Book Description
This single-volume edition of the complete works of Sirhe Thomas Malory retains his 15th-century English while providing an introduction, glossary, and fifty pages of explanatory notes on each romance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

If I only had one book . . .
If I had only one book to read for the rest of my life and couldn't read anything else, it would be this one.

Ian Myles Slater on: Worthwhile Malorys, Not For All
This is mainly a review of two related editions of the work commonly known as "Le Morte D'Arthur" (Anglo-Norman French for "The Death of [King] Arthur). One is Eugene Vinaver's "Malory: Complete Works," the title of which will be explained shortly. The other is the Norton Critical Edition, as "Le Morte D'Arthur"-- an admirable book, but not for all readers; as also explained below, the text has some striking visual differences from the usual modern book, which some may find too difficult. Both are original-spelling editions of the fifteenth-century text, in what can be called either very late Middle English, or very early Modern English; other, easier-to-read, editions will also be mentioned below.

Until a mis-catalogued fifteenth-century manuscript in a safe at Winchester College was finally recognized in 1934 as Sir Thomas Malory's account of King Arthur and his knights, the only authoritative text of this now-famous work was that found in the two surviving copies of William Caxton's 1485 printing. Unhappily, its first and last pages are missing, so Caxton remains the source for those passages. (The standard exact, or "diplomatic," text of Caxton's Malory was edited by H. Oskar Sommers, 1889-1891. There is a recent critical text, edited by James Spisak, 1983, and a facsimile edition, edited by Paul Needham, 1976.) There are thousands of minor differences, and a few very large ones.

Caxton had divided the text into twenty-one books, with numbered and (usually) titled chapters, and called the whole "Le Morte D'Arthur" -- "Notwithstanding that it treateth of the birth, life, and acts of the said King Arthur, of his noble knights of the Round Table, their marvelous enquests and adventures, the achieving of the Sangrail, and in the end the dolorous death and departing out of this world of them all" (Caxton's Colophon). He had also dramatically abridged one long section (his Book Five), and seems to have made some changes of his own in wording, sometimes softening Malory's aristocratic bluntness. When Eugene Vinaver edited the Winchester Manuscript for the Oxford English Texts series, he gave the three-volume set (with critical notes, glossary, etc.) the title of "The Works of Sir Thomas Malory" (1947; revised edition, 1967; third edition, re-edited by P.J.C. Field, 1990).

In Vinaver's eyes, the manuscript revealed that Malory had produced only a very loosely connected set of narratives, distinct "WORKS" to which he, as editor, gave his own titles (which are now in current use, despite the lack of any other authority for some). The idea of a single, continuous, narrative was, in this view, Caxton's; hence the many inconsistencies, such as dead villains showing up alive and still wicked after a few "books." This decision has given rise to a long critical controversy; Malory was, in Caxton's term, "reducing" some disparate French texts into English, and may have just missed some discrepancies, as he tried to produce a reasonably unified "whole book". It has also created a certain amount of bibliographic confusion.

Keith Baines' "Rendition in Modern English" of Vinaver's edition (1962; a rewriting, covering every incident, but mostly sacrificing the language) is carefully called "Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table," as if to emphasize that Caxton's "interference" is being removed, without sacrificing reader recognition (and sales). Vinaver's later Oxford Standard Authors one-volume original-spelling text edition (1971), however, is"Malory: Complete Works." Vinaver also edited for Oxford University Press a modernized-spelling "King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales by Sir Thomas Malory" (1956, 1968, 1975), which maintained the same premise. John Steinbeck, a great admirer of Malory, was delighted by Vinaver's edition, and referenced the Winchester Manuscript in the subtitle of his unfinished "Acts of King Arthur ...," avoiding the "Morte" designation. (This is in fact an Arthurian novel by Steinbeck, incorporating chunks of source material, *not* a modernization.) Thus far, there is a certain amount of consistency.

However, a more recent Oxford edition, Helen Cooper's modernized spelling edition of the Winchester text for The Oxford World's Classics (1998; abridged, unfortunately; otherwise excellent), is instead titled "Le Morte D'Arthur." So, too, is the medievalist R.M. Lumiansky's much more extensively modernized 1982 complete version of the Winchester text. (Almost a translation, and thus an implied commentary on the text; but not to be confused with Lumiansky's projected, and unpublished, critical edition, almost complete at the time of his death in 1987. But is quite impressive, and I can understand anyone who thinks I am too critical of it.) The title of the facsimile edition for the Early English Text Society (N.R. Ker, 1976) "The Winchester Malory," avoided the issue, but the volume also helped renew the debate over Vinaver's theory by eliminating his editorial hand.

Stephen H. A. Shepherd's Norton Critical Edition is "Le Morte D'Arthur" on the cover, but on the title page has the Caxton-derived subtitle of "The Hoole Book of Kyng Arthur and of His Noble Knyghtes of The Rounde Table." This title may well go back to Malory, or least to the manuscripts; it would have appeared on the missing final pages. Shepherd, indeed, gives considerably more weight to Caxton's evidence than has been customary. It has become clear, from printer's marks, that the Winchester Manuscript was in fact available to Caxton, and was still on hand when his successor, Wynkyn de Worde, reset the "Morte" in 1498, introducing some of its readings. This suggests that Caxton was comparing at least two manuscripts, and that some of his "innovations" may reflect Malory's intentions as much as any other scribal copy.

The one-volume Oxford"Malory: Complete Works" is a rather bare-bones edition (especially compared to its three-volume prototype), consisting almost entirely of a very lightly "normalized" text (abbreviations are silently expanded, but variant spellings are usually preserved, etc.), with some good textual notes and a glossary (about a hundred pages of "apparatus"). In the Norton Critical Edition, Shepherd offers the reader an extended Introduction, Chronologies, a text with explanatory footnotes, a large section of "Sources" (earlier and / or alternative versions of Arthurian stories, many translated by Shepherd) and "Backgrounds" (contemporary medieval documents and modern histories illustrating Malory's times) and "Criticism" (essays and book excerpts), followed by a thirty-two-page double-column Glossary, a "Selected Guide to Proper Names," and a Selected Bibliography. (There is also a website, accessible through W.W. Norton's main page; it lists printing errors, and reports that the corrections of those identified have now been made in a second printing.)

Shepherd's text itself includes more of Caxton's readings, which seem to reflect another manuscript with different errors; and manuscript is the crucial word. Unlike Vinaver, who attempted to reproduce what he regarded as Malory's intended structure (or non-structure), Shepherd aims to create the impression of reading a medieval manuscript, without the most difficult obstacles. Not only are original spellings preserved, he carefully includes marginal notes and other indicators of scribal practices. The two scribes of the Winchester Manuscript carefully (but not completely consistently) wrote names, and some passages, in red ink ("rubrications"). Shepherd does not ask the printer for two colors, but follows the practice of "Scribe A" in using a more ornate script for the rubrics, substituting a black-letter font, so these words stand out; in some cases, following the scribes' use of larger lettering, they are printed in an extra-bold face.

Shepherd has some sensible solutions -- not identical to Vinaver's -- to such problems as character variation ('u' and 'v' and 'i' and 'j' had yet to settle into their modern restrictions, for example), erratic word divisions, and punctuating sentences whose beginning and / or end is not clearly marked. [A recent review by Jim Allan, posted on the "Le Morte Darthur" side, elegantly summarizes Shepherd's approach to these and other problems.]

This does not make for easy reading; it does reproduce, as nearly as possible in a printed book, and with modern typefaces, the experience of reading a medieval book -- which is the point of the exercise. As someone who once pored over the facsimile of the Winchester Manuscript without being able to make out much from the fifteenth-century handwriting, I love it. And it is not Shepherd's eccentric decision. It is part of a renewed appreciation for the medieval book as a physical artifact, not a sort of nuisance to be made transparent by modern typography.

However, with their 'olde spellynges' and other peculiarities, neither the Oxford Standard Authors version nor the Norton Critical Edition is suitable for all readers. Although Lumiansky's version comes close, there is still a need for a *complete* "normalized" edition based on the Winchester text, only very lightly modernized as to spelling, and faithfully preserving the original words and sentence structures.

The best version of Le Mort D' Arthur ever!!!!
If you want the original Middle English version of Le Mort D' Arthur, this is it.It is the Winchester version.I bought this book while in England and it's the best version I have due to the original spellings.It's a challenge to read, but I enjoy it because it is more authentic.Since you don't have somebody "correcting" the text, you get to see what the original actually looks and reads like.I believe this is the only middle English version available.You won't be disappointed!

The Original
This is a marvelous work.You must teach yourself to read the 15th-century English, but once you have gotten the knack, it's not hard at all.Malory lived in a simpler time, and spoke a simpler language, than we do today.There is a vigor and energy to the prose that leaps off the page - I remember one knight threatening that he would "fetch [his enemy] out of the biggest castle that he had."This volume, which gathers Malory's work over many many years, also tells the story of a man learning how to be a writer, and also, I think, growing in his emotional understanding and inteterest in his own characters.The characters are so much more real and interesting at the end than at the beginning!

The Only Way To Read Arthur
For those of us who want to read the original tales of King Arthur and the Round Table, but can't speak French, this is the place to go. The 15th century English makes for slow going at first, but provides a more authentic tale than the Caxton version. Malory grows stylistically throughout the Works, and by the Morte D'Arthur he tells as engaging a tale as any in Arthurian literature. This is a must read! ... Read more

Book Description
The text is unabridged, with original spelling and extensive, easy-to-use marginal glosses and footnotes. No other edition accurately represents the actual (and likely authorial) divisions of the text as attested to by its two surviving witnesses—Caxton's 1485 print and, especially, the famous Winchester Manuscript. The Winchester Manuscript is now generally agreed to be the more authentic of the two surviving manuscripts. The Norton Critical Edition is the first edition of Malory to recover important elements of this manuscript: paragraphing, marginal annotations, hierarchies of narrative division as signaled by size and decorative intricacy of initial capitals and font changes. The Norton Critical Edition also represents, in black-letter font, the striking rubrication of proper names in the Winchester Manuscript, reconstructing for readers something of an authentic medieval reading experience, one which gives visual support to Malory's extraordinary representation, in character and setting, of a chivalric ideal. No other student edition of Malory contains such extensive contextual and critical support.

About the series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.Download Description
The legends of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table have inspired some of the greatest works of literature--from Cervantes's Don Quixote to Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Although many versions exist, Malory's stands as the classic rendition. Malory wrote the book while in Newgate Prison during the last three years of his life; it was published some fourteen years later, in 1485, by William Caxton. The tales, steeped in the magic of Merlin, the powerful cords of the chivalric code, and the age-old dramas of love and death, resound across the centuries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (65)

Always
I have always received the best service when I have placed an order from you. Outstanding!!!!!

Le Morte D'Arthur
Very handy and well done edition of the classic Arthurian legends.This book is not for the feint at heart as it is written in old english, but once you get through that roadblock there is a power to the tales that starts to shine through.

Free SF Reader
I have to say it took me quite a few sausage roll lunch hours to get through this one as a kid.There is no doubt it is very interesting and important for the whole Arthur thing.

Those interested should definitely check it out from that point of view, even if only having a browse, it is well worth the time to see the origins of a lot of this.

A classic
What a delight.I read this book as a child [over 50 years ago] and it was a wonderful trip back in time for me to read it again.I had forgotten how well produced and written it was.This Malory version captures the spirit of the era.

Well worth purchasing.

You need it if you are going to read Vol II
I purchased this book because my husband owns vol II and wanted to read vol I first.If you love epics, masonry, legends, and the like this is the book for you. ... Read more

Book Description
Malory's stories of King Arthur and the Round Table have been widely read for centuries, but their author's own life has been as variously reported as that of any Arthurian knight. The first serious attempts to identify him were made in the 1890s, but the man who then seemed most likely to have written the book was later found to have been accused of attempted murder, rape, extortion, and sacrilegious robbery and to have spent ten years or more in prison. Could this be reconciled with the authorship of the most famous chivalric romance in English?Other candidates for authorship were proposed but there was little consensus.This book gives the most comprehensive consideration of the competing arguments yet undertaken. It is a fascinating piece of detective work followed by a full account of the life of the man identified as 'the' Malory. Close consideration of individual documents, many of which were entirely unknown in 1966, when the last book on Malory's life appeared, makes possible a fuller and more convincing story than has ever been told before. Professor P.J.C. FIELD teaches in the Department of English at the University of Wales, Bangor. ... Read more

Book Description

Virtually all modern versions of the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are derived from a single book: Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur (1469), one of the world's most renowned literary works. Yet the author, a fifteenth-century knight, has remained an enigma for centuries. Existing historical records imply that Malory was a criminal—accused of rape, ambush, rustling, and attacks on abbeys—and was imprisoned for most of his life.

Customer Reviews (1)

plenty here for the historians and the literary historians, too
This is a book that general audiences can have hours of fun reading and historians, literary historians, Arthurians, and other scholars of all shades can have hours of fun arguing about (and I draw from personal experience). Most impressive is Hardyment's full-scale, detailed look at the context of the world in which Malory lived and wrote, exploring its political pressures, its social conventions, its cultural attitudes, and the ways it sought to authenticate itself. She's also adept at managing the physical evidence, reproducing for us (in word pictures and fine visual additions) the materiality of the world: its houses, its armor, its food, its diseases. She admits where her conclusions are romantic speculations (imagining Malory's amorous intrigues and/or military commitments) but places them within the context of existing evidence. The extensive endnotes and bibliography prove she's done her research and documented her sources. Literary critics might be hesitant to read as much of Malory's own personal attitudes from what's written in the 'Morte Darthur' as Hardyment does--even in the fifteenth century, authors were capable of irony, satire, creating fiction, and constructing narrative personae--and after a few hundred pages, the blur of names and titles makes one long for a glossary of proper names at the end, just to keep the dynasties and loyalties organized in one's mind. But none of this proves an impediment to the fine, clear prose, and in the end, Hardyment's imaginative reconstruction of a man of deep loyalties, strong moral fiber, romantic leanings, and nostalgia for a world where chivalry actually means something is persuasive and appealing and, on its own, offers an explanation for why the 'Morte Darthur' has such a lasting literary life. ... Read more

Book Description
Caxton's Malory is the first scholarly edition since the nineteenth century of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Mort D'Arthur as it was printed by William Caxton in 1485. The first volume contains Caxton's text, illustrated with twenty-one beautiful woodcuts from William Copland's edition of 1557. The second volume contains the extensive critical apparatus. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Solid Scholarship
As the long title suggests this is a scholarly edition of Malory's classic story of King Arthur and his knights. As such, it forms a counter-balance to the edition edited by Vinaver and Field which is based on the Winchester manuscript. Even though I tend to prefer the Winchester manuscript's readings over the Caxton edition's, I believe this is an excellent edition of the Caxton. No Arthurian library is really complete without it.

The definative Le Morte Darthur
Obviously if you are looking at this book you have more than just a mere passing interest in King Arthur and Sir Thomas Mallory's Le Morte Darthur. This edition makes available the origional text with the origionalorthography adding only modern punctuation and paragraphing to facilitatereading. The book contains two volumes the first contains the actual text.The second contains some notes showing variations in the various textualversions of Le Morte Darthur as well as a glossery of middle-englishvocabulary. The book can be used by the novice and the scholar alike. Whilethe versions translated into a more modern english are fantastic there isno substitute for the flavour of the origional. As Robert Frostsaid,"poetry is what is lost in translation." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Definitive Edition of the Morte Darthur
This is the classic scholarly edition of Sir Thomas Malory's _Le Morte Darthur_, the tale of King Arthur and his knights.It is based upon the Winchester manuscript instead of Caxton's 1485 edition.It isProf. Vinaver's contention that Malory did not translate his sources as asingle work but rather treated each one as a separate tale.He thereforeentitled his edition _Works_ rather than the more usual _Le Morte Darthur_. Readers should be warned that the spelling and grammer of this editionhave not been modernized.Like most Middle English texts it is best toread it aloud.The unfamiliar spelling and structure can be easier for theear to understand than the eye.After all spelling in this period (about1469) was not standardized and scribes wrote as they spoke. ... Read more

Book Description
This introduction to Morte Darthuroutlines the book's basic character, followed by a study of the key concepts of love, loyalty, sin and shame. Malory's approach to his material is discussed, as are his sources, and his individual contribution; finally, Maloryand his book are placed in their historical context. Published in 1988 as Reading the Morte Darthur.`Presents in very accessible form the explanatory material which (students) will require. He is well-informed about the basic issues in Malory scholarship and criticism, and his approach is sound.' REVIEW OF ENGLISH STUDIES`This book is aimed specifically at readers approaching Malory's Morte Darthur.N>.N>. it will be very useful both to new readers and to their instructors.' CHOICEThe Morte Darthuris a book of action and adventure, not a book of thought. It is full of unexplained and inexplicable customs, magic and mystery, love and hate, nobility, villainy and the highest ideals. Among its characters are the heroes and heroines of the greatest love stories in the western tradition, and it appeals to our most basic and powerful sentiments. Terence McCarthy's book is an introduction to Malory, and so the first section is designed to show how to go about reading the Morte Darthur, and to outline aspects of its basic character. The remaining sections offer an interpretation of it, beginning with the key concepts of love, loyalty, sin and shame. The reader is urged to resist the temptation to consider the Morte Darthuras an early novel, and Malory as omniscient narrator, in order to see him as he saw himself - a historian chronicling the public events of a kingdom. Even his much-praised style underlines the formal and traditional aspect of his book. The Morte Darthuris based on inherited material, and while it is not necessary to know all the intricacies of Malory's sources, Terence McCarthy shows how Malory worked and the extent and nature of his individual contribution. A brief final section puts Malory and his book in their historical context: the turmoil of late fifteenth-century England may be a striking contrast to the order and harmony Arthur achieved (and lost), but too precise an interpretation will remain fruitless until we know more about Sir Thomas Malory -including who he actually was. ... Read more