The Manuscript and Meaning of Malory's Morte D'arthur: Rubrication, Commemoration, Memorialization by K. S. Whetter (review)

Were the rubricated character names in the Winchester manuscript (c. 1470–1483), arguably the most famous copy of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'arthur, a conscious authorial decision by Malory himself? Such is the central question of K. S. Whetter's The Manuscript and Meaning of Malory's Morte D'arthur: Rubrication, Commemoration, Memorialization.

Whetter, professor of English at Acadia University, argues that:

There is a marked correlation between the central narrative themes of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'arthur and the physical layout of that text in its manuscript context in the Winchester manuscript, that Winchester's rubrication pattern is unique, and that the most likely source for Winchester's layout is Malory himself rather than a scribe, patron, reader, or printer.

(105)

In other words, according to Whetter, the rubrication of character names in the Winchester manuscript stems from and illustrates Malory's authorial stance, wherein he privileges the secular over the sacred, the earthly brotherhood of the Round Table over the divine goals of the Quest for the Holy Grail. Although Whetter's thesis statement is indeed interesting, it seems premature, given the overall dearth of biographical information we have regarding Malory, to so strongly ascribe the codicology of the Winchester manuscript to him as author, a manuscript with which Malory has arguably tenuous connections.

Manuscript and Meaning is written for a specialized, albeit diverse audience: literary scholars who specialize in the study of Malory and his Le Morte D'arthur, as well as manuscript scholars interested in codicology, in particular rubrication and marginalia. The essentially divergent nature of these two areas of study exemplifies how and where Manuscript and Meaning, an ambitious text on a cross-disciplinary topic, falls short. In attempting to merge studies of authorial ownership, literary narrative and structure, and manuscript codicology, Whetter makes interesting, albeit at times convoluted and questionable, statements regarding the connections between Malory as author and the narrative and textual layout of the Winchester manuscript.

As a reader familiar with Malory's Morte, albeit less so with the Winchester manuscript, I found Chapter One to provide a more helpful background than the introduction, as Whetter's thesis statement did not become clear until page twenty-six, four pages into Chapter One. Indeed, Manuscript and Meaning gets off to a weak start, although it improves in clarity as it continues and Whetter's focus narrows. For example, whereas "A Textual Introduction" provides a broad overview of previous Malory studies and translations, as well as both the Winchester and Caxton manuscripts (a difficult comparison, considering their statuses as handwritten and printed texts, respectively; significant textual variations; and the fact that although Winchester spent a period of time in Caxton's print shop, it did not serve as the copy text for the Caxton manuscript), Chapter One essentially provides a detailed introduction to Whetter's thesis statement. Indeed, in Chapter One, "The Unusual Nature of Winchester's Rubrication," Whetter imparts his theory that "Winchester's rubrication of names emphatically glorifies and memorializes Arthurian characters and deeds in ways which reveal an alternative reading of Malory's Arthuriad" (29).

Next, Chapter Two, "Tracing Winchester's Rubrication and Marginalia," deals with the "nature, function, and origin of the memorializing rubrication and marginalia" (30). In this chapter, Whetter examines "what is and is not rubricated, trying to trace patterns and omissions and possible origins" (55). This is arguably the strongest chapter in Manuscript and Meaning, based as it is on a close reading and examination of the Winchester manuscript; it is pure codicological research unfettered by hypothesized connections to authorial intent and narrative meaning. In keeping with this, Chapter Two is further strengthened by the addition of two appendices, which list all of the Winchester manuscript's rubrications and rubrication errors, as an original and helpful aid to scholars of the Winchester manuscript specifically, or late-fifteenth-century codicology more generally.

In Chapter...