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Zwei deutsche Chajjam-Gesellschaften und ihre Gründer

Zwei deutsche Chajjam-Gesellschaften und ihre Gründer. Eine Spurensuche. Wilfried W. Meijer
In: Persica, vol. 28, (2023-2024), p. 59-127

Part of the Omar Khayyám story in the West is the history of the so called Omar Khayyám clubs. The first one was the Omar Khayyám Club of Londen, established in 1890 and still existing. A second club was the Omar Khayyám Club of America, founded in 1920. A century after the English club a Dutch club was founded in 1990, that too is still alive: the Nederlands Omar Khayyám Genootschap. However, there was also a club in Germany: die Deutsche Chajjam Gesellschaft (DCG) in Tübingen. Other than the mentioned clubs this Gesellschaft was rather a company or enterprise than a society. Its primary purpose was publishing and promoting the work of its founder, Chr. Rempis, who contributed significantly to the study and understanding of Khayyám’s rubáiyát. Unknown to this day however is the story of a second German Gesellschaft. It was founded in Osnabrück in 1949 by Th.F.K. Krohm. Whereas the Tübingen Gesellschaft became known through Rempis’ translations and studies, the Osnabrück club hardly evoked publicity despite its ambitious name: die Omar Khayyam-Gesellschaft zur Pflege iranischer Literatur (OKG).

The Fin de Siècle cult of FitzGerald’s “Rubaiyat” of Omar Khayyam

The Fin de Siècle cult of FitzGerald’s “Rubaiyat” of Omar Khayyam. John D. Yohannan.
In: Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyat of Omar Khayyám. Ed. by H. Bloom. Philadelphia, Chelsea House, 2004. p. 5-19.
(From Review of National Literatures 2, no. 1.)

Yohannan describes how the Rubaiyat was recognised as “a disintegrating spiritual force in England and America” and how in the Omar Khayyam clubs the veneration for the translator tended to surpass worship of the poet.

The imagined elites of the Omar Khayyám Club

The imagined elites of the Omar Khayyám Club. Michelle Kaiserlian.
In: FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Popularity and neglect. Ed. by A. Poole et al. London, Anthem Press, 2011. pp. 147-174.

This study begins with a brief description of the role of elite men’s clubs in late- and post-Victorian society. In the first section, ‘Claiming the Rubáiyát’, Kaiserlian shows how members of the London Club distinguished themselves from outsiders through their exclusive knowledge and appreciation of the poem. ‘FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát & The Pilgrimage of the Rose’ analyses one of the Club’s early ceremonies, revealing imperialist metaphors at work in their worship of the Persian poem and its English translator. ‘Ordering Omar’s World’ investigates Clubbists’ regard for Khayyám as bastion of ‘the good life’ and their use of the poem’s Eastern context as a springboard for exotic indulgences. In the final section, ‘Containing the Rubáiyát’, she demonstrates how Clubbists’ privileged activities as collectors and publishers and their extraordinary objects both reflected their desire to contain the poem’s influence and maintain its status for themselves.

Artists of the Omar Khayyám Club of London 1892 to 1929

Artists of the Omar Khayyám Club of London 1892 to 1929. Danton O’Day. Emeritus Press, 2017. 86 p. ISBN: 9781389917240

Summary:

This book documents the menu artists of the Omar Khayyam Club of London from 1892-1929.
While 26 artists were credited in the two books of the Club, there actually were 28 different menu artists. Of these several were not properly credited for their contributions. For example, one artist was credited for three pictures that belonged to two other artists. Another incorrectly attributed picture was done by an, as yet, unidentified artist. This book details these issues as well as providing many other insights, firsts and interesting facts:
-First complete documentation of the artists of the Omar Khayyam Club of London Menus, 1892-1929
-First time most of the pictures have been seen since their initial publication
-Discovery of numerous incorrect artist credits
-Discovery of an “Unidentified Artist”
-Recognition of artists who were not credited for their contributions
-Corrected lists and timelines of artists and their contributions
-Learn about the artists: a cartoonist, a spy, the man who developed camouflage and more…

Early artists of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, 1914-1929

Early artists of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, 1914-1929. Danton O’Day. Emeritus Press, 2018. iv, 141 p. ISBN: 9781388734190.

Summary:

This intensely illustrated book focuses on the era from 1914-1929 that followed the Golden Age of Rubáiyát Art, 1884-1913. It reveals the work of 16 illustrators who produced two or more pictures to illustrate the poems and 9 other artists who embellished the poetry with page decorations, title page adornments and unique frontispiece images.
In these pages, the identity of a previously anonymous artist is revealed. New decorators are discovered. Tables and graphic timelines put all the work into perspective as multiple images—many published here for the first time in 90-100 years—reveal the often-unparalleled talent of artists who took their pens, inks and paints to the task of illustrating FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát.