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The Omar Khayyam Puzzle

The Omar Khayyam Puzzle. L.P. Elwell-Sutton.
Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society 55 (1968) 2, pp. 167–179

A recent publication has stimulated interest once again in the Persian poet Omar Khayyam-though admittedly to the English speaking world he is already by far the best-known, and for many the only, figure in Persian literature. Yet in fact he is a rather shadowy, insubstantial person, largely ignored in his own land of Iran, and about whom surprisingly little is recorded in history. Much of what is related about him is purely legendary: for instance, the well-known story of his schooldays friendship with the vizier Nizam al-Mulk and Hasan Sabbah, founder of the sect of the Assassins-impossible on chronological grounds alone. Other legends have been ad added through the centuries, particularly by some of the Sufi sects in Iran and Afghanistan.

Omar Khayyâm

Omar Khayyâm. Jan Rypka.
In: History of Iranian literature. Rypka, Jan; Jahn, Karl (eds.). Dordrecht, Reidl, 1968. pp. 189–193.

General article about Khayyám, the known facts of his life and the works and manuscripts ascribed to him.

Edward FitzGerald

Edward FitzGerald. Michael Timko
In: The Victorian Poets. A Guide to Research. Second edition. Ed. Frederic E. Faverty. Cambrdige, Harvard University Press, 1968. p. 137-148

FitzGerald’s Rubaíyat as a poem

FitzGerald’s Rubaíyat as a poem. William Cadbury.
ELH 34 (1967) 3, p. 541–563

Cadbury argues that the Rubáiyát is not lyric but “anti-lyric,” since its coherence depends upon our imagining an implied speaker.

The earliest collections of O. Khayyam

The earliest collections of O. Khayyam. V. Minorsky.
In: Yádníme-ye Jan Rypka 1967. Collection of articles on Persian and Tajik literature. Prague, Academia; The Hague, Paris, Mouton & Co., 1967. pp. 107-118.

When in 1949—52 the three anthologies of Omar Khayyam dated 604/1208, 613/1216 and 658/1259 appeared in quick succession in the West it was quite natural to hail them as our guides for establishing the much discussed poetical heritage of Khayyam.

Omar Khayyam

Omar Khayyam. Evelyn Kennedy.
The Mathematics Teacher 59 (1966) 2, p. 140-142

Besides being hailed as a poet, Omar Khayyam, during his time, was unequalled in scientific knowledge and achievement in Persia. Many called him King of the Wise.

First American edition of the Rubaiyat was published in Columbus

First American edition of the Rubaiyat was published in Columbus. F.F.D. Albery.
Ohioana Quarterly (1964) (Spring), pp. 3-6

Summary

One of the most interesting literary incidents in the history of Columbus was the publication of the first American edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. It was, of course, an unauthorized reprint, but, as it was made in pure admiration of the beauty of Edward FitzGerald’s translation and with no purpose to make money, but only to supply a limited market beyond the easy reach of the London publisher, nobody could have thought ill of the project. In fact, the Columbus edition was a high compliment to the English translator and to the group of Columbus readers as well. The latter knew a good thing when they saw it, and possessed not only a keen sense of the beautiful in literature but also a resourcefulness in making for themselves what they could not otherwise obtain. The story of this incident was some years ago written for The Book-Lover by F. F. D. Albery, one of the group of Columbus admirers of Omar and later a member of the select circle known as “the Omar Khayyam Club of America”. The article appeared in No. 12, May-June 1902, of that magazine.