‘Thus endeth this noble and joyous boke, entytled La morte d’Arthur. Notwithstondyng it treateth of the byrth, lyf, and actes of the sayd Kynge Arthur, of his noble knyghts of the rounde table, theyr merueylous enquestes and aduentures, thacheuynge of the Sancgreal and in the ende the dolourous deth and depaytynge out of this worlde of them al; whyche boke was reduced into Englysshe by syr Thomas Malory, Knight, as afore is sayd, and by me devyded into xxi. bookes, chapitred and enprynted, and fynisshed in thabbey, Westmestre, the last day of Juyl, the yere of our Lord MCCCCLXXXV. Caxton me fieri fecit.’
HARLEIAN CATALOGUE.
‘The Byrth, Lyf, and Actes of Kyng Arthur; of his noble Knyghtes of the Rounde Table, theyr marvayllous Enquestes and Adventures; the Achyeviyng of the Sang real; and in the end le Morte d’Arthur, with the dolourous Deth and Departyng out of thys world of them Al. Whiche Book was reduced to the Englysshe, by Syr Thomas Malory Knyght, and by me (W. Caxton) devyded into 21 bookes, chaptyred and emprynted, and fynyshed in th’ Abbey Westmestre, the last day of July, the yere of our Lord 1485.’
‘Thus endeth this noble & joyous booke entytled La Mort dathur. Notwythstanding it treateth of the byrth, lyf & actes of the sayd Kynge Arthur, & of his noble knyghtes of the Rounde Table, theyr marueyllous Enquestes & aduentures, thacheyuyng of the Sang real, and in the ende le Morte darthur with the dolourous deth and departyng out of thys worlde of them al. Whiche booke was reduced in to Englysshe by Syr Thomas Malory knyght as afore is sayd, and by me deuyded in to xxi bookes chaptyred and emprynted and fynysshed in thabbey Westmestre the last day of July the yere of our lord MCCCCLXXXV. Caxton me fieri fecit.’
On a comparison of these colophons we see that the article La is only in Ames: the spelling of dathur is peculiar to Wynkyn de Worde, who has it also in another passage; the words le Morte darthur with are in the Harleian Catalogue only: as afore is said is in neither of these, but it is in Ames: the peculiar mode of writing Sang real[[47]], and the spelling of chaptyred, emprynted, July, are those of the Harleian Catalogue: the & introduced after Arthur in the second line is only in Upcott. Caxton me fieri fecit is in Ames, but not in the Harleian Catalogue.
When I say in Ames or the Harleian Catalogue only, it will be understood that I include with the colophon of the former its modernised copy in Dibdin; and with that of the latter its copies in Herbert and the Biographia Britannica; the references to all which I have given in the passage of the Introduction to which this is a Note. The first words of the colophon are omitted in the Harleian Catalogue, which gives it as the title of the book, as do the Biographia Britannica and Herbert. The framer of the Catalogue probably quotes directly, though inaccurately, from the Harleian (now the Osterley) Morte Darthur: and Ames must have made his extract independently from the same volume. Dibdin attributes both the Harleian Catalogue and the article in the Biographia Britannica to Oldys.
| [1] | ‘A braver soldier never couched lance, A gentler heart did never sway in court.’ First part of Henry VI. iii. 2. |
| [2] | Le Morte Darthur, edited from the Harleian MS. 2252, in the British Museum, by F. T. Furnivall, 1864. |