I chose this edition because I was interested in its seemingly quiet simplicity. There are some features of this book that could be considered “fancy”, though compared to other editions of the Rubáiyát this one is relatively less flashy. Based on appearance alone, this edition seemed to be intended for the everyday consumer. I was interested to learn more about the making of this edition. To start my investigation, I needed to refamiliarize myself with the facts I already knew about the edition.
This edition of Omar Khayyám’s Rubáiyát is a first edition translated text by Edward FitzGerald. As mentioned in my essay describing this edition in detail, there is no date within the physical book mentioning when this edition was published. However the OSU Library database suspects this book was likely published in 1917. That year seems to fit nicely along with the other bits of data I have collected in regard to how this edition may have been made. The information I have gathered about the making of this edition has come namely from the three would-be publishers that are listed on the book, along with OSU’s claim that the illustrator of the book is Willy Pogany. I gathered most of the background information from Wikipedia.
First I'll start with the illustrator of the images printed in the book. The black and white pasted images in this edition are the handiwork of the illustrator Willy Pogany (see image 1). Pogany was a Hungarian artist born in 1882 who studied and traveled to Budapest, Paris, Munich, and London “before coming to the United States in 1914 (Wikipedia).” Pogany’s art is described as art nouveau, he mainly used oil paints, watercolors, ink and pen. While Pogany lived in London he was commissioned to illustrate several books including the Rubáiyát in 1909. This commission came from the English publishing company George G. Harrap and Co. Limited. “Harrap” is listed on the spine of my edition (see image 2), as it seems clear that George G. Harrap and Co. held the rights to Willy Pogany’s illustrations for the Rubáiyát.
George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd. was an English publishing company that is believed to have operated from at least 1901 until its closure in 2009. This publishing company was known for publishing specialty books, mainly educational and classical English texts in richly illustrated and decorated editions. George G. Harrap and Co. 's Willy Pogany illustrated first editions of the Rubáiyát sell for hundreds of dollars in today’s market due to rich ornamentation and detail used in these books. It is also suspected that George G. Harrap and Co. used chromolithography, which means these editions of Willy Pogany’s illustrated Rubáiyát were printed in color.
However my edition was not published by Harrap. There is a secondary publishing company listed in this book: Thomas Y. Crowell Co (see image 3). This was an American Publishing company operating in New York since 1876. The company went through three generations of Crowell’s before it was sold to another publishing company in the 1930’s. During the time this edition was published, the company was being run by the second generation Crowell. Based on this evidence it seems that Thomas Y. Crowell Co. bought the rights to publish Harrap’s Willy Pogany’s illustrations in Crowell’s edition of the Rubáiyát.
One final piece of evidence for the making of this edition comes from a stamp at the back of the book stating that this edition (see image 4) was “Printed by: Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd. London, Colchester and Eton England (FitzGerald).” Initially I believed Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd. was a third publishing company listed in this edition for some reason. However upon closer research I found that Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd. was a London based printing firm. This firm was originally called the King’s Printer, having started in 1739. Sometime in the early 1900s or late 1800s the name was changed to Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd. Later in 1929 the firm became a publishing company by the name of Eyre & Spottiswoode Publishers Ltd. This means at the time of my edition’s publication Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd. was in fact only a printing company, where this edition was printed.
While it isn’t unusual for an American publishing company to buy the rights to illustrations from an English punisher, it is strange for that American publisher to then publish its own edition in England. Though I suppose there are some mysteries the archives can’t solve for us.
Citations:
FitzGerald, E. (1917). Edward FitzGerald, Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. (1st ed.).
Wikipedia contributors. (2025a, April 21). Eyre & Spottiswoode. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyre_%26_Spottiswoode
Wikipedia contributors. (2024b, September 1). George G. Harrap and Co. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_G._Harrap_and_Co.
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, August 25). Thomas Y. Crowell Co. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Y._Crowell_Co.
Wikipedia contributors. (2025c, May 7). Willy Pogany. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Pogany
Willy Pogany | ArTnet. (n.d.). https://www.artnet.com/artists/willy-pogany/