Wynkyn de Worde

Wynand "Wynkyn" de Worde/ˈwɪŋkɪn də ˈwɜːrd/ (died c. 1534) was a printer and publisher in London known for his work with William Caxton, and is recognized as the first to popularize the products of the printing press in England.

As Wynkyn de Worde was a Dutch emigrant in England, there is some confusion in documentary sources as to the correct form of his name. While his name is given in the consistent forms Wynkyn de Worde, Wynken de Worde, Wynkyn de Word, Wijnkijn de Worde, and Winandus van Worden ("Wynkyn" is a nickname for "Wynand"), it is also given fifteen times (in the sacrist's roll of Westminster Abbey and in city records) as variants of "John Wynkyn", including John Wynkyn, Johannes Wynkyn, Jan Wynkyn, and Jan van Wynkyn. He is also seemingly recorded as Willelmo Wynkyn ("William Wynkyn") once and as Mr. Wylkyns eight times. His son Richard is recorded as both Richard Wynkyn and Rycharde de Worde.

Some authors have therefore concluded that his real name was John Wynkyn (or Wynand) and that "de Worde" was "merely a place name," while others have concluded that his real name was Wynkyn (or Wynand) de Worde and that "John" was an added name: "It is … possible that John Wynkyn was an Anglicized alias devised by de Worde himself for occasional use—though why, and for what occasions, remains obscure." Accordingly, some authors refer to him mononymously as "Wynkyn" and others as "de Worde".

De Worde was born in either Woerden, the Netherlands, or Wœrth in Alsace; the name by which he is generally known means "Wynkyn of Woerden/Wœrth". Traditionally, he was believed to have accompanied Caxton to England in 1476; more recently, it has been argued that de Worde actually arrived c. 1481, and that Caxton brought him to England to counter the competition of a second printer. (John Lettou set up a press in London in 1480.) Sometime while in England, de Worde married his wife Elizabeth. De Worde improved the quality of Caxton's product; he was, in this view, "England's first typographer". In 1495, following Caxton's death in 1492 and a three-year litigation, de Worde took over Caxton's print shop.

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