COVE

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 comes from somewhere around 1935, though the exact date of its publication is unclear. It was made and published by the now-defunct Thomas Y. Crowell publishing company, which was founded in 1834 by Benjamin Bradley. This publisher had many fields, but was focused primarily on fiction, was based in New York, and was the publisher of many children’s books. It published numerous books over its lifespan, then was purchased by another publisher, called Harper & Row, before eventually shutting down in 1980 when it was consolidated into Harper & Row. Said purchaser is still active today, and appears to produce works across all subjects. 

Thomas Y. Crowell Co. published multiple editions of The Rubáiyát, each edition featuring varying degrees of decoration and opulence intended to suit the tastes and budget of a wide variety of potential purchasers. This particular edition appears to be on the less opulent side, with its green cover and gold embossing (see fig. 1)  in contrast to some of the more heavily decorated covers the publisher created. 

This particular edition was illustrated by Willy Pogàny, a Hungarian-American artist who had previously worked on several children’s books and, notably, several other editions of the Rubáiyát, some of which are part of my peers’ own projects. He was a prolific artist during his time, and quite well-known, having lived and worked in Budapest, Munich, London, and New York City. During his career, Pogàny worked with Thomas Y. Crowell Co. multiple times, primarily working on the children’s books they published. He also painted film sets, murals, some commissioned artwork painting portraits of celebrities, and wrote books on oil painting and drawing techniques towards the end of his life. For this edition, he created numerous illustrations both in-color and black-and-white. The artwork portrays scenes from the poem, flowers, and other various art designed to make the reading experience feel more upscale. The text is often bracketed or underscored by floral decorations, and many pages feature similar artworks in larger roles taking up most, if not all, of the page (see fig. 2). 

It is also notable that this edition contains two different translations from FitzGerald. This and the relative lack of decoration on this book’s cover in comparison to others —relative in this case meaning a gold-embossed floral and peacock design on the front of a green cloth cover rather than leather or all-over ornamentation like some versions— paired with the colorful artwork and high amount of illustration in this book indicates that it was probably somewhere in the middle as far as expense and quality goes. This is a book that likely would have belonged to a middle-class family or individual. 

This edition was most likely made in New York, the location in which the publisher was based, but it could have been sold almost anywhere in the United States. Copies of the book currently retail on used and rare book websites ranging from about $50 to around $100 depending on the condition. Copies can be found for purchase relatively frequently, indicating that it may have been a popular edition in its time, or that it was of a sturdy quality that allowed it to last as long as it has.

Works Cited

“BIOGRAPHY: Willy Pogany | Architecturals.net.” Architecturals.net, 2025, www.architecturals.net/biography-willy-pogany/.

“Thomas Y. Crowell Publishers Records an Inventory of Its Records at Syracuse University.” Syracuse.edu, 2025, library.syracuse.edu/digital/guides/t/thom_crowell.htm. Accessed 24 May 2025.

“Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Khayyam, Omar; Edward Fitzgerald (Translator) | Search for Rare Books | ABAA.” Abaa.org, 2025, www.abaa.org/book/697148830. Accessed 24 May 2025.