ENG 470 / 570 Spring 2025

The Rubáiyát is a poem attributed to Omar Khayyám, a Persian poet and astronomer from the 11th and 12th centuries, but it is actually unclear if all of the quatrains were originally his. Edward FitzGerald was an Englishman in the Victorian era who taught himself Persian and learned to translate this poem completely into English. He then published it, at first without much… more

There are many editions of Rubáiyát from numerous publishers and artists, featuring a wide variety of designs and styles. However, this edition is of particular interest.  

This Rubáiyát edition… more

Hodder and Stoughton [Figure 1], the publisher of this edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, was founded in London in 1868 by Matthew Henry Hodder and Thomas Wilberforce Stoughton (“H&S”). After Edmund Dulac’s emigration to England, he became associated with Leicester Galleries, which also sponsored the famous illustrator Arthur Rackham (White 23). Hoping to scoop up Rackham as… more

Dear Betty, 

I was shopping at the used bookstore off of main and peach and I came across this copy of The Rubáiyát of Bridge and thought of you. When I saw these illustrations inside by May Wilson Preston, I knew that you… more

In 1947, Random House Publishing, (now known as Penguin Random House, Inc.) published their edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. One hundred and forty nine pages in length, this edition of Khayyám’s book contains the first, third, fourth and fifth editions of Edward… more

This edition of the Rubáiyát was written by Carolyn Wells and illustrated by May Wilson Preston. Carolyn Wells was a prolific American writer renowned for her wide-ranging body of work, which includes poetry, children’s literature, parodies, and mystery novels. In the early… more

In 1941, Pocket Books Inc. released a mass-market paperback edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, bringing Edward FitzGerald’s Victorian translation of the Persian quatrains into the hands of a broader American readership. While FitzGerald’s poetic renderings had enjoyed a… more

The 1920 edition of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, translated by Edward FitzGerald and illustrated by Ronald Balfour, exemplifies the collaborative efforts of prominent figures in early 20th-century publishing. Published by Dodd, Mead and Company in New York and printed by the… more

The edition of the poem I have been studying is a 1910 edition of Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, published by T.N. Foulis. The edition does not include a price tag, any personalized inscriptions, or a label that might clue an archivist in to understand where this book was… more

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia was published by Houghton Mifflin & Company, and illustrated by Elihu Vedder. In 1832, Houghton Mifflin & Co. was established, and William Ticknor and his partner opened their business to book publishers and sellers. It was a place where writers and… more