Malory, Thomas

Sir Thomas Malory is known as the most likely author (or compiler) of the Le Morte d'Arthur (approx. 1470). The title of the novel was chosen by the book's editor, William Caxton, who printed the book and who in his introduction stated that the adventure stories had been penned by a certain Sir Thomas Malory, who had been inspired by French sources and that there were "many pleasant and joyous stories therein". In the postscript, Thomas Malory explains that the book was completed in the ninth year of the reign of Edward IV, that is to say in 1469, and that he wrote the book in jail.