An examination of the rubricated letters in the Morte makes a convincing case for the design being by Malory himself. The red-ink names that decorate the Winchester manuscript of Malory's Morte Darthur are striking; yet until now, no-one has asked why the rubrication exists. This book explores the uniqueness and thematic significance of the physical layout of the Morte in its manuscript context, arguing that the layout suggests, and the correlations between manuscript design and narrative theme confirm, that the striking arrangement is likely to have been the product of authorial design rather than something unusual dreamed up by patron, scribe, reader, or printer. The introduction offers a thorough account of not only the textual tradition of the Morte, but also the ways in which scholarship to date has not done enough with the manuscript contexts of Malory's Arthuriad. The book then goes on to establish the singularity and likely provenance of Winchester's rubrication of names. In the second half of the study the author elucidates the narrative significance of this rubrication pattern, outlining striking connections between manuscript layout and major narrative events, characters, and themes. He suggests that the manuscript mise-en-page underscores Malory's interest in human character and knighthood, creating a memorializing function similar to the many inscribed tombs that dominate the landscape of the Morte's narrative pages. Inshort, Winchester's design creates a memorializing tomb for Arthurian chivalry. K.S. WHETTER is Professor of English at Acadia University, Canada.

This third edition of Vinaver's superbly annotated text of the Works provides a factually corrected version of the second edition, including reverified text and apparatus consisting of some 2,850 changes, and a completely revised index and glossary. In addition to the new changes, the volume offers the standard format of the previous two editions, including a definitive biography and literary interpretation of Malory, an essay describing the texts on which the edition was established, the Caxton printing, a lucid and highly readable introduction, full critical apparatus, and numerous relevant quotes from unpublished sources.

Seminal essays on one of the most crucial issues in Arthurian studies. For the past fifty years, debates about which text of Malory scholars and teachers should prefer have sparked much controversy: which is the most authentic or authoritative, Caxton, the Winchester version, or a mixture of both (asproposed by Vinaver)? The papers in this volume represent the most important contributions to the dialogue; previously published articles have been updated where relevant and new issues are presented in several original essays, while the introductions place the argument in its theoretical and historical contexts. Professor BONNIE WHEELER teaches at the Southern Methodist University; Professor MICHAEL SALDA teaches at the University of SouthernMississippi; Professor ROBERT KINDRICK teaches at the University of Montana. Contributors: MICHAEL N. SALDA, KEVIN GRIMM, SHUNICHI NOGUCHI, CHARLES MOORMAN, P.J.C. FIELD, WILLIAM MATTHEWS, ROBERT KINDRICK, HELEN COOPER, TOSHIYUKI TAKAMIYA, YUJI NAKAO, NORMAN BLAKE