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Images of Pamela M. Yee's exhibit of Eugène Vinaver's Magnificent Malory

These photos record the Rossell Hope Robbins Library exhibition, "Eugène Vinaver's Magnificent Malory," that ran from July to November of 2013. All the green pages displayed are labels for the items featured in the exhibit; to view the text for these labels, see here.


Table of Contents


Case One: Lesser Known Works


Counterclockwise from top left: a photo of Professor Vinaver; his 1925 doctoral thesis Le Roman de Tristan et Iseut dans l'oeuvre de Thomas Malory; his 1951 translation of Racine's Principes de la tragédie en marge de la Poètique d'Aristote; his 1971 book The Rise of Romance; his 2000 collection of essays On Art and Nature, published posthumously.

 

Case Two: Discussing Malory


Counterclockwise from top left: A letter from E. K. Chambers to Vinaver dated December 27, 1941; a letter from Vinaver to John Steinbeck dated July 6, 1959; a comparative look at a folio from the Winchester manuscript and Steinbeck's dedication page (whose script was modelled on that of the Winchester's scribes) to his novel The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights.
 

Case Three: The Winchester Discovery and the First Edition of Works


This view of Case 3 shows Vinaver's annotated copy of Sommer's three-volume Caxton Malory.


Counterclockwise from top left: William Stansby's 1634 edition of Malory, two articles from London newspapers documenting the 1934 discovery of the Winchester manuscript, (in the middle column) discoverer Oakeshott's detailed "preliminary analysis" of the Winchester manuscript published in the Times, an unknown recepient's joyful response upon receiving a copy of Vinaver's first edition of Works in its year of publication, a letter from Winchester Fellow F. J. Kenyon granting Vinaver permission to examine and edit the Winchester manuscript.


This view of Case 3 displays two versions of the same passage (the so-called "May" passage) in Malory: the massive volume on top is a facsimile of the Winchester manuscript while the two books below it display the identical passage in Vinaver's Works.

 

Case Four: The "Eight Tale" Theory and Critical Reaction



Counterclockwise from the center: The Table of Contents from Vinaver's Works; D. S. Brewer's 1952 "Form in the Morte Darthur"; C. S. Lewis' 1963 "The English Prose Morte"; P. J. C. Field's 1969 review of Vinaver's second edition of Works; R. M. Lumiansky's 1964 book Malory's Originality

 

Case Five: The Second Edition of Works



This view of Case 5 displays a letter from Vinaver to Gaines, dated September 9, 1967.


This view of Case 5 shows Vinaver's second edition of Works (published in 1971) and a sheet of hardwritten corrigenda for the corrected impression (published in 1973).


This view of Case 5 displays two letters from Vinaver to Gaines. They are dated respectively October 5, 1971 and May 26, 1972.


This view of Case 5 shows a letter from Vinaver to Gaines, dated July 10, 1972.


Counterclockwise from top right: the corrected reprint of the one-volume Works (published in 1977), a letter from Vinaver to Gaines dated August 12, 1972, Vinaver's "Note to the Corrected Impression" (published in 1973), a letter from Gaines to Vinaver dated May 30, 1978.
 

Case Six: Vinaver Miscellany



Counterclockwise from the center: a photo of Vinaver taken at the University of Victoria, a 1955 catalogue and order form for Vinaver's Arthurian publications, a 1970 Christmas card from the Vinaver family to the Gaines family, a handmade Christmas card featuring a comical Excalibur drawing, the program for Vinaver's funeral held August 2, 1979.