Edward FitzGerald, Willy Pogany - Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam - 1920

Early 19c Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Published: London George G. Harrap A wonderful 1st Edition of Fitzgerald's translation of Omar Khayyam's 'Rubaiyat', beautifully illustrated by Willy Pogany


DESCRIPTION
Colour Plates, Illustrated, Leather Binding, Publishers' Original Binding
Illustrated with sixteen tipped in colour plates by prolific Hungarian children's illustrator Willy Pogany. Collated, complete.

'The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam' was the title that Edward Fitzgerald gave to his 1859 translation of the Persian quatrains attributed to second century Persian mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyam. Fitzgerald's was the first English translation.

Fitzgerald's translations, however, are fairly loose; he referred to his work on them as a 'transmogrification'. Some therefore considering that his translation of 'Rubaiyat' could be considered as Fitzgerald's own original poetry, only loosely based on Khayyam's quatrains.

Undated.

A highly decorative copy of this work.

London: George G. Harrap & Co. N.D.. 8vo.Illustrated. unpagenated with 16 tipped in colour plates. Bound in gilt decorated morocco with top edge gilt and orginal publisher's box. Some wear to the box splits to the top. Binding in firm condition but split to top edge. Minor occasional spotting. Illustrated throughtout in colour by Willy Pogany and decorations to all pages. Very good condition first edition. Gilt-decorated Morocco.

Approximate dimensions are 22.5cms in height by 15cms wide and 1.75cms in depth, Unpaginated


Bibliographic Details
Title: Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Publisher: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., London
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: Willy Pogany
Condition: Near Fine
Edition: 1st Edition
Date: Undated

Synopsis
Philosopher, astronomer and mathematician, Khayyam as a poet possesses a singular originality. His poetry is richly charged with evocative power and offers a view of life characteristic of his stormy times, with striking relevance to the present day.

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (rubāʿiyāt) attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dubbed "the Astronomer-Poet of Persia".

Although commercially unsuccessful at first, FitzGerald's work was popularised from 1861 onward by Whitley Stokes, and the work came to be greatly admired by the Pre-Raphaelites in England. FitzGerald had a third edition printed in 1872, which increased interest in the work in the United States. By the 1880s, the book was extremely popular throughout the English-speaking world, to the extent that numerous "Omar Khayyam clubs" were formed and there was a "fin de siècle cult of the Rubaiyat".[1]

FitzGerald's work has been published in several hundred editions and has inspired similar translation efforts in English, Hindi and in many other languages.

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