Khayyam, Omar ix. Illustrations of English translations of the Rubaiyat. W.H. Martin, S. Mason.
Encyclopaedia Iranica Online, July 2009
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam contain some of the best-known verses in the world. The book is also one of the most frequently and widely illustrated of all literary works. The stimulus to illustrate Khayyam’s Rubaiyat came initially from outside Persia, in response to translations in the West.
Khayyam, Omar x. Musical works based on the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. W.H. Martin, S. Mason.
Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, July 15 2009
The enduring popularity of the verses in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is reflected in the large number of musical works they have inspired. Not all the works were small-scale pieces. One of the best-known large-scale compositions is Sir Granville Bantock’s (1868-1946) ‘Omar Khayyam’ (1908-10) for soloists, chorus and orchestra. It is a three-part work, setting all the 101 quatrains from FitzGerald’s fifth edition.
The Art of Omar Khayyam: illustrating FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat. Illustrated lecture given to the Iran Society on 22nd November 2007. W.H. Martin, S. Mason.
Journal of the Iran Society, 2 (2008), nr 7, p. 1-8.
The lecture is mainly concerned with the Rubaiyat and the extraordinary publishing phenomenon that is associated with it, particularly the extensive and continuing production of illustrated editions of FitzGerald’s version of the poem. In it, the authors draw extensively on their recently published book on the subject.
The illustration of FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát and its contribution to enduring popularity. W.H. Martin, S. Mason.
In: FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Popularity and neglect. Ed. by A. Poole et al. London, Anthem Press, 2011. pp. 233-248.
In this paper, the authors aim to shed more light on how it is that Edward FitzGerald’s short poem became one of the most widely illustrated books of all time. They consider the social and economic framework within which publication of FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát reached its zenith and the critical role played by technical change in this important period. They examine in more detail the role of certain key actors, notably individual publishers and their illustrators, in the process of Rubáiyát publishing. And, by looking at the longer term evolution of Rubáiyát publishing through the twentieth century, they try to reach a clearer view of the importance of illustration to the enduring popularity of the poem.
The Art of Omar Khayyam. Illustrating FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat. William H. Martin & Sandra Mason. London : New York, Tauris, 2007. 184 p. Index. ISBN 978-84511-282-0
Summary:
“This book describes a phenomenon unique in publishing history: a book of poetry, published anonymously nearly 150 years ago – purporting to be the translation of an eleventh century Persian work – which has remained almost continuously in print and has stimulated at least 130 illustrators to try to illuminate the verses it contains.”
Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. A famous poem and its influence. Edited by William H. Martin and Sandra Mason. London; New York; Delhi, Anthem press, 2011. xi, 170 p. ISBN: 9780857287700.
The man behind the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. The life and letters of Edward FitzGerald. William H. Martin and Sandra Mason. London; New York; I.B. Tauris, 2016. ISBN 9781784536596. xii, 274 pp.
Summary:
Its lines and verses have become part of the western literary canon and his translation of this most famous of poems has been continuously in print in for almost a century and a half. But just who was Edward FitzGerald? Was he the eccentric recluse that most scholars would have us believe? Is there more to the man than just his famous translation? In The Man Behind the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam William Martin and Sandra Martin go beyond the standard view. Drawing on their unique analysis of the more than 2,000 surviving letters of FitzGerald, together with evidence from his scrapbooks, commonplace books and materials from his personal library, they reveal a more convivial yet complex personality than we have been led to suppose.”