Symbolic Caxton is the first study to explore the introduction of printing in symbolic terms. For Kuskin, William Caxton (1422-1491/92), the first English printer, becomes a unique lens through which to view the development of the English canon. Kuskin contends that recognizing the fundamental complexity inherent in the transformation from manuscript to print-the power of literature to formulate its audience, the intimacy of capital and communication, the closeness of commodities and identity-makes possible a clear understanding of the way cultural, bibliographical, financial, and technological instruments intersect in a process of symbolic reproduction.