The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.

London: Printed at the Ballantyne Press, sold by Hacon and Ricketts, & by John Lane, New York,, 1901. Bound by one of America's finest bookbinders First Vale Press edition, one of 310 copies printed on Arnold handmade paper, in a fine contemporary art nouveau binding by James MacDonald of New York. The text was taken from Edward FitzGerald's edition of 1859 and embellished with attractive designs by Ricketts. The Vale Press was founded by the lifelong partners Charles Ricketts (1866-1931) and Charles Shannon (1863-1937), both successful artists whose early printing ventures included The Dial (1889-97). In 1894, the partnership and patronage of the wealthy barrister Llewellyn Hacon allowed them to realize their ambition of establishing the press, producing primarily English poetic works, "blending medieval, Renaissance, and contemporary imagery" (Grove Art Online) in a style influenced by the aesthetic movement and arts and crafts. The Scottish-born James Macdonald (1850-1920) moved to America in 1873 and was trained in New York by the leading American bookbinder William Matthews at the Appleton bindery. In 1882, Macdonald started his own business in partnership with another former apprentice of Matthews, William Launder. "For the next decade the name of Launder and Macdonald stood for the best in American hand binding.. They have enjoyed the well-earned patronage of American bibliophiles for over a half century" (Thompson, p. 101). This binding is an exquisite example of MacDonald's renowned taste for symmetrical, tasteful, and neat designs. A further ten copies of this edition were issued on vellum. Octavo (212 x 145 mm). Contemporary red crushed morocco by James MacDonald of New York, spine lettered in gilt, gilt single-fillet frame to covers enclosing gilt floral design with red morocco onlays, board edges and turn-ins ruled in gilt, brown morocco doublures featuring gilt central strapwork design with red morocco onlays, cream silk endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. With original printed cover label preserved on one of two blue paper wrappers bound in front and back. With wood-engraved frontispiece, title page within wood-engraved vine leaf frame, similar initials; text printed in red and black. A touch of rubbing to spine ends and corners, a little foxing to margins of a couple of leaves, else clean, a better than very good copy presenting handsomely in the binding. Franklin, p. 252; Potter 4; Ransom, Vale 32. Lawrence Sidney Thompson, Hand Bookbinding in the United States Since the Civil War, 1954.