The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1951 edition

This 1951 edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, published by Shakespeare House in New York, features Edward FitzGerald’s first-edition translation, originally published in 1859. A key identifying feature of this version is that it contains only 75 quatrains, making it easily distinguishable from FitzGerald’s later editions, which expanded the number to 101. This early translation is often noted for its poetic voice but very criticized for shaping the text into a reflection of Victorian sensibilities, while changing and overshadowing the philosophical and existential depth…

In her book On Exhibit: Victorians and Their Museums, Barbara Black explores how the act of collecting shaped how the British saw and valued the world, especially places outside of Europe. One work she focuses on is Edward FitzGerald’s translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Persian poetry that became extremely popular in the 19th century, which over time was published in many fancy editions and often illustrated and sold as gift books. Black argues that these versions, while beautiful, turned Khayyám’s poetry into an object, something to own and…

Quatrain XLIII of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, presents a satirical critique of religious orthodoxy and celebrates more personal and experiential ways of finding meaning. The stanza proposes that wine, usually a symbol of pleasure and wisdom, can succeed where logic and the religious debate fail, which is offering instant transformation. The illustration by Edmund J. Sullivan dramatizes this idea depicting an alchemist figure who embodies the scholarly and absurd, surrounded by ritualistic symbols, spectacle, and indulgence. The stanza and illustration reject rigid systems of “…

This 1951 edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is a charming and quite mysterious little book. It presents itself to readers through its rust-colored cloth boards, a black buckram spine featuring delicate golden stars, and a very noticeable small golden cameo of Shakespeare cover against a reddish leather background appearing in the bottom right side of the cover. Like many other editions prior, the book brings together the poetry of Persian scholar Omar Khayyám, translated by Edward FitzGerald, and the beautiful illustrations by Edmund J. Sullivan. The book was published by…