Publisher's Synopsis
'For nearly five hundred years, ' says M. C. Bradbrook, 'since its publication from William Caxton's printing press at Westminster on 31 July 1485, Malory's Morte Darthur has stood at the centre of English literature.' Again: 'Chaucer in the fourteenth century and Malory in the fifteenth together laid the foundations of modern English narrative.' Such judgments indicate the importance of Sir Thomas Malory. Not much is known about him personally, but the translation and adaptation which he made from the French, which was completed about 1470, is one of the most remarkable works in literature. It contains two main themes: the reign of King Arthur, which ends in catastrophe, and in the dissolution of the King's Round Table of chivalry, and the Quest of the Holy Grail, in which Galahad succeeds. Bradbrook's study will help every reader to appreciate Malory's strength and importance, and her survey includes works kindred to the Morte Darthur. The frontispiece is reproduced from the manuscript found in the Library of Winchester College.
