THE RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM

Frankfurt: Hand composed in Garamond and printed on a hand press by Ingeborg Anning in the house printing office of Schriftgiesserei D. Stempel AG, 1939. 230 x 178 mm. (9 x 7"). [26] leaves.Translated by Edward FitzGerald.
A STRIKINGLY ATTRACTIVE BROCADED GOLD SILK BINDING with an all-over pattern of birds, moths, flowers, and branches of roses in multiple colors, all edges gilt. Original (just slightly soiled) drop-back box with paper cover label and linen spine. With the bookplate of Tom Cleland and with the composer-printer's laid-in visiting card inscribed, "My first effort! To Tom. February 1939." ◆AN IMMACULATE COPY.

This is an especially fine copy of an elegant and charming production of very considerable rarity and with excellent provenance--it was presented by its printer to the award-wining American book designer, illustrator, and typographer Thomas Maitland Cleland. After attending the Artist-Artisan Institute in New York, Cleland (1880-1964) went to work as a book designer at the Caslon Press. On the side, he illustrated title pages for D. B. Updike of the Merrymount Press, who became a mentor to him, offering encouragement and critiques, and facilitating commissions for Cleland's work. Encouraged by clients, Cleland (1880-1964) moved to Boston and briefly operated his own fine press, Cornhill, before taking the far more lucrative position as the original art director for Henry Luce's "Fortune" magazine. Cleland designed that publication from its genesis; his first issue is "still cited as a masterpiece of classical design," according to the biography accompanying his 1978 induction into the Art Director Club's Hall of Fame. He designed and illustrated eight books for the Limited Editions Club, and received the prestigious AIGA medal for design in 1940. It seems probable that Ingeborg Anning was an aspiring book designer/printer who received advice and encouragement from Cleland: his papers at the Library of Congress list correspondence between the two dated 1941-55. Anning made no mention in the colophon here of the number of copies she printed, but we could find none in the RBH auction database, or in the library catalogues OCLC, KVK, and JISC. Google searches of this printer and edition retrieved nothing. A dedication at the front of our book is addressed "to those that made this possible" (without enumerating them); perhaps Anning printed a small number of copies as a demonstration for those who had offered funding, advice, or other support. In addition to the dedication, the front matter contains an excerpt of Lowell's poetic tribute to FitzGerald's translation and a brief history of the poem. The first 74 of the 75 quatrains are printed two to the page. Our copy was clearly appreciated by Cleland, who kept it in perfect condition..