Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye or Recueil des Histoires de Troye (1464) is a translation by William Caxton of a French courtly romance written by Raoul Lefèvre, chaplain to Philip III, Duke of Burgundy. It was the first book printed in the English language. "Recuyell" ("recueil" in Modern French) simply means "collection" in English. Hence, the work in Modern English would read "A Collection of the Histories of Troy". Caxton's translations and sometimes his titles incorporated words from other European languages. Caxton, probably with the assistance of Colard Mansion and Johann Veldener, printed
Horestes of Orestes. Rather than Aeschylus' trilogy of Athenian tragedies "Oresteia" (458 BCE), however, Pickering's source for his version of the story is William Caxton's translation of the French romance "Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye" (translated in 1475). Consequently, the play's theme and dramatic structure are more medieval than classical. Only one copy of the play is extant, which the British Museum holds. It was published by William Griffith of Fleet Street, London for sale at his shop in St. Dunstan's churchyard. Along with Thomas Preston's "Cambises" (c.1561), the play has been identified as a "hybrid morality", due to its