Best Version of Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur

[Michael D. Ramm]

I was about to dig into Le Morte D'Arthur for the first time when I
noticed that the version that I have (Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur :
King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table by Malory Thomas, Keith
Baines [ISBN: 0451625676 ])is actually Keith Baines' precis (summary)
of the Malory classic.

He states "This edition is the first designed for the general reader
based on the "Winchester manuscript," which represents what Malory
wrote more closely than the version printed by William Caxton.
Extensively annotated, this edition is highly user-friendly".

Could some one recommend another version that is closely translated to
the original, and not some guy's summary of the literature?

Thank you in advance for the recommendations,
Michael Ramm
Northport, AL

[C. Barrans]

"Michael D. Ramm" wrote:
>
> I was about to dig into Le Morte D'Arthur for the first time when I
> noticed that the version that I have (Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur :
> King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table by Malory Thomas, Keith
> Baines [ISBN: 0451625676 ])is actually Keith Baines' precis (summary)
> of the Malory classic.
>
> He states "This edition is the first designed for the general reader
> based on the "Winchester manuscript," which represents what Malory
> wrote more closely than the version printed by William Caxton.
> Extensively annotated, this edition is highly user-friendly".

Yes, that's the one found at my public library. The librarians were
quite surprised when I pointed out that it wasn't really Malory.

> Could some one recommend another version that is closely translated to
> the original, and not some guy's summary of the literature?

There's a Penguin Classics version in two volumes, edited by Janet
Cowen. From the editor's Note: "The text is based on Caxton's printed
edition of 1485. The syntax of the original has been left unchanged,
but the spelling has been modernized. Archaic forms have usually been
kept, although some minor alterations have been made, as, e.g., in
rendering _hem_ (3rd person plural pronoun) as _them_, and in the past
tenses of a few verbs. Obsolete words are explained in the Glossary and
incorporate the same minor spelling changes as are made regularly
elsewhere. Caxton's spellings of proper names have been harmonized.
Modern punctuation and paragraphing have been used." There are some
decent notes in this version as well.

If this sounds like what you're looking for--that is, basically what
Malory wrote with enough changes to make it readable--then I hope for
your sake that this version is still in print. :-)

-- CB

°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°¤°

Sometimes it is hard
to distinguish emotion
from indigestion

[Mary]

I have a version put out by University Books in the 1960s that is just the
Caxton version with updated spellings. Quite good, if you can find it; usually
at used bookshops.

Mary
-------
"History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake" -James
Joyce.
"Ever noticed the more they dole out freedom over there, the more they take it
away over here?" -Jello Biafra
http://www.geocities.com/branwaedd

[Cherith Baldry]

>> Could some one recommend another version that is closely translated to
>> the original, and not some guy's summary of the literature?
>
>

I use the two volume Penguin edition for general reading (though I have
Vinaver's one volume version of the Winchester ms (OUP) as well. It's very
clear. I don't see why anyone would want a more modernised version.

Best regards,
Cherith

[ascolat]

Read the original! Fifteenth-century English is very close to modern
English, and until you can't translate Malory without ruining his very
distinctive voice. The one volume Oxford paperback is still the best
bet. Read the last two tales first--they're the most readable. Some
parts are hard (the Roman war episode, for example) but persevere. You
won't regret it!

Mischa