Exhibit:

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám #62

Preview of images

Cover of a book titled: Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Book is bound in red cloth. The title, stamped in gold gilt, is in an ornate, Persian calligraphy inspired script. The cover also features a gold gilt stamped embellishment. A handwritten inscription in the flyleaf of the Rubáiyát. "To Gene, For some we loved, the loveliest and the best -- Bill" Title page of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, written in Persian inspired calligraphy. Also featuring an ornamental rose and a simple illustration of a cup, upright The final page of the Rubáiyát, featuring Persian characters and the rose and cup from the title page. The cup is now overturned, with the last drop of liquid spilling out of it. High quality print of a charcoal, graphite, and ink illustration. The background of the image is a deep saturated black. The foreground is a graphite illustration of nude woman, standing with her arms overhead, her wrists on her forehead. The lower half of her body is cradled in two large masculine hands, which emerge from amorphous shapes. The overall effect is statuesque. Frontispiece and title page of the Rubáiyát. Frontispiece is full page black and white illustration of quatrain XI. Title page includes publishing information in Persian inspired calligraphy, as well as the title of the book in Persian Two page spread: on the left, quatrain XXI, surrounded by a simple ornamental border; on the right, a full page, black-and-white, charcoal and ink illustration of two nude figures in motion

 

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, as translated by Edward FitzGerald

Illustrations by Willy Pogány

© 1942 Philadelphia: David McKay Co.

Printed in Beck Gravure by the Beck Engraving Company

Images in this Exhibit

Description of the Edition
Cover of a book titled: Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Book is bound in red cloth. The title, stamped in gold gilt, is in an ornate, Persian calligraphy inspired script. The cover also features a gold gilt stamped embellishment. A handwritten inscription in the flyleaf of the Rubáiyát. "To Gene, For some we loved, the loveliest and the best -- Bill" Title page of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, written in Persian inspired calligraphy. Also featuring an ornamental rose and a simple illustration of a cup, upright The final page of the Rubáiyát, featuring Persian characters and the rose and cup from the title page. The cup is now overturned, with the last drop of liquid spilling out of it. High quality print of a charcoal, graphite, and ink illustration. The background of the image is a deep saturated black. The foreground is a graphite illustration of nude woman, standing with her arms overhead, her wrists on her forehead. The lower half of her body is cradled in two large masculine hands, which emerge from amorphous shapes. The overall effect is statuesque. Frontispiece and title page of the Rubáiyát. Frontispiece is full page black and white illustration of quatrain XI. Title page includes publishing information in Persian inspired calligraphy, as well as the title of the book in Persian Two page spread: on the left, quatrain XXI, surrounded by a simple ornamental border; on the right, a full page, black-and-white, charcoal and ink illustration of two nude figures in motion

Of the over 100 antique gift books in the Dr. Sigurd H. Peterson Memorial Collection, edition number 62 appears, at first glance, fairly unassuming. It is a hardcover edition, bound in red cloth, 25 cm. On the front cover, the title is in a Persian-calligraphy inspired typeface, alongside a fairly simple arabesque, both stamped in gold gilt. The title on the spine is also stamped in gilt, and the pages are topstained red. As gift books go, this is a modest exterior, but what’s most striking about this book is its interior.

The text is Edmund FitzGerald’s first edition translation of...