Malory likely started work on it while he was in prison in the early 1450s and completed it by 1470. It is believed that William Caxton named it Le Morte d'Arthur instead of Malory's original title The Book of King Arthur and His Noble Knights of the Round Table. Also, most modern editions have updated it from Malory's original Middle English. Caxton was also responsible for separating it into 21 books comprised of 507 chapters for easier reading. Yet readers still find it apparent that Malory intended the work to be eight tales about:
Most of the events in the book take place in Britain and France in the latter half of the 5th century. In some parts, it ventures to Rome, Sarras (near Babylon), and recalls Biblical tales from the ancient Middle East.
All editions prior to 1934 were based on the edition printed by Caxton. However, in 1934, when the library of Winchester College was being catalogued, a previously unknown manuscript copy was discovered - one of the most important new medieval manuscripts discovered in the twentieth century. This is regarded as closer to Malory's original, although both derive separately from an earlier copy. Curiously, typesetting smudges on the pages of the Winchester MS suggest that it was actually in Caxton's workshop, but he seems to have preferred some other, unknown manuscript for his source. Unlike the Caxton edition, the Winchester MS is not divided into books and chapters.
