I recently came across an amazing website called, The history of Information. One man, a serious collector of information, has categorized a vast amount of information on information by date and/or subject. If you love learning new things give it a look. Every time I randomly have a search I learn numerous new things. Tonight my brain feels made of cherry jello, but I still managed to read a few things about the history of the printing press that made me go…”Hmmm?”
Do you know the first book printed in English? (1473 – 1474) If (like me) you thought ‘The Bible’ you’d be wrong! I felt slightly affronted to find I was ignorant of such an important fact. As someone who grew up wanting to be an author I feel great admiration and gratitude to the ingenious brave printers who faced the wrath of the establishment (all the people making money off scribing and painting manuscripts on vellum – ie all the people with power to have you burnt at the stake for trying to undermine their version of the universe). Gutenberg changed the world. Try to imagine the world without printed books…
So…the first printed book in English: “Caxton’s translation of Raoul Lefèvre’s The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye.” Never having heard of the book, I wouldn’t have guessed that in a bazillion years. I had to look up the French version of Recuyell to understand the English translation of the title; The Collection (or Compendium) of the Histories of Troy. This isn’t the first time I’ve found the Medieval/Renaissance French easier to understand than Medieval/Renaissance English. Some people mock the French for trying to retain a purity in their language, but it’s seriously amazing when you can pick up something written in 1250 and basically understand it (heavy accent on ‘basically’ as my French vocabulary isn’t that large). English, on the other hand, has mutated so much over the years that if I were to go back in time to 1250 I’d soon be weeping in relief at understanding anything anyone said to me (even if it was only being cursed to perdition). As time travelers, we’d know numerous words (the heart of English remains Anglo Saxon), but most of the words would be pronounced so oddly (to our ears) that we’d struggle to communicate. Sadly, I can’t go back in time to try the experiment, but perhaps that’s for the best. I’d probably be burnt at the stake as a witch or sold to some collector of rare oddities. Can you see me dressed in medieval garb singing and dancing (in the style of Cats or Phantom of the Opera)? Me neither!