William Caxton was the first printer in England. For much of his life he was a trader in Bruges, where he later became Governor of the English Merchant Adventurers. During this time Caxton undertook diplomatic service to Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy, and through her to her brother Edward IV, exiled in Bruges in 1470-71. He is thought to have learnt the new art of printing in Cologne early in the 1470s, after which he and Colard Mansion set up a press in Bruges. In 1476 he returned to England and set up the first printing-press in England, under royal patronage at Westminster.

Unlike contemporary continental printers with a largely Classical or religious output, Caxton printed popular tales of chivalry, poetry or stories for the English market. Many were his own translations from the French and several, like this edition of Aesop, were translations of Classics from the Latin.

Aesop's Fables was one of his first productions with a large quantity of woodcuts and illustrations.

A facsimile edition of the Royal Library copy was published by Scolar Press in 1976.