The Age of Chivalry

The Arthurian cycle told straight through — the sword, the Round Table, Tristram, the Grail — followed by the Welsh Mabinogion and the hero myths of the British race. Thomas Bulfinch was a Boston bank clerk who wrote the book that taught English-speaking readers their own legends, and it has never been out of print since 1858. He tells the stories rather than explaining them, which is why they stuck. Thirty-eight paintings from 1775 to 1910 by artists including David Roberts and Edmund Blair Leighton carry the castles, towers and harbours of the legends alongside the text.