Morte Arthure. The Alliterative Romance of the Death of King Arthur. Now first printed from a Manuscript in Lincoln Cathedral

Brixton Hill: For private circulation only (printed by C. and J. Adlard), 1847. FIRST EDITION OF THE ALLITERATIVE MORTE ARTHURE, one of the great monuments of Arthurian literature and of Medieval English literature. This poem, like Gawain and the Green Knight, is part of the late Medieval literary movement now called the "alliterative revival". According to Larry Benson, the most recent editor of this poem, the Alliterative Morte Arthure "lacks the delicacy and balance of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but the vigor of its narrative, the epic sweep of its action, and its coolly realistic presentation of fourteenth-century warfare lend the poem an interest of its own." EDITION LIMITED TO JUST 75 COPIES, each numbered and signed by the printer, of which THIS IS ONE OF ONLY 50 COPIES PRINTED ON THIN PAPER. Beautifully printed in large, attractive type on fine wove paper, with large margins. Frontispiece engraving by F. W. Fairholt after a manuscript miniature depicting the Round Table. Large 4to. Bound in original cloth, beautifully decorated in blind. Uncut. Professionally recased, with original endpapers preserved. Frontispiece discolored (as always, because of paper used) and a bit stained. Otherwise FINE AND BRIGHT. A legendary rarity, in its original binding. Extremely rare and important. sxxi