Morte D'Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur & of His Noble Knights of the Round Table [Paperback]

Sir Thomas Malory (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 16, 1999

Volume: 2 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1903 Original Publisher: Macmillan and co., limited Subjects: Arthurian romances Fiction / Classics Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folklore

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sir Thomas Malory is a shadowy figure who completed his masterpiece, Le Morte d'Arthur, in 1469-70 whilst in Newgate Prison.  The title is taken from the epilogue of William Caxton's 1485 edition.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Senate (February 16, 1999)
• ISBN-10: 1859585329
• ISBN-13: 978-1859585320
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,916,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arthurian Legends with Aubrey Beardsley's Illustrations!!!!, November 12, 2011

By 

Michael Mcgrath "troppo67" (macondo) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Morte d' Arthur (Collector's Library Editions) (Hardcover)

I searched for years for a volume that would contain Malory's text and Beardsley's Illustrations. Most of the time, I would run into Keith Baine's excellent rendering, which is excellent but meant as a supplement; I would also find Steinbeck's frustrating unfinished work which started as translation and ended in a stilted interpretation. A real pity since Steinbeck's other works are brilliant. Both these aforementioned popular volumes are based on the Winchester manuscript. What I really wanted to read is exactly what we have here: Caxton's version. Yet, the perfect Malory volume still has yet to appear. One with plenty of noted like the annotated Alice in Wonderland. or the note found in the Oxford edition of Malory, also based on the Winchester manuscript as an abridgment with some wonderful notes that give one the glimpse of a nice volume to be.

This library edition seems to be an import from England and would make a beautiful gift to an Arthurian buff, even if he/she owns previous various editions of Malory. However, the text itself of this particular collector's library edition has seemingly endless paragraphs where it can be challenging to know where one dialogue ends and the other begins. I would not recommend it for one's first undertaking of the work. Some formatting while retaining the haunting archaic tone along with the bountiful illustrations by Beardsley and some notes would make a definitive Caxton's Malory edition. This a coffee sized volume with a cheap looking dust jacket that gives no justice to the appeal within. Because, upon opening it, Beardsley's drawing bring this tome to life. Beardsley's renderings have an ethereal atmosphere about them. it gives the whole work a flavor, kind of like a favorite film. I thank the publishers for bringing this edition to the market; if I had any powers, I would make the rooms for improvements that would make this more accessible to a modern reader, with dialogue breaks and notes.

In short this is a beautiful tome well worth enjoying. A "must" for Malory readers who perhaps have already read through a few of the other edits, abridgments and modern retellings that have spilled over from time to time.Morte d' Arthur (Collector's Library Editions)