Canterbury and its tales

A woodcut from William Caxton’s second edition of The Canterbury Tales, printed in 1483. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century : a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

William Caxton (1415 1422–1492) was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. He is thought to be the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England. He was also the first English retailer of printed books (his London contemporaries in the same trade were all Flemish, German or French).