Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam
Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1886. Full page black and white illustrated text leaves by Elihu Vedder. First Vedder-illustrated quarto edition, first printing. Publisher's full brown cloth, illustratively stamped in gilt and dark brown, teg. Quarto. [53, illustrated leaves unnumbered], [15, list of illustrations]. 12.5" x 9.5" Light wear to tips and corners, offset toning to endpapers, hinges just starting, still very good copy. Item #240475
KHAYYAM FAN CLUBS
Edward FitzGerald's 1859 translation of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat launched fanatic fervor for the Persian poet throughout the Victorian period. The 1880s featured Omar Khayyam clubs, as people gravitated towards the poem's lush hedonism.
Elihu Vedder (1836-1923) capitalized on Khayyam's cult following in his illustrated version of the poem. Originally published in folio format in 1884, this 1886 first quarto edition is made up of full page black and white illustrated text leaves.
Price: $675.00