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Omar Khayyam: Poet, Rebel, Astronomer

Omar Khayyam: Poet, Rebel, Astronomer. Hazhir Teimourian. Stroud, Sutton, 2007. xiv, 365 p. Illustrated. ISBN: 978-0750947152

Summary:
This book claims to be detailed study of Khayyám’s life and world. It tells how Khayyám was persecuted for his philosophical beliefs and rebellious poems, how the two rival worlds of Christianity and Islam slowly moved towards their most violent embrace. It also tells the story of the Rubaiyat and gives a new translation of fifty quatrains, including FitzGerald’s first version.

Contents

Acknowledgements
Prologue – Four True Graveside Stories
1. The Fire Temples of Nishápur (1048–67)
2. The Libraries of Samarkand (1068–72)
3. The Throne Room of Bukhara (1072–73)
4. The Palaces of Isfahan (1073–77)
5. The Boy Triumphs (1077–79)
6. The Vizier Regrets (1079–84)
7. The Shah Applauds (1085–89)
8. The Assassin Stalks (1090–92)
9. The Queen Turns (1092–93)
10. The Pilgrim of Babel (1093–94)
11. The Recluse of Nishápur (1094–1108)
12. The Sage of Khorásán (1108–31)
Epilogue – The Story of the Rubáiyát
Appendix I – The Rubáiyát: A New Translation
Appendix II – The FitzGerald Translation of 1859
Appendix III – Omar the Greek
Appendix IV – Khayyám’s Mathematics and Other Writings
Principal Characters
Family Tree of the Saljuq Royal House
Map of the Saljuq Empire at the Time of Malik-Shah’s death
Chronology
Notes
Selected bibliography
Index

The genuine face of Omar Khayyam

The genuine face of Omar Khayyam. Bahram Baghaie Naini. London, Parsees Arts, 2007. 264 p. ISBN: 9780955601804

Contents

Acknowledgements
Foreword

CHAPTER 1
The Genuine Face of Omar Khayyam
The influence of Avicenna on Omar Khayyam
The character of Omar Khayyam
The authenticity of the Rubaiyat
The intractable problem with translating Persian poetry
Translating the Rubaiyat in Prose

CHAPTER 2
The Creation of the World, Existence and Religions

CHAPTER 3
The Followers of Omar Khayyam
The influence of Omar Khayyam onSaadi
The influence of Omar Khayyam on Hafez

CHAPTER 4
Omar Khayyam and Pottery

CHAPTER 5
The Creation of the World and God

CHAPTER 6
Freewill and Predestination
The influence of Omar Khayyam on Parvin Etesami

CHAPTER 7
The Puppet Show

CHAPTER 8
The Translations
Edward FitzGerald
A brief look at Edward FitzGerald’s Life

CHAPTER 9
Omar Khayyam & the philosophers and scientists of the world

CHAPTER 10
Optimist and Pessimist

CHAPTER 11
The Existence of Man and Nature

CHAPTER 12
The Effect and Outcome at the Conclusion

Selected Bibliography

The Art of Omar Khayyam. Illustrating FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat

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.”

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Part 1: Illustrating FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat
– A unique publishing phenomenon
– Illustrating The Rubaiyat
– A century of change in illustration
– Still popular – at home and abraod
Part 2: Illustrating individual quatrains
– Presenting the quatrains
– Illustrations for FitzGerald’s first edition – quatrains 1-75
– Illustrations for FitzGerald’s other editions of The Rubaiyat
– Illustrations unrelated to specific quatrains
Appendix 1. Publishers and illustrators of FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat
Appendix 2. Artists who have illustrated FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat
Appendix 3. Published versions of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam Appendix 4. Omar Khayyam and his Rubaiyat
Appendix 5. FitzGerald and his Rubaiyat
Notes
Select bibliography
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 target-oriented approach to two different English translations of Omar Khayyam’s quatrains

A target-oriented approach to two different English translations of Omar Khayyam’s quatrains. Sayyed Mohammad Karimi Behbahani. Pune, University of Pune, 2008.

Summary

The present study is an attempt to read and compare two different English translations of Omar Khayyam’s Quatrains in the light of a Target-oriented Approach. The two selected translations are Edward Fitzgerald’s Translation and Peter Avery & John Heath- Stubbs’ Translation. The major intention beyond this research is to conduct a unified and comprehensive study of the mentioned translations based on Gideon Toury’s DTS (Descriptive Translation Studies). This research is composed in five chapters, an Introduction and an Appendix, a brief sketch of each is to be presented: In the Introduction, the researcher provides justifications for research, particularly Target- Oriented research, in Translation Studies. The emerging need for interdisciplinary studies in the English departments is also emphasized. The objectives and the methodology of the research are provided in the Introduction.

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