Free Downloads Le Morte D'Arthur (Modern Library Classics)
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.The stories of King Arthur, Lancelot, Queen Guenever, and Tristram and Isolde seem astonishingly moving and modern. Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur endures and inspires because it embodies mankind's deepest yearnings for brotherhood and community, a love worth dying for, and valor, honor, and chivalry.
Paperback: 992 pages
Publisher: Modern Library (February 22, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375753222
ISBN-13: 978-0375753220
Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.6 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,165,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #70 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Arthurian Romance #516 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Genres & Styles > Gothic & Romance #551 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Regional & Cultural > European > French
The Norton Critical Edition of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur edited by Stephen H. A. Shepherd partly replaces Eugène Vinaver's The Works of Sir Thomas Malory and is in many ways a better effort.This edition stands somewhere between a scholarly, critical edition and a popular edition. It is based mainly on the Winchester manucript with emendations and additions from Caxton's 14th century printed version. Abbreviations are expanded, major (but not minor) corrections of the text are noted, the obsolete characters thorn and yogh are replaced by modern letters, use of u and v, i and j follow modern usage. and word division, punctuation, and capitalization also edited to follow modern conventions, including use of quotation marks.But otherwise spelling is not modernized, large capitals in the manuscript are indicated in the printed text by lombardic capitals of approximately the same relative size, paragraphing is mostly followed exactly (with even the // paragraph break marks being rendered by indentation followed by the symbol ¶) and further paragraphing without ¶ where other punctuation or capitalization anomalies indicate sectioning. Vinaver's edition became, eventually, notorious for ignoring the divisions given within the manuscript itself, an especially unfortunate defect since Vinaver's theories about Malory's composition supposedly depended on paying especially close attention to such matters.In the mansucript, rubricating (that is, red lettering) was employed in scribing almost all personal names as well as on some other names and in marginal notes and is here represented by a black-letter font.
A reviewer can propose, but only disposes.Way back in 2004, I was unable to review the then-new Norton Critical Edition of "Le Morte Darthur" (Winchester MS version -- see below) because I had already posted a review of the Penguin English Library/Penguin Classics edition (Caxton's text).In the end, I wound up discussing Shepherd's treatment in a review of the Oxford Standard Authors edition, edited by Eugene Vinaver under the idiosyncratic title of "Malory: Complete Works."Now that the NCE (Norton Critical Edition) has its own page, I've decided to slightly modify that combined review, and post it where I originally wanted it to go.This is mainly a review of two old-spelling complete editions of the work commonly known as "Le Morte D'Arthur" (Anglo-Norman French for "The Death of [King] Arthur}), both available in paperback. The language they are in can be called either very late Middle English, or very early Modern English; other, easier-to-read, editions will also be mentioned below.For those who are already familiar with the "Morte" from modernized-spelling popular editions, and the existence of two sources for a "definitive" text, and are looking for a more scholarly, but affordable, edition, here is the short view of the situation:The sole choice used to be Eugene Vinaver's "Malory: Complete Works," in the Oxford Standard Authors series (from Oxford University Press; the title will be explained shortly). Available since 1971, it is in (rather small) plain type, with no special features on the page except some marginal notations, and the occasional footnote.S.H.A.
"Le Morte D'Arthur" comes at a turning point in English literature. It is both a summation of the courtly legend and lore of the Medieval world and indicator of literary times to come. Not quite a novel, not quite a collection of tales, not quite an exemplar of etiquette and ethics, it was still one of the great creative accomplishments of the 15th century. Countless generations of writers, poets and artists and felt its influence.Unfortunately, my memories of Malory's work are tainted by my memories of the difficulties of reading the book. In college I was sentenced to reading small paperback editions with tiny, cramped print. It was never possible to settle into the task for more than a short time without feeling a headache coming on. As a result my impression of the book was that it was both interesting and impenetrable. It was with great relief that I went on to other classes and texts.Lately, I found I needed a copy of `Le Morte D'Arthur" again, and in reviewing the available editions discovered this new edition, edited by John Matthews and illustrated by Anna-Marie Ferguson. When it arrived, I was amazed and delighted.Academically the edition is much as one would expect. It is basically a reprint of a Medici Society version of the Caxton original. Matthews has corrected some spelling problems. He has also silently interpolated some snippets of the manuscript version (some 20 total) where these make the narrative clearer. It is unfortunate that he did not document these additions to prevent scholastic confusion, but he did not wish to break up the narrative with footnotes. I have found several of the changes and they all make the sense better.
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