Orientialism, Illustrations, and Gift Books in the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: History’s Most Luxurious and Popular Poetry Book

The edition that I selected was The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám translated into English quatrains by Edward FitzGerald. This particular edition was published in 1916 by Dodge Publishing Company. The text itself contains 101 (CI) quatrains and revisions that reflect FitzGerald’s 5th edition published in 1889.

What stands out in this edition are the illustrations that are littered throughout. There is not a credited illustrator that is stated in the book and the illustrations themselves are copyrighted by  Dodge Publishing Co. However, after completing some…

In the book titled On Exhibit: Victorians and Their Museums, author Barbara J. Black examines the Victorian museum culture, and its power in collecting and exhibiting. Black asserts that “the collection and preservation of the Rubáiyát demonstrate one culture’s hegemony over another” (58). Because of this, it is strongly articulated in her piece that FitzGerald’s Rubáiyat of Omar Khayyám was appropriated first by FitzGerald himself as well as the audiences and publishers in decades to follow. The growing popularity of the Rubáiyát as a gift giving…

In the 1916 Dodge Publishing Company Edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, there is photo-poetry displayed throughout the book. This form of illustrative art, which creates a relationship between the photo and the text, was done by an artist of the name Adelaide Hanscom Leeson. Quatrain LXXI and the illustration it is paired with have a symbiotic relationship that helps emphasize the main theme of the poem – to live in the present moment.

The notion of living in the present moment, and fate versus free will, is first implied when the quatrain describes how “The Moving…

This edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám was published by Dodge Publishing Company in 1916. According to The Lucile Project, Dodge Publishing Company was originally founded in San Francisco, California in 1895 as Dodge Book and Stationary Co. before moving to Broadway, New York in 1899 as a publishing company. The firm ,who first started by manufacturing gift books and calendars, went on to publish more than 98 books. The company was eventually taken over by Robert M. McBride & Co. in 1927, which is now called The McBride Company Inc.

Dodge Publishing Company’s 1916…

My Dear William,

 I have been very happy with my time in New York. Life in the city has not changed that much since we have last been here. It has gotten a little faster and crowded, but we have gotten more information at our fingertips and there are more sights to see. I am grateful that I journeyed here and had the opportunity to catch up with my best friend. I have not seen Claire in ages but she is doing well. In fact, she is recently engaged to a gentleman from Brooklyn, New York named Jack. I have not meant him yet but I do know that he has not appreciated Claire going…