{"product_id":"malory-thomas-sir-aubrey-beardsley-illustrator-le-morte-darthur-the-birth-life-and-acts-of-king-arthur-of-his-noble-knights-of-the-round-table","title":"MALORY, Thomas, Sir; Aubrey BEARDSLEY ( illustrator ). [Le Morte Darthur.] The Birth Life and Acts of King Arthur of His Noble Knights of the Round Table …","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"font-variant: small-caps\"\u003eBeardsley's First Big Commission\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMALORY, Thomas, Sir; Aubrey BEARDSLEY (\u003ci\u003eillustrator\u003ci\u003e).\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e [Le Morte Darthur.] The Birth Life and Acts of King Arthur of His Noble Knights of the Round Table … [\u003ci\u003eEdinburgh: Turnbull \u0026amp; Spears for\u003c\/i\u003e] \u003ci\u003eLondon: J.M. Dent\u003c\/i\u003e. June 1893–November 1894.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwelve parts in two volumes, 4to. Publisher’s cream cloth (\u003ci\u003esee below\u003c\/i\u003e), gilt floral designs by Beardsley to spine and upper board, spine lettered in gilt, top-edges gilt, the others uncut, multicoloured cloth place-markers (that of vol. I detached); vol. I: pp. lxiv, 456; vol. II: pp. [8], lxv–xc, 457–990, [2 (colophon, blank)]; photogravure frontispieces to both vols and 18 wood-engraved plates by Beardsley (of which 5 double-page with tissue guards); numerous wood-engraved borders, initials, chapter headings, and ornaments by Beardsley, woodcut Dent device to title; light soiling and spotting to boards, vol. I with a few small chips to foot of spine and short splits to joints at head (very neatly repaired at an early date); vol. I lightly browned throughout, occasional light offsetting from plates, short closed marginal tear to pp. 391–92; a very good set; 1898 ownership inscription of M.L. Sumner to front pastedown of vol. II.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFirst edition to be illustrated by Beardsley, one of 1,500 ordinary-issue copies, of Malory’s Morte d’Arthur.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The \u003ci\u003eMorte d’Arthur\u003c\/i\u003e is the most famous version and the first in English prose of all the legends which have collected about King Arthur. It is the only true English epic […] The matchless style, the humour, the magnificence, the magic that takes away the breath, combine in a masterpiece of legendary narrative’ (\u003ci\u003ePMM\u003c\/i\u003e 29). This was twenty-year-old Beardsley’s first major commission; he was recommended to J.M. Dent by his friend (and later a major collector of Beardsley’s works), the photographer and bookseller Frederick H. Evans. Beardsley produced some three hundred and fifty designs, including chapter headings and ornaments, several of which are repeated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ordinary issue was produced in twelve parts in green wrappers, from June 1893 to mid-1894; the purchaser could then choose to have it bound in two volumes ‘by the publisher or another binder – in cream cloth cases … supplied by Dent’ (Samuels Lasner).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGertner Zatlin  338–69, 371–675; Reade 56–152; Reade \u0026amp; Dickinson 212–13; Samuels Lasner 22; Vallance 59.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSKU: \u003c\/strong\u003e2124714\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Henry Sotheran Limited","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64326549045625,"sku":"2124714","price":2000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0045\/2178\/7426\/files\/2124714.jpg?v=1787325466","url":"https:\/\/sotherans.co.uk\/products\/malory-thomas-sir-aubrey-beardsley-illustrator-le-morte-darthur-the-birth-life-and-acts-of-king-arthur-of-his-noble-knights-of-the-round-table","provider":"Sotherans","version":"1.0","type":"link"}