New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-18
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MALORY's MORrE DARTHUR.


Original Designs by AUBREY BearaS soS vi NJ
! Royal octave Pp lxy, 499 London On icoa NJ
For the lover of Sir Thomas Mallory who is also
student there is but one modern edition OF the
Morte Darthur That Is the erudte. exhaustive,
monumental and costly edition Of Dr. Oskar
Sommer. For popular use there other good
and more accessible editions in circulation
notably that edited by Sir Edward strachey;
/ but of all modern reprints that suitable for
the general reader. the latest. here under re-
view is by far the best. In addition to good
printing and good book-making generally, the
publishers have provided a dscreety moderniZed
text In undermining Mallory they have left him
undiminishcd in any Of the elements which con-
sttute his distinction a writer Of the fifteenth
century. His diction loses nothing in losing some
Of its obscurites; the contrary. 1t gains
through the careful editing II has received. 1t
retains the archaic style of Cations text and
its pace is pcrceptby accelerated. The Morte
Darthur never anything but an absorbing
book; but Is the first condition Of perfect
enjoyment in reading and ease in the appre-
hension of the authors meaning Is what this
new edition insures. 1t is therefore boon.
Where difficult words have been allowed to
stand they have been CLOSED at the foot of
the page. You can follow the narrative with
scarcely pause.
The advantage of a really consecutive reading
Of the Morte Darthur Is obvious. In that maze
Of adventure and romance it is easy TO lose the
thread If you have not firm grasp upon 1t. The
action is incessant. The clangor Of arms is
ceaseess. This dramatic movement Of the book
is one of It's most enthralling features. Mallory
was of course, no dramatlst in the usual sense
Of the word; he had not the faintest nkng Of the
thea trical taste which was q dominate English
literature hundred years so later But a tale
resOunding with the din of chivalrous encounters.
full Of stirring surprises and peOpled with
knights and "damoses' in every conceivable stu-
ton. has the fire OF the drama burning in 1t.
Such n tale is the Morte Darthur. 1t has, fur
ther the glory of an Incompatible stage. No
accessories Of n sophistica ted, artificial society
enter into the endless panorama. The air IS the
air Of the wildwood The tone is the tone OF
love-making. fighting. dangerseeking race for
whom the forest and the sky make the most
natural background. and whose sun is the sun
Of pOesy. There. after all. IS the first and last
source of Malory's power. The light that floods
his picture is the light Of poetry of the magma
ton playing with poetic themes. The substance
Of the Morte Darthur is Homeric The treatment
Of It is hating in form but poetic as TO inspira-
ton and feeling: and the beauty Of Malory's
naive sort. which is associated with primitive
epics How this was possible would be mys-
tery-ln view Of the foreign origin OF his
romances-if It were not clear that the old Eng
llsh trinslators and adapters were so drenched
in the national characteristics Of their time that
no amount Of Continental nfuerce could wholly
recolor their rhetoric. In age even later than
Maorys. when French and Italian models were
importing all kinds Of ford touches into English
writing. the latter still remained English, still
preserved n certain richness and body. certain
wholesome quality that belonged TO the soil
Malory's own period was freer Of eccentricities in
literary style: its quantness was at least native
and natural. not acquired and foreign. He Is one
Of the most genuine writer's in English literature.
and as a poetic romancer he is. therefore, one OF
the most artess, spontaneous and winning OF any
time.
Considering the heroic nature OF Malory's sub
jects and his vigorous method OF treating them;
considering the thoroughly plastic character of
his style and the unaffected, buoyant, poetic at
mosphere which fills his pages the illustrator
chosen to embcllish this edition Of the Morte
Darthur is one Of the most amazing anomalies
that the enterprise Of publishing ever produced.
Mr.. Aubrey Beardsley. draughtsman Of such
manual skill that he has taken rank at a bound
among the leaders OF his craft is IN the style OF
his work n wholly decorative artist; he is, more
over, a perfect compound Of japanese and de
cadent" French impulses. Whistler, Oscar Wilde.
Stephane Maarme. Grasset. Schwabe. all that
Is signified in these literary and artistic names
is summed up in his fantastic and morbid de-
signs His borders, his decorative head and tail
pieces are artistic and beautiful His full-page
illustrations are far as such composite work
can be- original. and they. too, are artistic in
execution. They might be artistic as illus
trations-to a volume Of modern French fanta-
sizes As an accompaniment to the Morte
Darthur they are grotesquely antithetical in
spite OF their endeavor To emulate some OF the
motives Of early pictorial art They are so in
appropriate as To be piquant and almost inter-
esting II Is as though IIeirck and Beaudelaire
were 10 touch hands. as though Shakespeare
were to be suddenly found in collaboration with
Mr. William Ernest Henley. Intrinsically the
plates are so clever that you can hardly wish
them away In the long run, however. their
presence Is resented The decorations should