06401

Title

Subject

Description

This translation of the Legenda aurea by William Caxton (c. 1422–1491) is the first English edition of Jacobus de Voragine's highly popular compendium of saints' lives. In Bridwell Library's copy, as in several others that survive, several leaves pertaining to St. Thomas Beckett (d. 1170), Archbishop of Canterbury, were removed or defaced. This was done in 1538 or shortly thereafter by order of Henry VIII (1491–1547).

Creator

Jacobus, de Voragine, approximately 1229–1298 and Caxton, William, approximately 1422–1491 or 1492, printer and translator

Source

06401. Jacobus de Voragine (c. 1230–1298). The Golden Legend. Translated and enlarged by William Caxton. Westminster: William Caxton, [between 20 November 1483 and March 1484].

Relation

EarlyEngland

Format

Displayed as .jpg

Language

English

Type

Royal Folio Biography

Collection

"Heresy and Error": The Ecclesiastical Censorship of Books, 1400–1800

Citation

Jacobus, de Voragine, approximately 1229–1298 and Caxton, William, approximately 1422–1491 or 1492, printer and translator, “06401,” Bridwell Library Special Collections Exhibitions, accessed December 7, 2025, https://bridwell.omeka.net/items/show/1940.