MALORY, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1900.
8vo., 2 vols; sometime rebound in half vellum over marbled boards; ruled in gilt with decorative floral art nouveau gilt to spine; to contrasting leather labels lettered and decorated to spine, including date to foot; upper edge gilt; with matching marbled endpapers; silk ribbon markers (slightly frayed); pp. [ix], vi-xxviii, [i], 2-439, [v]; [ix], vi-xix, [ii], 2-531, [v]; previous bookseller sticker to front paste-down of Vol. I; beautifully clean copies, with minor patches of rubbing to the rear boards; a near-fine set, otherwise.
A charmingly-bound set, from the Library of English Classics.
Originally spelled Le Morte Darthur from the Middle French for "The Death of Arthur", this, a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory tells the tale about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table, along with their respective folklore. In order to tell a "complete" story of Arthur from his conception to his death, Malory compiled, rearranged, interpreted and modified material from various French and English sources. Today, it is one of the best-known works of Arthurian literature.
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