1900 The Book of Omar and Rubáiyát, Being a Book of Miscellanies -- Biographical, Historical, Bibliographical and Pictorial Notes on Omar Khayyam of Naishapur and his Inspired Quatrians

Description

Decorative Binding, First Edition, Original Binding, Publishers' Original Binding, Scarce

The first edition, first impression of the work.

In the original publisher's quarter cloth binding with the original pictorial paper wraps and illustrated end papers.

Includes a monochrome plate frontispiece and four tipped in monochrome illustrations, including a menu card designed by S. J. Solomon, R. A., a portrait of Edmund Fitzgerald, and an invitation to the Omar Khayyam club at Burford Bridge, July 1895. Collated complete.

With paper wraps and end papers designed by the artist Blanche McManus. 

Scarce.

In 1859, the English poet and writer Edward Fitzgerald published a translated selection of Persian verse attributed to Omar Khayyám. Though initially slow to gain popularity, the work was cherished by the pre-Raphaelites and ultimately became immensely popular in the English-speaking world, resulting in the formation of several "Omar Khayyam clubs" and a so-called "fin de siècle cult of the Rubaiyat". This work is a testament to the excitement around the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, even featuring a poem by Alfred Tennyson titled 'To E. Fitzgerald', expressing his appreciation.