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
Raoul Lefèvre Raoul Lefèvre Raoul Lefèvre was the 15th-century French author of a "Histoire de Jason" (in 1460) and the "Recoeil des histoires de Troyes" (in 1464). The latter was translated and printed by William Caxton as the "Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye", and was the first book printed in English in 1473-1474. Lefèvre was the chaplain of Philip the Good, the creator of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which was based on the classical Jason story. The "Histoire de Jason" is known from 20 manuscripts and 30 different printed editions, and was translated in English in 1477 by William