Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana

4 volumes, 4to. 48 tipped-in color plates by Sir William Russell Flint. Original gilt-lettered limp vellum, green silk ties, top edges gilt, others uncut; publisher's slipcases (rubbing, toning, minor splits with one slipcase missing top and bottom sections). Provenance: Narcissa Thorne (1882-1966), American artist (ownership bookplates).

LIMITED EDITION, number 265 of 500 copies on handmade Riccardi paper, from an overall edition of 512. Le Morte d'Arthur is a collection of Middle English prose rearranged from various English and French sources by Sir Thomas Malory during the 15th century and comprising the tales of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin, and Perceval as well as the respective folklores of each. The work was completed in 1470 and the first printed version was executed by William Caxton fifteen years later, making it one of the first books printed in England. The present copy bears the bookplates of Narcissa Thorne, an American miniaturist artist known for her highly detailed miniature rooms, the largest collection of which is held at the Art Institute of Chicago.