Potter’s Bibliography

A bibliography of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Together with kindred matter in prose and verse pertaining thereto. Collected and arranged by George Ambrose Potter

The  Bibliography by A.G. Potter (link) is without question an important tool for the bibliographer, the collector or the scholar when it comes to ‘rubáiyát’ and related matters. And for a long time it has been the only one in terms of scope and coverage as it lists more than 580 editions in English and foreign languages, up till the year 1929.

In his Foreword Potters notes that “the foreign section is not fully representative, it being somewhat outside the scope of my collection”. In a letter to Henry Guppy, librarian of the Rylands Library in Manchester, he states that “It (the bibliography) is 99% a catalogue of my collection.”

The work consists of four parts: 1) versions in English, including FitzGerald and other translators; 2) versions in foreign languages, oriental and biblingual editions; 3) prose and verse on the rubáiyát in books and articles, the rubáiyát in music, drama, art and commerce and parodies; 4) manuscripts and lithographed texts. In total there are 1308 titles.

More than 1308 titles
There are three chapters in Part Three that show works in periodical publications: Chapters IV, VIII and X. Here the titles are grouped under the name of the periodical, for example in item # 726 – Atlantic Monthly: “A Dialogue in Hades”(6/1902) and “A Persian Poet” (4/78). There are many more similar examples which means that the total number of titles in the Bibliography is much higher than 1308.
The Index
Appended to the Bibliography is an Index to Translators and Editions and as the title suggests, it only indexes Part I and II. Besides that, the Index is very basic. It does not reflect editors or contributors (of introductions, forewords, epilogues and the like) and the entries don’t tell whether it is a translator, publisher or artist. 
The Database
The database presents the titles in the Bibliography in Part I and Part II. For each record there is a basic bibliographic description on a single document page, including the name of the edition (where given) and the number in Potter.
There are separate indexes on Translators, Artists, Editors, Contributors, Publishers, Art forms and Editions. Publishers of reprints, mentioned by Potter in the collations, are listed and indexed as well.
Authors of prefaces, forewords, epilogues, introductions etc. are all treated as ‘Contributors’. Not included are authors of dedications, (laudatory) poems etc. Decorators, illuminators, illustrators are all listed under ‘Artists’.

The present database largely follows the structure of Potter’s Bibliography, where for example, ‘first versions’ are found in Chapter I as well as in Chapters VII and VIII. The present structure is represented by columns:

  • All: all editions and translations
  • 1859 – 1879: FitzGerald’s first, second, third and fourth/fifth versions
  • English: versions other than FitzGerald
  • Various: miscellaneous from various editions and translations & bilingual versions
  • Selections: from various editions and translations
  • Foreign & oriental: foreign languages and oriental versions

A short note in the various columns explains.

Filters waar van toepassing, etc

More

Comments, additional information, some images

To the Database