The Truthfullness of the Prologue and the Epilogues to the Recuyell: Keys to a Biographic Interpretation of W. Caxton

Abstract

Caxton's biographers have considered the prologue to The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye very valuable in interpreting various events of Caxton's life which would otherwise remain obscure due to the scarcity of documents. The author of this article proposes a more careful approach in reading the statements in The Recuyell, and caution in accepting at face value much of the information contained there. The interpretation given here of several events in the prologue and epilogues of the first English printer, as for instance his birthplace, the dialect of his writings, etc., reveals that Caxton is frequently presenting himself according to the medieval tradition of the humility formula. This formula requires that authors refer to themselves disparagingly. Both prologue and epilogues may contain some truth, but certainly they may not be regarded as examples of unambiguous historical evidence.