How can we speak of printing, of anything, without this man, William Caxton?
He was born in Kent, some time between 1415 and 1424, and we also know not exactly where, though Tenterden claims him as their son.
We do know that in 1438 he became apprenticed to a silk merchant called Robert Large, for which he was required to move to London. After Mr. Large died, our man was sufficently expert at the trade to relocate to Bruges in Belgium, which was the centre of the silk trade in Medieval times, and to set up in business. He also became the governor of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London, which was the main exporter of cloth, and a large imprter of all manner of other Foreign goods in exchange. They operated mainly in Northern Europe, especially in Germany, and it was on one of his trips to that area that he first saw printing taking place, in Cologne.
He seems to have moved in high circles, including royalty. It was Edward IV`s sister who encouraged him in his writing, and was a sounding board for his translations of tales such as Homer`s Iliad, of which he was particularly fond. He he had already acquired and set up a printing press in Bruges, but on his return to England he set one up in Westminster, London, in 1476.
He died in 1491
This set first appears in our original Wills reference book part III, in a group with the export versions. The description reads :
74. 50 HISTORIC EVENTS. lyn Davey. Fronts lithographed in colour; backs in grey, with descriptive text. Issued, 1912.
HOME ISSUE :-
A. With I.T.C. Clause
AUSTRALIAN ISSUES :-
A. With “Wills`s Specialities” advertisement on backs.
B. With “Havelock” advertisement on backs.
Similar series issued by Frank
By the way, that Franklyn Davey set was not issued until 1924.
When the Wills booklets were combined beneath a hard cover, dates were added courtesy of Wills` Works magazine, which is where we get the month above for our set, and it also tells us that the Havelock and Specialities versions were issued in April 1913
In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes the set is split up, the Australian issues now appearing as a pair under W675-354 in the updated World Tobacco Issues Index and W62-226 in the original volume. That means that our home version appears all on its own, with a simple text that just reads :
HISTORIC EVENTS. Sm. Nd. (50) See H.464.
By the way H.464 is the Handbook, and it simply tells us that a version was issued at home before 1919 by W.D. & H.O. Wills, who also issued two sets overseas, and by Franklyn Davey between 1920 and 1940.