Best edition of Morte D'Arthur
Shameful confession time....I have not read Malory's Morte D'Arthur. I have read Idylls of the King and considered that sufficient: but I would like to rectify my monumental gap in Arthurian lore.
So what are people's recommendations as far as editions go? I'm looking for one that preserves the original as much as possible.
If you are willing to spend some money ....
get the Limited Editions Club three-volume edition with modernized spelling. Except for the spelling, it will be close to Caxton's 15th century printing. Mallory dropped off his manuscript with William Caxton to be printed, but he had the misfortune to die thereafter. Caxton edited Mallory's work before printing, and all editions are based on Caxton's printing since it is the only copy which has come down to us.
The Limited Editions Club 3-volume edition, printed in 1936, was printed by The Golden Cockerell Press in England and illustrated by the founder of the press, Robert Gibbings, whose illustrations are reminiscent of those of Arthur Beardsley. This book can be had in a fine copy for about $250, a small sum for such a glorious work.
I just finished Idylls of the King and am up to Book 5 of Mallory. Others I would recommend would be Geoffrey of Monmouth's Arthurian legends, Tristram and Isolde, and Gawain and the Green Knight. Then top off your Arthurian reading with Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, a funny and superlative work.