COVE

The publisher of my archival copy of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is Pocket Books, inc. “Pocket Books, Inc. was founded by Robert F. DeGraff, M. Lincoln Schuster, Leon Shimkin and Richard L. Simon in 1939. The Pocket Books series was the first series of paperback books to be given mass distribution in North America,” (Wagner). Though my edition lacks any personal markings of the previous owner, some critical assumptions can be made about the publishers and the purchasing of the book. The “pocket” qualities of the edition imply a need to be on the go with the book, or at least more portable. The quality of the item does not insist that this edition was a personal reference for the owner but there was intention in keeping it pristine.

Gordon Ross paired the entire first translation in this edition with 75 illustrations. Ross was known for his works “at the Bohemian Club, the American Arts Association, and the New York Times,” ("Gordon Ross"). The choice of illustrator was very trendy for the time; he used his Americana style on the Fitzgerald translation of the Rubáiyát. The owner of this edition may have enjoyed these illustrations as much as I did. Ross took some liberties with the stanzas to create a unique experience of the text and modernize some of its contents (Image 1). None of the pages of this edition are purposefully dog-earred or marked but the illustrations are elegant and remind me of advertisements from the early 1900s. 

This 1941 edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám includes the first and fifth translation of the text. The fifth translation of my edition obviously has less use as the binding is harder to open. There is less wear on the book pages in this section as well, as if they’ve never been read. The publisher had some good intentions with including another version of the text but there’s very little evidence that the past owner looked through it. There are no illustrations from Gordon Ross in this section which may explain the edition’s conditions. Readers often are more attracted to a book that includes pictures to really interact with the text and what’s going on in it. I find this especially when it comes to poetry, as people are more apprehensive to interact when it may be harder to understand or interpret. A more critical fabulation could be assumed of this edition if there was more evidence of interaction but for now, we can only assume the intentions of the illustrators, publishers and editors.

“Gordon Ross.” Artvee, artvee.com/artist/gordon-ross/. Accessed 22 May 2023.

Wagner, David Paul. Pocket Books (Pocket Books, Inc.) , www.publishinghistory.com/pocket-books.html. Accessed 22 May 2023.