Thus endeth thys noble and joyous book entytled le morte Darthur.

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Accession number: 
PML 17560
Author: 
Malory, Thomas, Sir, active 15th century.
Published: 
Westmestre : [William Caxton], the last day of Juyl [sic] the yere of our lord /M/CCCC/lxxxv [31 July 1485].
Description: 
[432] leaves ; 30 cm (folio)
Credit Line: 
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1911.
Notes: 

Author, title, and imprint from colophon (leaf ee6r): Thus endeth thys noble and joyous book entytled le morte Darthur/ Notwuthstondyng it treateth of the byrth/ lyf/ and actes of the sayd kyng Arthur/ of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table/ theyr mervayllous enquestes and adventures/ thachyevyng of the sangreal/ [et] in thende the dolorous deth [et] departyng out of thys wolde of them al/ which book was reduced in to englysshe by syr Thomas Malory knyght as afore is sayd/ and by me devuded in to xxi bookes chapytred and enprynted / and fynysshed in thabbey westmestre the last day of Juyl the yere of our lord /M/CCCC/lxxxv/. Caxton me fieri fecit.
Printed in Caxton's type 4:95B.
Collation: [1]⁸ [2]¹⁰; a-z, [et], A-Z, aa-dd⁸ ee⁶: 432 leaves, leaf [1]/1 blank. First quire with leaves 2, 3, and 4 so signed; second quire with leaves 1, 2, 3, and 4 signed as 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Paper format: Chancery folio
Only other known copy at the John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, missing 10 leaves replaced in facsimile.
For an account of the paper stocks in this edition, see BMC XI 321 and the Scolar Press facsimile of this copy, pp. 10-32.
PML copy leaf dimensions: 28.6 x 20.8 cm.
PML copy missing 1 leaf: [1]/1 (blank).
PML copy reproduced in facsimile: Scolar Press, 1976, with an introduction by Paul Needham.

Binding: 
Eighteenth-century gilt-tooled red morocco in the Harleian style over paper boards (30 x 21.5 cm), sewn on 5 supports by Thomas Elliot; repaired by Duprez Lahey. Marbled paper pastedowns and fly leaves with plain paper fly leaves; decorative endbands.
Variant Title: 

Le morte Darthur

Inscriptions/Markings: 

Hand decoration: Rubrication not required. Annotations: 1 marginal notation in text: "honor," in crayon, 16/17th century (leaf T5r). Black ink smudges/fingerprints sporadically throughout. Modern foliation up to 130.
Watermark: page 6. Hand with sleeve cuff.
Watermark: page 9. Shield with diagonal straps inside.
Watermark: page 15. Shield with diagonal straps inside.
Watermark: page 10. Dog with collar.
Watermark: page 70. Scissor centered on chain line.
Watermark: page 77. Hand with five-pointed star.

Provenance: 
Francis Bernard (1627-1698); his sale, 4 Oct. 1698, lot 136; Thomas Rawlinson (1681-1725); his sale, part IX, 16 Oct. 1727, p. 34; Edward Harley (1689-1741), 2nd Earl of Oxford, inscription: Oxford BH (leaf [1]/2r), the printed books from the Oxford library were sold by his widow, Henrietta Cavendish (1694-1755), in 1743 to: Thomas Osborne, Catalogus bibliothecae Harleianae III, no. 372; Bryan Fairfax (1676-1749); his sale, Prestgate (London), 6 April 1756, lot 2022; Francis Child (d. 1763), purchased the entire Fairfax library before the sale, Osterly Park(?) shelf mark: I2.__3. H.1.3 (front marbled paper fly verso), inherited by his brother Robert Child (1739-1842) and on to his grand-daughter, Lady Sarah Fane and husband George Villiers; Victor Child Villiers (1845-1915), 7th Earl of Jersey, Osterley Park armorial bookplate (front pastedown); Osterley Park sale, Sotheby's, 6 May 1885, lot 97, to Quaritch for Pope via B.F. Stevens; Abbie Ellen Pope (1858-1894), purchase inscription with price code: H.y.a.y.y. ++ (first rear fly verso); Robert Hoe (1839-1909), booklabel (front pastedown), purchased entire Pope library, ca. 1895; his sale, Anderson Auction (NY), 24 April 1911, lot 2110 to Morgan; Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), purchased April 1911.
Classification: 
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