Collection: William Patten, editor

William Patten was an editor, not an author, and we will not pretend otherwise. He worked on large popular collections of classic material in the early twentieth century, assembling volumes for readers who would never have access to the originals.

Heroes and Heroines of Chivalry is his selection. He went through the great stories of honor and courage, from Arthur and Roland to the Cid and Robin Hood, and decided which ones belonged together in one book. Anyone can reprint. Choosing what to keep, in what order, so that the whole holds together and builds, is the actual work, and it is why this volume still reads as a single thing rather than a pile.

You get the best of a whole tradition without having to hunt it down yourself.