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Bernard Quaritch and ‘My Omar’ – The struggle for FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát

Bernard Quaritch and ‘My Omar’ – The struggle for FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát. Arthur Freeman.
In: Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Ed. by H. Bloom. Philadelphia, Chelsea House, 2004. p. 169-183.
(From The Book Collector, special issue. 1997)

As a publisher, Bernard Quaritch’s principal claim to memory lies in his association with Edward FitzGerald. Quaritch’s imprint appears on the first four editions of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. His instrumentality in popularising The Rubaiyat was well recognised in its time. The publication history of The Rubaiyat is narrated.

Whitley Stokes and the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Whitley Stokes and the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. J. Drew.
In: The tripartite life of Whitley Stokes (1830-1909). Ed. by Elizabeth Boyle and Paul Russell. Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-84682-278-0. pp. 111-118.

Drew describes Whitley Stokes’ role in the intriguing story behind the Madras 1862 edition.

Preparing for the Centenary of Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat

Preparing for the Centenary of Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat. Carl J. Weber.
Colby Library Quarterly, 5 (1959) 1, p. 5-14.

When The Variorum and Definitive Edition of the Poetical and Prose Writings of Edward FitzGerald was published with an Introduction by Edmund Gosse, there seemed little doubt about the date of publication of the Rubaiyat. With an assurance that seemed based on certitude, Gosse referred to “the now so-precious pamphlet which Quaritch issued stillborn on the 15th of February, 1859.”

Edward FitzGerald. Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: A Critical Edition

Edward FitzGerald. Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: A Critical Edition. Edited by Christopher Decker. Charlotteville ; London, University Press of Virginia, 1997. lxxii, 258 p. (Victorian Literature and Culture Series). ISBN: 0813916895.

Summary:
In this critical edition all extent states of FitzGerald’s versions of the translation are published for the first time, providing a full record of its complicated textual evoluation. Decker illuminated the complex process of revision by providing a textual appendix in which a comparative printing lays down each stratum of the composition.

Contents

Acknowledgements p. ix
Abbreviations p. xi
Introduction p. xiii
Textual note p. xlix
Emendations p. lxii
Select bibliography p. lxix
Critical text of FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
1859 p. 1
1868 p. 25
1872 p. 57
1879 p. 87
Appendix I. Comparative texts, with a table of the sequences of quatrains in the Rubáiyát p. 117
Appendix 2. FitzGerald’s Latin translation p. 233
Appendix 3. The pronunciation of Persian words in the Rubáiyát p. 238
Appendix 4. Select glossary p. 250
Index p. 255

Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom. Broomall, Chelsea House, 2004. (Bloom’s modern critical interpretations)
vii, 252 p. ISBN: 0791075834

Summary:
This edition brings together the most important 20th-century criticism on Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam through a number of previously published articles and chapters by well-known literary critics. The collection also features a short biography on Edward FitzGerald, a chronology of the author’s life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom.

Contents

Editor’s note

Introduction
Harold Bloom

The fin de siècle cult of FitzGerald’s “Rubaiyat” of Omar Khayyam
John D. Yohannan

The Rubaʻiyat of Omar Khayyam
Iran B. Hassani Jewett

Fugitive articulation : an introduction to the Rubaʻiyat of Omar Khayyam
Daniel Schenker

The discovery of the Rubaʻiyat
Robert Bernard Martin

The apocalyptic vision of La vida es sueño : Calderʹon and Edward FitzGerald
Frederick A. de Armas

Young Eliot’s rebellion
Vinnie-Marie d’Ambrosio

Larger hopes and the new hedonism : Tennyson and FitzGerald
Norman Page

Bernard Quaritch and “My Omar” : the struggle for FitzGerald’s Rubaʻiyat
Arthur Freeman

Paradise enow
John Hollander

The tale of the inimitable Rubaiyat
Tracia Leacock-Seghatolislami

Forgetting FitzGerald’s Rubaʻiyat
Erik Gray

Chronology

Contributors

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index

A book of verse. The biography of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

A book of verse. The biography of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Garry Garrard. Stroud, Sutton, 2007. 270 p. Illustrated. Index
ISBN: 978-0-7509-4631-5 (Hardback)
ISBN: 978-0-7509-4632-2 (Paperback)

Summary:
A Book of Verse tells the story of how The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám has provided delight and fascination for centuries. It brings to life the evocative world of early Islamic Persia and the literary and artistic scene in England in the second half of the 19th century.

 

Contents

List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
1. An innocent obsession
2. The mightiest empire
3. A curious infidel
4. A friend indeed
5. A couple of old sceptics
6. Credit where it is due
7. Friends reunited?
8. A life of its own
9. On the bandwagon
10. Every picture tells a story
11. And now for something completely different
Appendix: Illustrated and decorated editions of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.
List of artists
A note on sources
Notes
Select bibliography
Index

A Book in the Wilderness. FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. 150 years in print and image

A Book in the Wilderness. Jos Biegstraaten and Jos Coumans. Amsterdam, Rozenberg Publishers, 2009. 125 p. ISBN: 9789036101141

Summary
‘A Book in the Wilderness’ accompanied an exhibition held in Museum Meermanno, The Hague (The Netherlands). The book provides information on a variety of editions that illustrate two important developments in publishing and printing the Rubáiyát: typographical aspects in a number of private press editions, and the various ways in which the Rubáiyát were illustrated. The main sections in the book highlight
– the four FitzGerald editions and a number of facsimile and pirated editions;
– the succes of the Rubáiyát in the USA and the UK with Mosher, Bradley, the Roycrofters and a number of English private press editions;
– illustrated editions: William Morris and Elihu Vedder; famous illustrators such as Dulac, Pogany; Dutch illustrators;
– miniature editions from the early 20th century until today.

Each item is illustrated with miniatures, larger illustrations in a separate section of the book.

Contents

Foreword by Leo Voogt, p. 7
Introduction, p. 13
Edward FitzGerald: first editions, p. 19
Edward FitzGerald: pirated and facsimile editions, p. 25
USA: Mosher and Bradley, p. 28
Morris’ influence: UK, USA and The Netherlands, p. 32
USA: The Roycroft Printing Shop, 41
English presses, p. 46
The first illustrated editions, p. 51
Illustrated editions: commercial publishers, p. 58
Illustrated editions: some techniques, p. 68
Dutch illustrators, p. 74
Miniatures and small books, p. 79
Select bibliography and further reading, p. 113
Index, p. 120

 

Empire, Piracy and Appropriation. India & the Englishing of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Empire, Piracy and Appropriation. India & the Englishing of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. John Drew. Cambridge, Cambridge Poetry Workshop, 2009. 73 p.

Summary:
When the Rubáiyát was published in London in 1859, it fell dead from the press. Surprisingly, the next edition of the poem was publieshed in India. The Madras edition of 1862 was not a mere reprint but a whole compendium of Omarian studies. This booklet makes available all 136 translated quatrains published in the Madras edition, 79 by FitzGerald and the rest by others intimately associated with him in the Rubáiyát story.

Contents

Introductory Essay:
1. The Calcutta Connection p. I
2. Piracy in Madras, p. II

A Sample Comparison of Translated Quatrains Together with Several others of Interest p. 25
Quatrains Attributed to Omar Khayyám Published in the Madras 1862 Edition p. 28
1. Garcin de Tassy p. 29
2. Edward Byles Cowell p. 31
3. Whitley Stokes p. 37
4. Edward FitzGerald p. 40

A Further Note on Major Thomas Evans Bell (1825-1887) and Whitley Stokes (1830-1909) p. 54

1857: Two Appendices p. 60
Extract from a Letter by Evans Bell p. 61
Extract from a Letter by George Thompson p. 65

Select Bibliography p. 67
Acknowledgements p. 73

The dog the mongoose. The Indian pirate edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1862)

The dog & the mongoose. The Indian pirate edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1862). An introduction by John Drew. Cambridge, Cambridge Poetry Workshop, 2009. 68 p.

Summary:
Limited Library edition. A variant edition for the general reader was published as: Empire, piracy and appropriation: India and the Englishing of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.

Contents

Introductory Essay:
The Dog & the Mongoose p. l
Quatrains Attributed to Omar Khayyám
Published in the Madras 1862 Edition p. 28
1. Garcin deTassy p. 29
2. Edward Byles Cowell p. 31
3. Whitley Stokes p. 37
4. Edward Fitz.Gerald p. 40
A Sample Comparison of Translated Quatrains Together with Several Others of Interest p. 54
A Further Note on Major Thomas Evans Bell (1825-1887) p. 58
Essential Sources p. 62
End Note p. 68

The erring finger writes. The Leicester pirate cyclostyles of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

The erring finger writes. The Leicester pirate cyclostyles of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Jos Coumans & John Drew. Cambridge, Cambridge Poetry Workshop, 2015. 43 pp. ISBN: 9781871214260.

Summary:

This document tells the story of Holyoak’s cyclostyle editions of the Rubáiyát, the interference by Macmillans who saw the work of the simple Leicester book seller as a threat to their business, and the response by W.H. Holyoak and G.J. Holyoake. The booklet also shows documents and descriptions of the various versions of Holyoak’s printings.