The Acts of King Arthur And His Noble Knights.

NY, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1976, first edition, wrappers. Softcover.. Advance copy, an uncorrected proof, edited by Chase Horton, these tales are Steinbeck's attempt to render Malory "into modern English," the importance to Steinbeck and his literature of the Morte d'Arthur cannot be over-stated, as he writes in his introduction, "I think my sense of right and wrong...and any thought I may have had against the oppressor and for the oppressed, came from this book," this copy is especially important because it was one of two copies sent to novelist John Gardner, author of such novels as Grendel and The Resurrection, Gardner also wrote The Complete Works of the Gawain Poet, The Alliterative Morte Arthure, and other "olde English" books, this copy was sent to Gardner by the New York Times in order to write a review which the Times published, laid in loosely is the slip from the Times asking for an 800-word review, this was originally obtained from Susan Thornton who was Gardner's fiance at the time of his death, according to Morrow 284 there are a number of textual differences between this proof copy and the published version. Very good.