NOTE.--Thomas Malory completed his quaint history of King Arthur in
1469, and sixteen years later the book was printed from the famous old
Caxton press. Only one perfect copy of that work is now in existence;
but several editions have since been issued with the text modernized, so
as to make it easier for us to read, yet with the quaintness and
originality of Malory's tale preserved. So charming is it, that the
following incidents in the story of the search for the Holy Grail are
told nearly as they are now in the Aldine edition of _Le Morte
d'Arthur_.
Some rearrangement has been necessary, and a few changes have been made
in phraseology. Omissions have been made and paragraphs are indicated
and quotation marks used as is now the custom in printing.
Many of the knights joined in the quest for the Grail, and their
adventures are told by Malory. Even Launcelot himself failed. We tell
the story of the one who succeeded.