HM 136, dating from the middle of the fifteenth century, was identified by Daniel Wakelin as printer’s copy for William Caxton’s edition of the text, dated 1480. Lotte Hellinga adds some further observations to Wakelin’s careful analysis. She notes that for this book Caxton introduced a new economical printing type, it was printed on a new and modern press, and set by a compositor who commanded skills not seen in the books produced for him before this date. Not only did Caxton thereby expand the capacity of his printing house, by extending the earlier version of the Chronicle to his own time he revealed his ambition to become a chronicler and historiographer himself.