William Blades

William Blades (1824–1890) was an English printer and bibliographer. A partner in his family's London printing firm, he became the leading authority of his age on William Caxton, England's first printer, and his Life and Typography of William Caxton (1861–1863) applied a printer's knowledge of type to the study of early books. He also wrote The Enemies of Books (1880), a witty account of the damage done to books by fire, water, gas, dust, insects, bookbinders and collectors, and The Pentateuch of Printing, published after his death. He helped organize the great Caxton exhibition of 1877.