Collecting the Hundreds of Editions
of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
by Terry A. Stillman
"The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" is said to be one of the ten best
known poems in the world, and probably the most popular piece of Oriental
literature in the Western World. A number of auspicious events were
necessary for this phenomenon to occur.
If Edward Cowell hadn't been able to interest Edward FitzGerald in
the study of the Persian language in 1852 and brought to FitzGerald's
notice in 1856 a Persian manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford,
then FitzGerald would not have translated these "Epicurean tetrastichs
by a Persian of the eleventh century". If Edward FitzGerald himself
hadn't persevered, after being rejected by Fraser's Magazine, and paid
to have his first translated version of 75 quatrains published, it
probably would have been no more than a scholarly exercise.
If, after publication in 1859 by London bookseller Bernard Quaritch,
Whitley Stokes hadn't later passed by Quaritch's bookshop and plucked a
copy from the "penny box", FitzGerald's book would have died on Picadilly
Street. If Whitley Stokes, well-known as a Celtic scholar, had not given
a copy of FitzGerald's Rubaiyat to his friend Dante Rossetti on the 10th
of July, 1861, then the translation would not have been introduced to
the influential literati of the day. From Rossetti to Charles Swinburne
to George Meredith to William Morris to Edward Burne-Jones to John
Ruskin to the Brownings and on and on, even to America, these romantic
verses kept gaining in popularity, necessitating more and more editions
to be printed. From the 1880's up until WWI, hundreds of
thousands of English students were forced to memorize The Rubaiyat.
Today, no one really knows how many hundreds of editions have been
printed from FitzGerald's various translations alone, not to mention
other English and foreign translations. There are a startling array of
sizes, bindings, illustrations and printing materials. With the
exception of the Bible and Shakespeare's collective works, the Rubaiyat
must be the most printed book in the world.
The most common editions are based on the four versions of
translation by FitzGerald. The first edition consisted of 75 quatrains
(stanzas); the second edition (1868) was expanded to 110
quatrains; the third (1872) and fourth (1879)
editions had 101 quatrains. The variations between the third and fourth
editions consist of 17 words and 18 punctuation marks only.
FitzGerald's first edition totalled only 250 copies and had
paper covers, which is why a VG copy today would be valued in excess
of $25,000.00.
Certainly, the most ornate edition was produced by
London's Sangorski & Sutcliffe in 1911. Folio size with an inlaid
jewelled peacock binding of burgundy morocco, with jewelled clasps, and
an original illuminated frontispiece on vellum. Limited to 10 copies.
Many fine artists in the early 20th century took up the challenge
to illustrate The Rubaiyat. Among them were Edmund Dulac,
Willy Pogany, Frank Brangwyn, Elihu Vedder, Sarkis Katchadourian,
Adelaide Hanscom, Gilbert James, Charles and T.H. Robinson,
Arthur Syzk and Rene Bull. Special limited editions were often
published first, followed by many reprints. A poem about enjoying life
to the fullest with wine, women and song certainly inspired a great
deal of marvellous, exotic illustration. Surely, if one were to
choose one book to spend a lifetime collecting, The Rubaiyat would be
that book.
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Terry A. Stillman
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