Created by Brennan Erickson on Sat, 05/31/2025 - 01:48
Description:
This edition of the Rubáiyát, an 11th century Persian poem, translated by Edward FitzGerald to English in Victorian-era Britain, attributed in full to a man named Omar Khayyám, was published in 1900 by Doxeys Publishing House. It was published in New York, even though Doxeys was located in San Francisco, because they wanted to stay competative within the east coast market, so it was commissioned to be published by C. A. Murdock. This edition was illustrated by Florence Lunborg, who worked as an illustrator for Doxeys. Her illustrations did not match up quite well with most of the stanzas in the book. On the inside of the cover there is an insert dedicating this edition to the Memorial Book Fund in honor of Sigurd H. Peterson at Oregon State University. Kenneth Teter was the person who donated it. This is my critical fabulation:
In memorial of an astute professor and a wonderful friend. The words of the Rubáiyát, "Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,/Before we too into the Dust descend;//" could not describe better how Sigurd H. Peterson lived his life. I am donating this edition, Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám Astronomer-Poet of Persia, to the Oregon State Library and its Memorial Book Fund. Excuse the coffee stain on the front, when one owns a book long enough it becomes an extension of the self. I chose this edition specifically as I feel Sigurd would have appreciated the attempt at the Art Nouveau school of art. While Florence Lundborg did not perfect the mastercraft of Aubrey Beardsley, he would have respected the committment to Beauty that so heavily makes itself known within the beloved words of Omar. I place this tome in the hands of Oregon State's best and brightest; I hope the soft gray of its worn shell will be opened for many years to come, and in doing so, Sigurd's memory lives on.
In closing, I will leave here this book of wisdom and from it, a small nugget, "Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who/Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through,/Not one returns to tell us of the Road,/Which to discover we must travel too.//" The wonderful and generous Dr. Sigurd H. Peterson will be dearly missed. May the end of his road have led him to a cup filled of wine and a valley of roses.