Le Morte Darthur. The Birth, Life, and Acts of King Arthur, of his Noble Knights of the Round Table, Their Marvellous Enquests and Adventures, the Achieving of the San Greal, and in the End, Le Morte Darthur, with the Dolorous Death and Departing Out of This World of Them All. The Text as Written by Sir Thomas Malory and Imprinted by William Caxton at Westminster the Year MCCCCLXXXV and Now Spelled in Modern Style. With an Introduction by Professor Rhys and Embellished with Many Original Designs by Aubrey Beardsley.

BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (illus.); MALORY, Sir Thomas.

Edité par London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1893-94

A propos de cet article

First Beardsley edition, one of 1,500 copies on ordinary paper. This was the artist's first major commission and the book that launched the "Beardsley look" (Gillon, p. iv). In 1892, seeking to emulate the books of the Kelmscott Press, John M. Dent commissioned the 20-year-old Beardsley to produce this edition, a project that took the artist 18 months to complete. "In Le Morte d'Arthur Beardsley learnt his job, but the result is no bungling student's work. If he had never illustrated another book, this edition of Morte d'Arthur could stand as a monument of decorative book illustration" (Lewis, pp. 148-9). The work was first published, to some controversy, in 12 monthly magazine instalments between June 1893 and mid-1894. "Often shockingly overt in their sexuality and eroticism, the illustrations rejected the aesthetic of the Pre-Raphaelites who were Beardsley's original mentors and offered a revisionist and parodic treatment of their medievalism. Ultimately, Beardsley went far beyond his original intention to 'flabbergast the bourgeois' of his day; he also challenged generations of readers and artists to view Arthurian society through his own modernist lens" (Lupack, pp. 75-91). The work was issued by subscription in 12 parts between June 1893 and November 1894 in an edition of 1,500 copies on standard paper, as here, and 300 copies on Van Gelder paper. Edmund Vincent Gillon, Illustrations for Le Morte D'Arthur, 1972; John Lewis, The Twentieth Century Book, 1984; Barbara Tepa Lupack, Illustrating Camelot, 2008. 2 vols, large octavo. Photogravure frontispieces, 18 wood-engraved plates (5 double-page), illustrations within text, borders, and historiated initials, all by Aubrey Beardsley. Original yellow cloth, spine lettered in gilt, spine and front cover stamped in gilt with floral design by Beardsley, rear cover stamped in gilt with publisher's device, top edge gilt, others uncut, blue cloth bookmarkers. Spines faintly toned and cocked, corners gently bumped, damp stain to foot of front board and endleaves of vol. II, foxing to edges, spots to top edge of vol. I, bookmarkers a little frayed, contents clean and printing crisp: in very good condition.

N° de réf. du vendeur 178019

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Le Morte Darthur. The Birth, Life, and Acts of King Arthur, of his Noble Knights of the Round Table, Their Marvellous Enquests and Adventures, the Achieving of the San Greal, and in the End, Le Morte Darthur, with the Dolorous Death and Departing Out of This World of Them All. The Text as Written by Sir Thomas Malory and Imprinted by William Caxton at Westminster the Year MCCCCLXXXV and Now Spelled in Modern Style. With an Introduction by Professor Rhys and Embellished with Many Original ...
• Éditeur: London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1893-94
• Édition: Edition originale