On the third or fourth day, a remarkable find is uncovered by one of the students.
"I remember Lily [Evanson, the Church secretary] had just come back with about the seventh tea run of the day, and I had my back turned to the kids while I selected a biscuit," says Drake. "Suddenly, one of the girls from the university — I honestly can't remember which — started shouting and carrying on."
What the unnamed student had discovered was a large bound manuscript, purporting to be a second book of Arthurian tales by the writer of Le Morte D'Arthur.
"Work more or less stopped for the day," reminisces the canon. "Who am I kidding?" he laughs. "For the week. I just about managed to keep the kids from just running out of there until they'd logged it and cleared everything up for the night, and it was rushed off to the university."
At the university's Middle English department the next day, the job of identifying and analysing the extraordinary book is begun, and The Second Book of King Arthur is set to sweep the academic world.
The Book
British Library MS Add. 1138, now better known as the "Salisbury Manuscript," holds 504 sheets, including a title page apparently added in 1863. All the leaves are 287mm by 205mm. The original sheets are written on French paper stock from the late fifteenth century, and the later title sheet in English paper stock from Liverpool, from the mid-nineteenth century. The whole is bound in goatskin, apparently around the time of the added title page in the nineteenth century.
The added title page reads "The Second Booke of Sir Thomas Malory, donated to the Library by the Hon. Mr. Wm. Landsdowne. MDCCCLXIII." Which library, and who Mr. Landsdowne is, and how the book entered into the possession of St. Barbara's and St. Christopher's, are all still unknown.
The second — original — title page reads "The Seconde Boke of kyng Arthur and also His noble Knyghts, as writen by Sir Tomas Malorye before hys deth." Several truncated marks at the bottom right-hand corner of the page show where further text has been lost when the leaf was trimmed.
The text is written by a single scribe, writing consistently in a secretary hand. Arabic figures are used to number the leaves. Comparison of the hand with the scribes who wrote the Winchester Manuscript of Le Morte D'Arthur has ruled out the possibility that either of the latter scribes worked on The Second Book.
Ink smudges on several of the pages suggest that printed sheets from the 1485 Caxton edition of the Morte were rested on sheets of the Salisbury Manuscript to dry, as with the Winchester, which confirms that Caxton had both manuscripts in his possession, and that the Salisbury is contemporary with the Winchester.
Authorship
There is some debate about the authorship of the Salisbury Manuscript, in spite of its age and its connection to William Caxton.
"I'm convinced this is not only Malory, but Malory's own hand," says David Moore (Queen Mary, University of London). "He wrote the Morte while he was imprisoned, on poor stock and over some years; the Winchester was rescribed for clarity, possibly by scribes in Caxton's employ. He wrote much of the Second Book at the same time, but piecemeal, without collating and organising it the same way he had the first book. These are essentially the stories he cut out. When Caxton purchased the Morte, Malory set about redrafting the Second Book and rescribing it. I would guess Caxton's death in 1492 prevented him from going ahead with publication, and [Caxton's successor, Wynkyn] de Worde lost or sold it."
By contrast, Charlotte Hill (De Montfort University) argues, "The Salisbury was thrown together by Caxton himself or one of his clerks, hoping to 'cash in' on the Morte's success. Keep in mind the Morte itself was published thirteen years after Malory's death. Caxton evidently decided against publishing, for fear of Malory's family bringing suit."
Whether Malory's own work or a contemporary forgery, the Salisbury Manuscript is a hugely important find, and academics around the world have studied and discussed the text.
Malory's Knights of Albion
Discussion of a modernisation of the Second Book has been bandied about since a few months after its discovery. Canon Drake asked those involved in studying the text to hold off on a mainstream publication until he had a chance to discuss an edition with several publishers. Following talks with Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion Publishing, Ltd., and Jonathan Oliver, Editor-in-Chief of Abaddon Books, Drake gave the imprint the go-ahead to develop a series of novelisations in modern English in early 2010.
"I'm a great fan of Abaddon's work," said Drake. "I usually have one of their zombie or steampunk books tucked into my pocket — once, I realised, I had one tucked into my cassock when I was conducting a wedding — and I think they'll do a brilliant job with the new Malory stuff."
Speaking for Rebellion, Oliver said, "We're very excited to be involved with bringing this work to the world. Whether it's an original Malory book or a fifteenth-century forgery, it's still an immensely important work, and it's brilliant to have our authors involved in it.
"Besides, the stories are great fun. There's a rich vein of chivalric tradition in these books, and I think the public will enjoy a chance to escape to a nobler time of heroic knights, evil monsters and virtuous maidens."