Past Remnants of The Soul's Rubáiyát

The Soul’s Rubáiyát was published in 1911 and was written by Amelia Woodward Truesdell and illustrated by Marion De Lappé (Figure 3). The illustrations are in black and white. There are 31 pages total, with additional 5 preliminary pages. It was published in San Francisco by AM Robertson and belongs to The Dr. Sigurd H. Peterson Memorial Collection at Oregon State University’s Valley Library. The book is a light brown leather, and the spine is worn, but still somewhat intact. It smells like an “old book” and has minimal water and other stains. On one of the pages, there is a 25c…

A key section in Barbara Black’s On Exhibit argues that FitzGerald’s translation and the eventual distribution of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám helped contribute to the fetishization of Eastern culture. The distribution of the Rubáiyát was very popular during the 19th and 20th centuries, it made a lot of money, which made it a part of the culture at the time. For example, quarto-sized books were often sold for under fifteen dollars. Concerning the text, she states that his translation showcases that he was not interested in highlighting Persian culture, but…

Throughout the novel, Amelia Truesdell’s The Soul’s Rubáiyát does not have a lot of illustrations, as mentioned before (see Description of Edition). The images pictured do not match the text of the poem and do not enhance the context of the poem. The fourth stanza (see Figure 1) of both Rubáiyát of Omar…

Overall, the information about the publisher is not widely available on the internet and it's challenging to find a concrete timeline of A.M. Robertson.  The only resource about the publisher is a non-digitized collection in the UC Berkley Library with photographs and articles detailing the start of A.M. Robertson's business.

Dearest friend,

As we approach 1925, I’ve found myself rediscovering an old favorite book I’ve had for a while and found that it would be best to send it on so intellectual readers such as yourself can enjoy it. Amelia Woodward Truesdell is known for publishing excellent books and is a well known female academic, which is a title we need more women to share!

When the earthquake hit San Francisco hit all those years ago, I found myself searching for a purpose, for community. I needed to see beyond the rubble that surrounded my city.

That’s where The Soul’s…