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
Iliad earth and realistic eyewitness accounts of the Trojan War written by Dares and Dictys Cretensis, who were supposedly present at the events. These late antique forged accounts formed the basis of several eminently popular medieval chivalric romances, most notably those of Benoît de Sainte-Maure and Guido delle Colonne. These in turn spawned many others in various European languages, such as the first printed English book, the 1473 "Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye". Other accounts read in the Middle Ages were antique Latin retellings such as the "Excidium Troiae" and works in the vernaculars such as the Icelandic Troy Saga.