William Blades was among the leading bibliographical scholars of his time, and his name is still remembered for his superb scholarship on William Caxton, England's first printer, and for The Enemies of Books (1880), his classic work that has remained prominent on the reading lists of many library-school students and English majors. Born in Clapham, Surrey, Blades was the son of a printer, Joseph Blades, and certainly the boy's exposure to this craft, still in the days of hand-set type, shaped his scholarly interests. He was educated under the Reverend Charles Pritchard at Stockwell and Clapham grammar schools, and on 1 May 1840 he and his brother, Rowland Hill Blades, formally became apprentices at Blades and East, their father's printing firm in London. After finishing his apprenticeship in 1847, he and his brother joined the firm as partners, and the name of the firm was changed to Blades, East and Blades.

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