[BEARDSLEY, Aubrey Vincent (1872-1898), Illustrator]. MALORY, Sir Thomas (fl. 1470). [Le Morte Darthur]. The Birth Life and Acts of King Arthur of His Noble Knights of the Round Table… With Many Original Designs by Aubrey Beardsley. With an Introduction by Professor John Rhys. London: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1927.

4to. Half–title, 22 full-page or double-page woodcut or etched plates including frontispiece, numerous woodcut borders, initials, head-and-tail-pieces, and illustrations by Beardsley. (Some minor offsetting, light marginal toning). Original pictorial black cloth gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut (lacking the scarce dust jacket, some light soiling, joints starting). Provenance: Mabel Nilsac [?] (contemporary gift inscription from Dr. Fishbaum and Dr. Cleafsman).

Third edition, LIMITED ISSUE, one of 1,600 unnumbered copies, the American issue, for sale in the United States with E.P. Dutton's name on the title-page verso. This edition includes a chapter heading and a sketch by Beardsley for an unused front wrapper design never before published, as well as a note on Beardsley by Aymer Vallance. "On the part of the publisher it was an exceedingly courageous venture to entrust so important a task to an obscure young man--he was not yet twenty-one years old--and Mr Dent deserved all the credit which this his early association with Bearsley subsequently brought him" (Aubrey Bearsley, p.v). Lanser 22C.

Property from the Collection of Robert S. Brown, Cincinnati, Ohio