T. H. White
T. H. White’s The Once and Future King is the most popular Arthurian novel of the twentieth century. Actually, it is a sequence of novels. Each of the first three parts was published as a separate book—The Sword in the Stone (1938),The Witch in the Wood (1939), and The Ill-Made Knight (1940). White originally planned a five-part sequence, the fourth part being The Candle in the Wind, and the fifth The Book of Merlyn. When he sent the five-part version to his publisher in 1941, it was rejected; and it was not until 1958 that the complete book was finally printed—although without The Book of Merlyn.
The influence of White’s book has been amplified by the play Camelot, which has been produced hundreds of times, and by the popular film versions. Along with the Disney animated version of The Sword in the Stone, the Camelot play and movie have introduced both children and adults to the Arthurian legends and often inspire a lifelong love of that material.
The Sword in the Stone original cover art, 1963.
Walt Disney's The Sword in the Stone, Golden Press, 1963.
T. H. White, The Once and Future King, illustrated by John Lawrence, Folio Society, 2003.
T. H. White, The Once and Future King. Frontispiece by David Martin, Easton Press, 1997.
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Camelot (1961). Inscribed by both Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet, who starred in the original Broadway production.
Inscribed copy of the book, Camelot (Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe), by Robert Goulet, who starred in the original Broadway production.
Inscribed copy of the book, Camelot (Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe), by Julie Andrews, who starred in the original Broadway production.