Exhibit:

Complications with the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Preview of images

The Cover Personal Note; “Merry Christmas 1930 - Will” First Illustration, Along Side the Cover Page Cover Page The Start of the Poem The First Break in the Poem, Stanza XX Stanza XX With the Second Illustration
Intro Introduction Illustration Poem
Illustration by Charles Robinson Illustration by Charles Robinson Illustration by Charles Robinson Illustration by Charles Robinson
Quatrain XX Illustration #2

Part of Group:

ENG 470/570: Archive Fever

By taking a close look at an archived gift book of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, I have analyzed how the status and the history of the Rubáiyát as a gift book creates problems in larger conversations such as Orientalism and the ideology it represents. I have done research to better understand this 1929 edition of the Rubáiyát in how it was made, how it contributes to Orientalism, a close reading of the text and an illustration to uncover how unrealistic the thinking is that physical pleasure is the highest good, and even partook in critical fabulation in the form of a letter attached to this Christmas present. 

Images in this Exhibit

Description of the Edition
The Cover Personal Note; “Merry Christmas 1930 - Will” First Illustration, Along Side the Cover Page Cover Page The Start of the Poem The First Break in the Poem, Stanza XX Stanza XX With the Second Illustration

This edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám was created in 1929, and published by London and Glasgow Collins, Clear-Type Press. It was given as a gift in 1930 to someone; there is a note on the first page after the cover, “Merry Christmas 1920. From Will” [see image 2]. The cover is dark blue, made of leather, it has been frayed and the color is not consistent on the cover, some places appear truer to the original color and other places have become almost white [see image 1]. The spine of the book is very discolored, with more yellow than blue...
Gift Books and Orientalism
Intro Introduction Illustration Poem

Since the Rubáiyát rose in popularity as a gift book, there are numerous editions of the Rubáiyát that vary in size, style, and extravagance. These gift books typically include extremely high-quality material covers, multiple illustrations, borders around the text itself, and the loveliest font to look at. Yet a lot of the editions include illustrations and decorations that are trying to give off a mystical feeling connected to the East, including Islam. Because of these attributes commonly found in these editions and the poem being turned into a status object of a gift...
How this Edition was Made
Illustration by Charles Robinson Illustration by Charles Robinson Illustration by Charles Robinson Illustration by Charles Robinson

This 1929 edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám was published by London and Glasgow Collins’ Clear-Type Press. The most interesting thing to note is how there is almost no information surrounding this publishing company on the internet. The most direct information that I have found is, that Collins’ Clear-Type Press was a publishing company in Scotland, hence Glasgow a city in Scotland (The Author Conon Doyle Encyclopedia). To find any more information you have to do a lot of digging. The publishing company began by William Collins in 1819, which was originally called William...
Unattainable; A Close Reading of Stanza & Illustration
Quatrain XX Illustration #2

After quatrain XXIV there is a break in the format of the poem to include an illustration and bring back a previous quatrain, XX. The illustration and the quatrain at first glance appear to be the same, and the illustration is noticeably a literal depiction of the quatrain. But the illustration and the quatrain do not fully go together as they first appear; the illustration brings out the falseness that the quatrain/poem claims about how one should live their life in pleasure and the moment.

The center of the illustration is the man (assumed speaker of the poem), speaking with his...
Archival Speculation: A Letter Attached to the Christmas Present

12/9/1930

Dear George,

            Merry Christmas! I am sorry I was not able to make it home for Christmas this year, as I am still stuck in Britain for my studies. I thought Oxford would not be this rigorous, but clearly, I needed to grow in some humility. I hope you and Mary are doing well, and I am excited to meet the little one when I come home for the summer.

            I’ve been spending my days roaming around the small bookstore next to campus because it reminds me of the one mom took us to when we were kids. I came across a very enticing book on display a...