The Birth, Life and Acts of King Arthur. MALORY (Sir Thomas).

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 1485 and now Spelled in Modern Style. With an Introduction by Professor Rhys and Embellished with many Original Designs by Aubrey Beardsley.

Illustrated throughout by Aubrey Beardsley.

Two volumes. 4to. [245 x 195 x 111 mm]. Newly bound by Bayntun-Riviere in black goatskin, the covers tooled in gilt with a fillet border and panel, with a large leaf and flower block in two corners and repeated floral and arabesque tools and gouges. The spine divided into six panels with raised bands and gilt compartments, lettered in the second and third on red and green goatskin labels and dated at the foot, the others with large arabesque tools, the edges of the boards tooled with a gilt fillet, the turn-ins with a gilt roll, Japanese grey, white and gilt endleaves, original green frontispieces bound in, top edges gilt, the others uncut.
London: J. M. Dent & Co, 1893

One of 1500 regular copies. This was Beardsley's first major commission which launched the "Beardsley look" (Gillon). Hoping to emulate the works produced by the Kelmscott Press, J. M. Dent commissioned the 20 year old Beardsley to illustrated this edition, a project which took him 18 months to complete.

Stock no. ebc9165