Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, The Astronomer-Poet of Persia. Rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald. With an Accompaniment of Drawings, by Elihu Vedder. by Khayyam, Omar - 1884

Boston: Houghton Mifflin & Company () Publisher’s mock-up, 1884. Folio (10.5 x 14.5 ins.)., boards (hardcover), 56 original albumen photographs on boards done by Vedder for the book and provided for Houghton, Mifflin at the Riverside Press, sewn. Very Good, housed in a silk clamshell box. Vedder’s presentation of the Rubaiyat is possibly the most important and influential illustrated book ever produced. In it he set the standards for book design and format that have been equal to any published work for more than a century. Elihu Vedder (1836-1923) was an American symbolist painter, book illustrator, and poet. He was born in New York City and spent much of his youth in that state, but shortly after the Civil War he began to make his permanent residence in Italy. In 1884, he published this, the work for which he is best remembered, an artistic interpretation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. He created designs for the entire book that included highly symbolic art, intriguing drawings and hand-drawn letters. Based on the Persian poetry of the 12th century, the spiritual content had a strong appeal for Vedder and found expression in his artwork. The result set the standards of book design for more than a century.From his home in Italy, Vedder frequently visited both England and America. In England he was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, and was a friend of Simeon Solomon.His art also incorporates the work of English and Irish mystics such as William Blake and William Butler Yeats. In this country, he sought out and became friends with Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, and William Morris Hunt. In 1890 Vedder helped establish the In Arte Libertas group in Italy. In addition to his artwork and book illustration, Tiffany commissioned him to design glassware, mosaics and statuettes for the company. He also decorated the hallway of the Reading Room of the Library of Congress in Washington, and his mural paintings can still be seen there today.