THE KASÎDAH (COUPLETS) OF HÂJÎ ABDÛ EL-YEZDÎ: A LAY OF THE HIGHER LAW

London: Privately Printed [Bernard Quaritch], 1880. FIRST EDITION, First Issue. 270 x 205 mm. (10 5/8 x 8 1/8"). 2 p.l., 33 pp.Translated and Annotated by his Friend and Pupil, F. B.
ORIGINAL PRINTED YELLOW WRAPPERS, veryexpertly rebacked. In a (slightly worn) plush-lined navy blue Roan-backed buckram clamshell box, gilt lettering on back. Penzer, pp. 97-98. ◆Wrappers just lightly soiled, gutter open at quire E, but a really excellent copy, the volume entirely firm, and text clean and fresh.

This is a very desirable copy in the original fragile wrappers of the uncommon first issue of the work DNB considers "by far [Burton's] most notable poetic effort." Explorer and author Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-90) is primarily known for his riveting accounts of travel--often in regions never before visited by a European--and for his masterful translations of Eastern classics, most notably "The Arabian Nights." A remarkable linguist, he was fluent in more than 40 languages and dialects. Although this work purports to be another translation, it is in fact Burton's original work. The verses draw on Sufi thought and are written in the couplet style of Sufi poetry. "Unlike most of Burton's compositions, which were hastily written and carelessly (if at all) edited," DNB tells us, "this is a polished work that contains many fascinating autobiographical insights." Our first issue is said to have been printed in a very small quantity by Bernard Quaritch for distribution to Burton's friends. Quaritch printed a second issue as well (distinguishable by the firm's name on the title page), but because, as DNB observes, "it was perceived as an echo of Edward Fitzgerald's Rubáiyát," the title did not sell well. Penzer believes "the entire first edition did not in all probability consist of more than 200 copies, and Messrs. Quaritch state that under a hundred were sold.".