WORDE, WYNKYN DE

died 1534/35 original name Jan Van Wynkyn Alsatian-born printer in London, an astute businessman who published a large number of books (at least 600 titles from 1501). He was also the first printer in England to use italic type (1524). He was employed at William Caxton's press, Westminster (the first printing enterprise in England), from its foundation in 1476 until Caxton's death in 1491, when he assumed control of the business. In 1500/01 he moved his press from Westminster to Fleet Street, London. Whereas Caxton and numerous continental European contemporaries were also editors and translators, Wynkyn was purely a commercial printer.