MOSHER FACSIMILE OF THE VERY SCARCE FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF THE RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM, HANDSOMELY BOUND

(FITZGERALD, Edward, translator). KHAYYAM, Omar. Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia. Translated into English Verse… Portland, Maine: Thomas B. Mosher, 1902. Small quarto, contemporary full crimson morocco gilt, raised bands, top and outer edges gilt. $1450.

First facsimile reprint of Edward Fitzgerald's 1859 first edition in English of one of the most famous poems of world literature, a masterpiece of English translation, number 132 of only 200 copies printed on Van Gelder paper and with frontispiece illustration from an etching by Fitzgerald's friend, Edwin Edwards, finely bound in full morocco-gilt.

"This translation of the rubais or quatrains of the 12th century Persian poet was first published anonymously in 1859; Fitzgerald produced further editions, revised and with added quatrains, in 1868, 1872, and 1879. Fitzgerald's translation preserved the stanza form of the original, but adapted the quatrains into a connected theme, skeptical of divine providence, mocking the transience of human grandeur, and concentrating on the pleasures of the fleeting moment. The felicitously phrased aphorisms of this cynical yet genial poetic sequence are among the most frequently quoted lines in English poetry." Born into wealth, Fitzgerald "never engaged in any profession or made any extended travels, but often visited London. His quirky but engaging personality made him much beloved by many close friends, who included Thackeray, Alfred and Frederick Tennyson, and Carlyle. He was a prolific and delightful letter-writer, whose anecdotes of his literary friends have been a gold-mine to biographers" (Oxford Companion to English Literature, 716). Thomas J. Wise produced what he called a facsimile edition in London, 1887, but this was set from the same type of the first edition, rather than a photographic facsimile, as the present edition. Also reproduces in facsimile the title pages of the second London edition of 1868; the Columbus, Ohio reprint of the second edition (1870); the third London edition (1872); the Boston reprint of the third edition (1878); the fourth London edition (18790); and the Cleveland, Ohio "smallest edition in the world" of 1900. From a total edition of only 250. Bishop 336.

Interior generally clean, minor expert reinforcement to front joint and spine head; gilt bright. A handsomely bound copy in excellent condition.