University of Virginia Library

A Bibliography of the Idylls of the King

Manuscripts and Printer's Proofs

• Note: Individual items are grouped according to the repositories which hold them. For each item there is a reference code which contains two or three bits of information. First, an abbreviation of the name of the repository. These abbreviations accord with the Union List of Serials and the British Union Catalogue save for the abbreviations for the Pierpont Morgan Library and the Tennyson Research Centre, which have been created by the author. Second, some codes include another abbreviation, if the item is held within a special section of a library, such as the Ashley Collection at the British Museum. Third, the code contains a number which refers to the particular item.
• CF Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University
• (CF-Hth) Heath Commonplace Book. MS copy of "Morte d'Arthur"

• CSmH Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery
• (CSmH-HM-1323) MS of portions of "The Holy Grail," "The Last Tournament," and "Balin and Balan"
• (CSmH-HM-1324) MS of the song from "Pelleas and Ettarre"
• (CSmH-HM-1326) MS of "Merlin and Vivien"
• (CSmH-HM-19494) MS, in another hand, with authorial corrections, of the song from "Pelleas and Ettarre"

• CT Trinity College Library, Cambridge, England
• (CT-17) Two MS drafts for "Morte d'Arthur"
• (CT-28) Short sketch for "Lancelot and Elaine"
• (CT-29) MS of "The Holy Grail"
• (CT-30) MS of "The Marriage of Geraint" and "Geraint and Enid"
• (CT-31) MS of "Balin and Balan"
• (CT-39) MSS of "Guinevere" and "Lancelot and Elaine"

• CtY Yale University Library
• (CtY-I) MS of "Merlin and Vivien"
• (CtY-II) MS of "The Marriage of Geraint"
• (CtY-III) MS of "Geraint and Enid" and "Merlin and Vivien"
• (CtY-IV) MS of the song from "Guinevere"
• (CtY-V) MS of the "Dedication" in another hand
• (CtY-VI) Proof of the "Dedication"
• (CtY-VII) Proof of "Merlin and Vivien"

• L British Museum Library
• (L-1) Trial book Enid and Nimuë: The True and the False (1857) containing proofs for "The Marriage of Geraint," "Geraint and Enid," and "Merlin and Vivien"
• (L-2) Proofs for "Lancelot and Elaine" and "Guinevere"

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• (L-3) Leaflet edition of the "Dedication"
• Ashley Library, British Museum Library
• (L-A-2101) Proof of "The Last Tournament"
• (L-A-2104) Proof of The Holy Grail, Etc. This volume once had portions of MS bound in. These have now been removed and are kept in the manuscript room of the British Museum Library. Here they are designated as Ashley Scraps (L-A-S).
• (L-A-2109) Proof of "Gareth and Lynette"
• (L-A-2111) Leaflet version of the "Epilogue"
• (L-A-4521) MS of a portion of "The Coming of Arthur"

• LiT The Tennyson Research Centre, Lincoln, England
• (LiT-M1) and (LiT-M2) Two proof states for "Merlin and Vivien"
• (LiT-EN1), (LiT,EN2), and (LiT-EN3) Three proof states for "The Marriage of Geraint" and "Geraint and Enid"
• (LiT-L2) Proof for "Lancelot and Elaine"
• (LiT-HG1) and (LiT-HG2) Two proof states for The Holy Grail, Etc.
• (LiT-B1) and (LiT-B2) Two proof states for "Balin and Balan"
• (LiT-HG3) Proof for "The Holy Grail" as (MH-H-HGP)

• LU University of London
• The Sterling Library
• (LU-S-925) Proof of The Holy Grail, Etc.
• (LU-S-929) Proof of "Gareth and Lynette"

• LVA Victoria and Albert Museum Library
• The John Forster Collection
• (LVA-F) Proofs for "The Marriage of Geraint" and "Geraint and Enid" (two, designated LVA-F-EN1 and LVA-F-EN2), "Merlin and Vivien" (two, designated LVA-F-M1 and LVA-F-M2), "Lancelot and Elaine" and "Guinevere"

• MH Harvard University Library
• The Houghton Library
• (MH-H-HGP) Proof of "The Holy Grail"
• (MH-H-16) Notes on Arthurian legends
• (MH-H-21) Copy of "Morte d'Arthur" in the hand of James Spedding
• (MH-H-26) Note on Arthur; early sketch for "Merlin and Vivien"
• (MH-H-30) MS for "Merlin and Vivien"
• (MH-H-31) MS for "Merlin and Vivien" and "Guinevere"
• (MH-H-32) MS for "Gareth and Lynette," "Balin and Balan," and "Epilogue"
• (MH-H-33) MS for "Merlin and Vivien"
• (MH-H-34) MS for "Merlin and Vivien"
• (MH-H-35) MS for "The Marriage of Geraint" and "Geraint and Enid"
• (MH-H-36) MS for "Guinevere"
• (MH-H-37) MS for "Balin and Balan" and "Merlin and Vivien"
• (MH-H-38) MS for "The Holy Grail"
• (MH-H-39) MS for "The Coming of Arthur," "Merlin and Vivien," and "The Passing of Arthur"
• (MH-H-40) MS for "The Last Tournament" and "Gareth and Lynette"
• (MH-H-47) MS for "Balin and Balan"
• (MH-H-29a) MS for "The Coming of Arthur"
• (MH-H-71a) MS for "The Marriage of Geraint" and "Geraint and Enid"
• (MH-H-73a) MS for "Guinevere"
• (MH-H-95a) MS for "Dedication"
• (MH-H-96a) MS for "Dedication"
• (MH-H-97a) MS of a rejected fragment in another hand

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• (MH-H-114a) MS for "Lancelot and Elaine"
• (MH-H-152a) MS for "Merlin and Vivien"
• (MH-H-153a) MS for "Merlin and Vivien"
• (MH-H-159a) MS of "Morte d'Arthur" in another hand
• (MH-H-952.8) MS draft of the title page for the 1859 edition of Idylls of the King Amy Lowell Collection
• (MH-Lo-1) MS of "Merlin and Vivien" and for "Geraint and Enid"
• The Widener Library
• (MH-W-S) MS passage from "The Passing of Arthur"
• (MH-W-Pf) MS passages from "Gareth and Lynette" bound into a set of proofs for the 1873 Library Edition

• NN New York Public Library
• The Berg Collection
• (NN-B-I) MS for "The Coming of Arthur"
• (NN-B-II) Proof of "Gareth and Lynette"
• (NN-B-III) MS of "The Last Tournament"
• (NN-B-IV) MS for "Gareth and Lynette"
• (NN-B-V) MS of "The Song of the Battleaxe" from "The Coming of Arthur"
• (NN-B-VI) Proof of "The Holy Grail"
• (NN-B-VII) Proof of the explanatory paragraph for Gareth and Lynette, Etc.
• (NN-B-VIII) Proof copy of The Holy Grail, Etc.

• NPM Pierpont Morgan Library
• (NPM) MS for "The Coming of Arthur"

• O Bodleian Library
• (O-B.3) MS of "Gareth and Lynette"

• TxU University of Texas Library
• Miriam Lutcher Stark Library
• (TxU-S-GP2) Proof of "Gareth and Lynette"
• (TxU-S-GP3) Proof of "Gareth and Lynette"
• (TxU-S-C73) The (72) edition of Gareth and Lynette, Etc. with MS corrections for (73)
• (TxU-S-LTP) Proof of "The Last Tournament"
• (TxU-S-S) Fragmentary drafts for "The Coming of Arthur," "Balin and Balan," "The Passing of Arthur," "Gareth and Lynette"
• (TxU-S-C) MS for "The Coming of Arthur"
• (TxU-S-E) MS of "The Marriage of Geraint" and "Geraint and Enid" in the hand of Emily S. Tennyson with MS corrections by the author

• VU University of Virginia Library
• Alderman Library
• (VU-A) MS for "Lancelot and Elaine"

Published Editions

• Note: Only those editions are listed which play a significant part in the evolution of the text. Title page descriptions come from copies examined in the British Museum Library. An abbreviated symbol, enclosed in parentheses, follows each entry.
• Enid and Nimuë: | The True and the False. | By | Alfred Tennyson, D.C.L., | Poet Laureate. | London: | Edward Moxon, Dover Street. | 1857. (57)
• The | True and the False. | Four Idylls of the King. | By Alfred Tennyson, | P. L.; D. C. L. | London: | Edward Moxon & Co., Dover Street. | 1859. (59-1)

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• Idylls of the King. | By | Alfred Tennyson, D.C.L., | Poet Laureate. | 'Flos Regum Arthurus.' | Joseph of Exeter. | London: | Edward Moxon & Co., Dover Street. | 1859. (59-2)
• Idylls of the King. | By | Alfred Tennyson, D.C.L., | Poet Laureate. | 'Flos Regum Arthurus.' | Joseph of Exeter. | A New Edition. | London: | Edward Moxon & Co., Dover Street. | 1862. (62)
• Idylls of the King. | By | Alfred Tennyson, D.C.L., | Poet Laureate. | 'Flos Regum Arthurus.' | Joseph of Exeter. | A New Edition. | [Dev.] | London: | Edward Moxon & Co., Dover Street. | 1867. (67)
• The Holy Grail | And Other Poems | By Alfred Tennyson, D.C.L. | Poet Laureate | "Flos Regum Arthurus." | Joseph of Exeter | [Dev.] | Strahan and Co., Publishers | 56 Ludgate Hill, London | 1870 (69)
• Idylls of the King | By Alfred Tennyson, D.C.L. | Poet Laureate | "Flos Regum Arthurus." | Joseph of Exeter | [Dev.] | Strahan & Co., Publishers | 56 Ludgate Hill, London | 1869 | All rights reserved. (69)
• (Miniature Edition of Tennyson's Works.) The Works of | Alfred Tennyson, | Poet Laureate. | [Dev.] | [Number and title of volume] | [Dev.] | Strahan and Co. Publishers, | Ludgate Hill, London. | 1870. (70) (The Idylls occupy Volumes IV, V, and VI.)
• Gareth and Lynette | Etc. | By Alfred Tennyson, D.C.L. | Poet Laureate | Strahan and Co. | 56 Ludgate Hill, London | 1872 | (All rights reserved.) (72)
• (Library Edition of Tennyson's Works.) The Works of | Alfred Tennyson | Poet Laureate | Vol. V. Idylls of the King | "Flos Regum Arthurus." | Joseph of Exeter. | Strahan & Co. | 56 Ludgate Hill, London | 1873 (73) (The Idylls occupy Volumes V and VI.)
• (Cabinet Edition of Tennyson's Works.) The Works of | Alfred Tennyson. | [Title of the Volume] | Henry S. King & Co. | 65, Cornhill, & 12, Paternoster Row, London. | 1874. (74) (The Idylls occupy Volumes V, VI, and VII.)
• (Author's Edition of Tennyson's Works.) The Poetical Works of | Alfred Tennyson. | [Volume Number] | Henry S. King & Co., London. | 1874. (74) (The Idylls occupy Volume II.)
• Tiresias | and Other Poems | By Alfred Tennyson | D.C.L. P.L. | London | Macmillan and Co. | 1885 (85)