Le Morte D'arthur
Thomas Malory
Hardcover
(Penguin Books Ltd, Dec. 31, 1985)
Le Morte d'Arthur is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory (1400–1470) of traditional tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. Malory interprets existing French and English stories about these figures. First published in 1485 by William Caxton, Le Morte d'Arthur is today perhaps the best-known work of Arthurian literature in English. Many modern Arthurian writers have used Malory as their principal source, including T. H. White in The Once and Future King and Tennyson in The Idylls of the King. In 1892, London publisher J. M. Dent & Co. decided to produce an illustrated edition of Le Morte D’Arthur in modern spelling. They chose a 20-year-old insurance-office clerk and art student, Aubrey Beardsley, to illustrate the work. It was issued in 12 parts between June 1893 and mid-1894, and met with only modest success at the time. However, it has since been described as Beardsley's first masterpiece, launching what has come to be known as the "Beardsley look". It was his first major commission, and included nearly 585 chapter openings, borders, initials, ornaments and full- or double-page illustrations. This book is a facsimile of the Beardsley edition, complete with Malory's unabridged text. Beardsley was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A. McNeill Whistler. Beardsley's contribution to the development of the Art Nouveau and poster styles was significant, despite the brevity of his career before his early death from tuberculosis. His drawings in black ink, influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. Together, Sir Thomas Malory’s words and Aubrey Beardsley’s drawings make an unforgettable classic.
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