The Wynkyn de Worde Society unites kindred spirits from the worlds of print, publishing and the graphic arts – bookbinders, designers, lithographers, editors, writers, stonecutters, publishers and more.

The Society was founded in 1956 – the first official meeting took place in September 1957 – and takes its name from Wynkyn de Worde, a printer and publisher in London in the 16th century, who has been called the ‘Father of Fleet Street’. His apprenticeship was with William Caxton, the first person to introduce the printing press to England. After Caxton’s death in 1491, de Worde took over his business, and around 1500, became the first printer to set up his own shop in Fleet Street, which was for centuries perhaps the world’s most famous centre of English language printing. He was renowned in his field, publishing over 600 books, and was the first in the country to use italic type.

Wynkyn de Worde Society members are a wide spectrum of folk dedicated to excellence in all aspects of publishing, editorial, typography, design and print.

Since its foundation, the Society has looked beyond the ever-evolving techniques of the world of printing and encouraged discussion on the wider landscape of communication. It has done this chiefly through its core activities of luncheons and evening events, which include talks and presentations given by invited speakers who are experts in the topics they’re addressing. At these meetings, we usually have time to welcome questions or comments for the speaker, and members and their guests can raise matters of mutual interest; these compelling discussions then often continue in a local pub.