The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám First Edition 1946 - Examined by Ginnie Sandoval

While there are seemingly hundreds of versions of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, this particular version stands out with its beautifully detailed and eye catching illustrations. However, you would never know the wonders it holds by its somewhat plain and untitled cover (Figure 3). Upon first glance, it is obvious the outer layer of this book is your typical boxy cardboard cover, both front and back being identical in design and style. It presents a cream colored background with azure blue designs decorating the border and leading into the center. Interestingly, the title is…

In her book, On Exhibit: Victorians and Their Museums, Barbara Black calls FitzGerald’s translation of Omar Khayyám’s Rubáiyát a “tamed familiarized object” made to feel exotic without feeling foreign. She tells of Edward FitzGerald being a collector; one who travels within the confines of his own home, living vicariously through the items he collects, or through the museum of his making – “To FitzGerald, the otherworld was safely intriguing when it lay on the other side of one’s room” (51).

FitzGerald already harbored a growing passion for all things Oriental when…

While this 1946 First Edition FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám has many beautiful images illustrationed by Arthur Szyk, there is one in particular with accompanying quatrains that embody the text. For this particular examination, I will focus on Quatrain XXIII and the correlating image. Quatrain XXIII (Figure 1) is one of four stanzas accompanied by an image of a man and woman lounging at leisure under a tree, seemingly. The stanza reads:

 Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend, 

Before we too into…

This First Edition FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám was published in 1946 by The Heritage Press in New York. Edward FitzGerald first published his translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in 1859. As the first of five editions, this 1946 version of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám carries FitzGerald's original translations and 75 Quatrains. How it differs though, as many of the first editions do, is through its illustrations. 

In 1946, The Heritage Press in New York published a First Edition of…

My Dearest Friend, 

In times of turmoil, like those we are experiencing now, we could all use a little beauty in the world. Although things are beginning to look up, the pain is still fresh, and we are still reeling from the past few years. As the war-torn chapters of our lives draw to a close, I wanted to present this gift, the 1946 First Edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, to you in hopes that it will bring some semblance of joy during a time in your life when you are hurting the most.

We have both suffered unimaginable atrocities, and although…