LE MORTE DARTHUR The Story of King Arthur & of His Noble Knights of the Round Table First Printed by William Caxton, Now Modernised, As To Spelling and Punctuation by A. W. Pollard.

3 volumes. LIMITED EDITION one of only 1500 hand-numbered copies SIGNED BY THE ILLUSTRATOR, Robert Gibbins. Smashingly illustrated on every page from engravings on wood by Robert Gibbings, the engravings are large and fanciful and sometime occupy nearly half the page. 4tos, in the publisher's original navy cloth over blue and white paper-covered boards decorated in an armorial motif, the spines gilt lettered, two volumes retaining the rarely kept original glassine wrappers, in the original slipcase of gray/green paper-covered boards with cream label printed in dark blue. xv, 222; 269; 273 pp. A wonderful set, lovingly conserved and in very fine condition, internally very fresh and bright with no evidence of use, near as mint, the bindings are also basically pristine and without flaw. The rare glassine on two volumes has some tearing but is all there, the glassine still being fresh and soft, not brittle and darkened as is so often the case, the slipcase near as new as well but for a little wear to the paper at the bottom edge, still sturdy and strong.

Edizione: the handsome golden cockerel malory for the limited editions club, a beautiful printing of this great classic of the english language, and a set in exceptional condition. it includes caxton's preface and a bibliographic note on malory by a. w. pollard.<br> robert gibbings, illustrator and signer of this edition, was an irish artist most noted for his work as a wood engraver and sculptor. along with noel rooke, he was one of the founder members of the society of wood engravers and was a major influence in the revival of wood engraving in the twentieth century. he was long associated with the golden cockerel, with whom he worked on over 70 titles.<br> caxton once wrote of his morte darthur, “then to proceed forth in this said book, which i direct unto all noble princes, lords and ladies, gentlemen or gentlewomen, that desire to read or hear read of the noble and joyous history of the great conqueror and excellent king, king arthur, sometime king of this noble realm, then called britain; i, william caxton, simple person, present this book following, which i have enprised to imprint: and treateth of the noble acts, feats of arms of chivalry, prowess, hardiness, humanity, love, courtesy, and very gentleness, with many wonderful histories and adventures.”- preface