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COPYRIGHT 2003 Modern Humanities Research Association
The Malory Debate: Essays on the Texts of 'Le Morte Darthur'. Edited by BONNIE WHEELER, ROBERT L. KINDRICK, and MICHAEL N. SALDA. (Arthurian Studies, 47) Cambridge: Brewer. 2000. xxii+420 pp. 45 [pounds sterling]; $75. ISBN 0-85991-583-2.
This important volume of essays on the rival merits of the manuscript and printed texts of Le Morte Darthur is divided into three parts. The first is devoted to a reconstruction of William Matthews's thoughts on Caxton and, in particular, the printing of the Morte. The second part presents responses to Matthews's arguments ranging from 'whole-hearted endorsement' through a middle position to thoroughgoing rejection. The essays in the third part 'consider the next steps in the ongoing editing of [...] Le Morte Darthur' (p. xiii). There is some interesting cross-referencing in the volume since a number of the contributors were able to read and comment on each other's work--an excellent idea that must have imposed demanding deadlines on all concerned.
To my mind the most stimulating essays are those by P. J. C. Field, Helen Cooper, Edward Kennedy, and N. F. Blake. Field's appears in its third printing...
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