Dr. Dibdin, after a careful examination of existing testimonies, thinks
it most probable that he erected his press in one of the chapels
attached to the aisles of Westminster Abbey; and as no remains of this
interesting place can now be discovered, there is a strong presumption
that it was pulled down in making alterations for the building of Henry
VII.'s splendid chapel.

It has been frequently asserted that all Caxton's books were printed in
a part of Westminster Abbey; this must be mere conjecture, because we
find no statement of it from himself: he first mentions the place of his
printing in 1477, so that he must have printed some time without
informing us where.

With all possible respect for the opinions of Dr. Dibdin, and the
numerous writers on our early typography, I have very considerable
doubts as to whether Caxton really printed _within the walls of the
Abbey_ at all. I am aware that he himself says, in some of his
colophons, "Emprinted in th' Abbey of Westmynstre," but query whether
the _precincts_ of the Abbey are not intended? Stow, in his _Annals_
(edit 1560, p. 686.), says,--"William Caxton of London, mercer, brought
it (printing) into England about the year 1471, and first practised the
same in the _Abbie_ of St. Peter at Westminster;" but in his _Survey of
London_, 1603 (edit. Thoms, p. 176.), the same writer gives us a more
full and particular account; it is as follows:--

"Near unto this house [i.e. Henry VII.'s alms-house], westward,
was an old chapel of St. Anne; over against the which, the Lady
Margaret, mother to King Henry VII., erected an alms-house for
poor women, which is now turned into lodgings for the singing
men of the college. The place wherein this chapel and alms-house