Malory Project

Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur exists in two considerably different primary versions, the Winchester manuscript, British Library, Add. MS 59678, and two extant copies of William Caxton's printed edition: a complete copy in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, and a copy lacking eleven leaves, in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester.

This project initially focuses on reproducing the Winchester manuscript, which was produced by two professional scribes. The project aims to provide:

High-resolution digital images of Winchester, captured by the HUMI Project
A full searchable transcription, linked to the images page-by-page
Editorial notes, which illuminate the logic behind the text
Cross-references to the Caxton or Vinaver's edition
Searchable scribal practices (mistakes, corrections, marginalia, textual divisions)
Searchable names, place-names and key words.

Visit the British Library website to find out about the Winchester Manuscript Project.

This electronic edition of Winchester is envisaged as part of a larger project: Caxton's Malory and another early printed copy in the John Rylands Library are going to be digitized. The John Rylands Caxton copy then will be digitally collated with the other existing Caxton copy. Transcriptions of all the texts will be textually collated. This Digital Malory as an intellectual infrastructure will enhance further Malory textual studies as well as serve teaching purposes, and preservation purposes, as it will minimise demands to use the original.

This site is still under construction. To find out more about this project, please contact Dr Takako Kato (TakakoKato123@gmail.com).