(Singapore): Lotus Library Publications, (1918). First edition thus. One of 1000 numbered copies. Quarto. [84] pp. with 17 full page illustrations by Sterling. Publisher's quarter green cloth over sage silk boards with elaborate gilt lettering on front. Some light extremity wear but a very good exemplar.This was the first Lotus Library publication. It is quite a different take than the illustrated Rubaiyats of Dulac, Pogany and others. This edition, with illustrations by Sterling does not take place in the Middle East or indeed any area associated with Islam. The characters drawn are all Chinese and furthermore the Sterling illustrations seem to focus excessively on opium use.

Synopsis

he Moving Finger writes; and, having writ Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a line Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.' In the 'rubaiyat' (short epigrammatic poems) of the medieval Persian poet, mathematician, and philosopher Omar Khayyam, Edward Fitzgerald saw an unflinching challenge to the illusions and consolations of mankind in every age. His version of Omar is neither a translation nor an independent poem; sceptical of divine providence and insistent on the pleasure of the passing moment, its 'Orientalism' offers FitzGerald a powerful and distinctive voice, in whose accents a whole Victorian generation comes to life. Although the poem's vision is bleak, it is conveyed in some of the most beautiful and haunting images in English poetry - and some of the sharpest- edged. The poem sold no copies at all on its first appearance in 1859, yet when it was 'discovered' two years later its first admirers included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Swinburne, and Ruskin. Daniel Karlin's richly annotated edition does justice to the scope and complexity of FitzGerald's lyrical meditation on 'human death and fate'.

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Details

Bookseller: Nat DesMarais Rare Books, ABAA (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 75463
Title: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. [Illustrated by William George Sterling].
Author: FITZGERALD, Edward [translator]
Book Condition: Used
Quantity Available: 1
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Lotus Library Publications
Place of Publication: (Singapore)
Date Published: (1918)

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About Nat DesMarais Rare Books, ABAA

Nat DesMarais Rare Books specializes in books on the Sierra Nevada (particularly Yosemite), the Mojave, and California books in general. We also deal in the art of the American West, voyages and travels and nineteenth century literature.

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Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Quarto: The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
Cloth: "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Gilt: The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...