The Russian perception of Khayyam: from text to image. F. Abdullaeva, N. Chalisova, N., Ch. Melville.
In: The great ‘Umar Khayyám. Leiden, Leiden University Press, 2012. pp. 161–188.

The authors show the extreme popularity of Khayyám in Russia, even before Fitzgerald’s translations were published. The English translation only added to Khayyám’s popularity. The authors investigate how different translations of a single quatrain were made and how a large number of illustrated translations usually erotic, were made based on these translations. They also examine the contemporary popularity of Khayyám and the ready availability of editions of his quatrains, from large bookstores to tiny book-stalls. The authors examine different translations in each generation and how these translations helped to popularize Khayyám. Attention is also paid to literary forgery and how it acquires national value and prestige: D. Serebryakov “claimed Omar Khayyám for the nation” in 2000 by stating that Khayyám’s native town was in Tataria.