The Byrth, Lyf, and Actes of Kyng Arthur
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Malory Sir Thomas. The Byrth, Lyf, and Actes of Kyng Arthur; of His Noble Knyghtes of the Rounde Table, Theyr Mervellous Enquests and Adventures, Thachyeuyng of the Sanc Greal; and in the End le Morte Darthur, with the Dolorous Deth and Departyng out of Thys Worlde of Them Al. [Ed. by William Upcott.] With an Introduction and Notes by Robert Southey. London: for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown by Thomas Davidson, 1817. Bound in full red crushed morocco by Riviere & Son. (Large paper copy.)
Robert Southey's 1817 edition of Malory's Morte was important for several reasons. Unlike the two 1816 editions, which based their texts on the 1634 Stansby edition, the 1817 text was based on Caxton's edition. It was also the version of Malory that was read by Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, and Algernon Charles Swinburne and was the edition that inspired the trend of reproducing or reworking the Morte as a book for boys. Southey recalled that as a schoolboy he 'possessed a wretchedly imperfect copy' of the Morte and that there was no book, except the Faerie Queene, that he 'perused so often, or with such deep contentment.' Southey asserted that were the Morte to be modernized and 'published as a book for boys, it could hardly fail of regaining its popularity.' James Knowles responded to Southey's call, which he cites in his Preface, by reworking Malory, 'adding from Geoffrey of Monmouth and other sources where it was desirable,' in a book titled The Story of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, the first of many adaptations directed at the young.