William Blades

Born in Clapham, London, on 5 December 1824, William Blades grew up in the printing trade and was apprenticed to his father’s business in 1840. He later became a partner in the firm, which was known as Blades, East & Blades, building a practical career as a printer alongside his scholarly interests.

Blades is chiefly remembered as a bibliographer and historian of printing. He devoted major research to William Caxton, England’s first printer, and produced important reference works on Caxton’s books and press. He also helped support the growing world of libraries and bibliography in Victorian Britain, including work connected with the Caxton celebration of 1877.

Today he is especially familiar to many readers through The Enemies of Books (1881), a witty and affectionate work about all the ways books are damaged, neglected, or destroyed. He died on 27 April 1890, but his writing still appeals to readers who love the history of printing, collecting, and the physical life of books.