Wynkyn de Worde was William Caxton's assistant and in about 1500 he was the first printer to set up his shop in London's Fleet Street, which was for centuries perhaps the world's most famous centre of printing. He was not just a craftsman; his place in history is that of the first publisher to popularize the products of the printing press. His output was huge - more than 700 works over a period of 40 years. He produced a great variety of books: children's books, short histories, poetry, romances, instructions for pilgrims and works on good manners, marriage, household practice, medicines for horses and husbandry. Wynkyn de Worde laid the foundations of commercial publishing in Britain.