[1] _The exact date was probably as difficult to arrive at then as now._
The arrival of William Caxton in England may, with a certainty of being
near the truth, be placed in 1475-6, the date 1474 given by most writers
being a misconception of the language used by Caxton in the Preface to the
Chess-book. The Art on its first introduction was looked upon suspiciously
by the people, few of whom could read, its chief patrons being a few of
the more educated among the nobles and the rich burghers of London.
Another mistake is to suppose that Caxton printed in Westminster Abbey.
His printing-office was a tenement to the south-east of the Abbey Church;
its sign was the 'Red-pale', and Caxton rented it of the Abbot. There is
evidence to show that Caxton and the Abbot were on distant terms of
amity--none to show that the Ecclesiastic encouraged or patronised the
Printer, notwithstanding Dean Stanley's assertions in a sermon lately
preached by him in Westminster Abbey. The _only_ occasion upon which
Caxton mentions the Abbot is to this effect--that the Abbot, not being
able himself to read a passage in old MS., sent it to Caxton, with a
request that he would translate it. (See _The Life and Typography of
William Caxton_, by William Blades. 2 vols., 4to. London, 1861-63.)
[2] _Fat Pages._ 'Fat' as a conventional word is not confined to Printers.
'A _fat_ living' is a phrase not unknown among churchmen, and is used in
the same sense by the compositor, who charges the master-printer for the
_fat_ pages, in which no work appears, at the same rate as if they were
full.
[3] This word 'counterfeit' in the sense of 'reprint' or 'duplicate', is
certainly not used now-a-days by English printers; yet I find this in
Marahren's Parallel List of technical Typographical terms:--'Counterfeit,
to, or to Reprint, v., Nachdrucken.--Ré-imprimer.' With Bibliographers the
word is still retained; _e.g._ 'Lyons counterfeits of the Aldine
editions.'
[4] _And Folly (doctor-like) controlling skill._ It is worth noting, that
in none of the various volumes written to show Shakspere's knowledge of
medicine and medical men, has the truth of this passage been brought
forward in evidence.