Exhibit:

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Preview of images

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is a poem attributed to Omar Khayyám, a Persian poet and astronomer from the 11th and 12th centuries, but it is actually unclear if all of the quatrains were originally his. Edward FitzGerald was an Englishman in the Victorian era who taught himself Persian and learned to translate this poem completely into English. He then published it, at first without much success, until it blew up in the 1850s and became part of the gift book sensation. A gift book is oftentimes a more ornamental piece of literature, ranging from being covered in elaborate jewels and fancy bindings, to more plain and simple designs. The gift books surrounding the Rubáiyát have been critiqued for their inherent Orientalist feel because a wide variety of them were printed with exotic, elaborate, and beautiful illustration that captured life in the Middle-East within a Westernized understanding of it. The bedazzling of the more expensive editions also attributed to this feel, and have been criticized for taking away the inherent value of the artwork itself and its language to make money off of the "beauty of the foreign," if you will. I will be describing the edition I am currently studying from the rare collection at the Oregon State University Library.

Images in this Exhibit

Description of My Edition

My edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is titled: Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, The Astronomer-Poet of Persia. The author(s) are Omar Khayyám and Edward FitzGerald. The Translator is Edward FitzGerald. On the OSU Catalogue, Michael Kerney is listed as an author as well for the beginning portion of the book he wrote about Edward FitzGerald. The publisher is listed as New York: Doxey's in 1900. The illustrator of the book is Florence Lundborg, who took very heavy inspiration from Aubrey Beardsley's Art Nouveau style of...
Gift Books and Orientalism

Black argues that the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is diminutive of Persian culture and Orientalist in nature because of FitzGerald's translation and the Gift Book Culture's appropriation of what Victorians’ defined as “exotic” elements of “the East.” Many editions of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám were bejeweled and adorned with locks to attain a “status” of “treasure book.” (Black 60) This aspect of the poem becoming more of a collectible for English and American fanatics alike devalues the poem’s cultural significance in Persia and the language contained within. Black also...
Close Reading of Image + Text

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám Astronomer Poet of Persia is a fascinating edition in the long history of Rubáiyát  gift books. This edition features many Art Nouveau illustrations that resemble, and don't, themes in the text. This edition is illustrated by Florence Lundborg, a San Francisco native who was commissioned by Doxey's publishing house. Florence Lundborg was influenced heavily by Aubrey Beardsley, and half-heartedly ripped off their Art Nouveau style. 

I will be analyzing a time in this edition when it follows the themes and the illustration...
How This Edition Was Made

The Rubáiyát is a poem attributed to Omar Khayyám, a Persian poet and astronomer from the 11th and 12th centuries, but it is actually unclear if all of the quatrains were originally his. Edward FitzGerald was an Englishman in the Victorian era who taught himself Persian and learned to translate this poem completely into English. He then published it, at first without much success, until it blew up in the 1850s and became part of the gift book sensation. A gift book is oftentimes a more ornamental piece of literature, ranging from being covered in elaborate jewels and fancy...
Archival Speculation - Kenneth Teter's Gift in Memoriam of Dr. Peterson

This edition of the Rubáiyát, an 11th century Persian poem, translated by Edward FitzGerald to English in Victorian-era Britain, attributed in full to a man named Omar Khayyám, was published in 1900 by Doxeys Publishing House. It was published in New York, even though Doxeys was located in San Francisco, because they wanted to stay competative within the east coast market, so it was commissioned to be published by C. A. Murdock. This edition was illustrated by Florence Lunborg, who worked as an illustrator for Doxeys. Her illustrations did not match up quite well with most of the...