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Topic: Incunabulum

The anniversary of the 15th century birth of William Caxton (that printer is believed to have been born on this date in 1422) finds us looking at the story of a 19th century coinage still in print: incunabulum. Although Caxton is usually remembered as a printer, he was first a translator and later credited with publishing the first book in English. In all, he printed more than one hundred different books before his death in 1492.

So what is the connection between Caxton and the term incunabulum? All of Caxton's books are, in fact, considered incunabula—books published before the year 1501. The word incunabulum comes from the Latin term meaning "swaddling clothes;" before it referred to books produced during the infancy of printing, incunabulum had a more general sense meaning "beginnings" or "infancy." An incunabulum is also known as a cradle book.

What's the significance of the year 1500 (or 1501)? Nothing, really. That's simply the date chosen by 17th century German philologist Bernhard von Mallinckrodt to mark what he considered the end of the very earliest days of printing. The cut-off date took, so much so that incunabula are also known as fifteeners. But scholars are very cautious about using those labels; not only are many early texts undated, but the start of the year 1501 varied from country to country and calendar to calendar.

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and Web sites including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

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