Robert Copland
English printer, poet, and translator
Robert Copland (fl. 1508–1547) was an English printer and author. He is said to have been a servant of William Caxton, and certainly worked for Wynkyn de Worde. The first book to which his name is affixed as a printer is The Boke of Justices of Peace (1515), at the sign of the Rose Garland, in Fleet Street, London. Anthony à Wood supposed, on the ground that he was more educated than was usual in his trade, that he had been a poor scholar of Oxford.
His best known works are The hye way to the Spytell hous, a dialogue in verse between Copland and the porter of St Bartholomew's hospital, containing much information about the vagabonds who found their way there, including thieves' cant; and Jyl of Breyntford's Testament, dismissed in Athenae Oxonienses (ed. Bliss) as a poem devoid of wit or decency, and totally unworthy of further notice.
He translated from the French the romances of Kynge Appolyne of Thyre (W. de Worde, 1510), The History of Helyas Knyght of the Swanne (W. de Worde, 1512, 1522), and The Life of Ipomydon (Hugh of Rhuddlan), not dated. Among his other works is The Complaynte of them that ben too late maryed, an undated tract printed by Wynkyn de Worde. William Copland, the printer, supposed to have been his brother, published three editions of Howleglas, perhaps by Robert, which in any case represent the earliest English version of Till Eulenspiegel.
“Robert Copland” enters the record as english printer, poet, and translator. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Robert, Copland and English can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q266609. VIAF identifies the subject as 14818775. The Library of Congress control number is n89606831. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1508, 1547, 1515 and 1510.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robert Copland” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.