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The Rubáiyát: A Labour of Love

The Rubáiyát: A Labour of Love. Reza Taher-Kermani.
Victoriographies, 7 (2017) 1, pp. 76-80.

This is an essay on the genesis of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. The contention is that the Rubáiyát ensued, at least, partly from the affection that Edward FitzGerald had for his friend and mentor in Persian, Edward Byles Cowell. FitzGerald used Omar Khayyám as an excuse to stay in touch with his dear friend Cowell, who left England after introducing him to Khayyám and his poetry. But FitzGerald soon fell in love with ‘Omar’, his new Persian mentor, and replaced the love that he had for Cowell with the one he developed for ‘Omar’. The result of this love was the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.

ʻOmar Khayyām miscellanea

ʻOmar Khayyām miscellanea. B. Csillik.
Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 11 (1960), nr. 1-3, p. 57-68.

It was in 1859 that Edward FitzGerald published at his own cost a small booklet of translations which since has, with the passing of many years, earned world fame for the name of ‘Omar Khayyäm — known until then in Europe only as an astronomer, geometrician and mathematician — and also for the name of the translater. It is to this centenary occasion that I wish to contribute the following minor notes and observations.

The Romance of the Rubáiyát: Edward FitzGerald’s First Edition

The Romance of the Rubáiyát: Edward FitzGerald’s First Edition. A.J. Arberry. London, Allen & Unwin, 1959. 244 p. Reissued in 2016.

Summary:
In this scholarly centennial edition, Arberry makes use of FitzGerald’s own notes, letters, and Latin version of the quatrains to show how the English poem emerged out of the Persian sources.

Contents

Preliminary Essay
Introduction
Appendix
The First Edition of the Rubáiyat
Table and Notes
Bibliography
Index