THE RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM

Boston: [Printed by the Riverside Press for] Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1884. First Edition with these Illustrations. 398 x 315 mm. (15 5/8 x 12 1/2"). [57], [vii] leaves, mounted on tabs.Translated by Edward FitzGerald.
IN AN IMPRESSIVE TAN PIGSKIN BINDING SPECIALLY MADE BY THE ROYCROFTERS FOR MISS HELEN RUTH MORROW (inlaid blind-stamped pigskin label on front doublure), covers and spine tooled in blind to a geometric design in the American Arts & Crafts style, raised bands, blind-stamped lettering and blind tooling to spine, LIGHT BROWN SUEDE DOUBLURES framed by blind-tooled geometric design, leather hinges, suede endleaves, all edges rust-colored. IN (slightly worn) ORIGINAL (invisibly repaired) HAND-CARVED OAK PRESENTATION BOX lined with suede, with two hammered metal hinges and matching clasps. With ornamental title page and 56 photo-lithograph plates of Art Nouveau illustrations by Vedder. Potter 201; Paas 2653. ◆A bit of bowing to front board, minor (naturally occurring?) variations in color of pigskin, but NEARLY PRISTINE INTERNALLY, AND IN AN UNWORN BINDING.

In Paas' words, this is "a work unparalleled in American publishing history . . . . Vedder's goal was to create something to demonstrate in a grandiose way what American book production could achieve: an oversize book with high-quality illustrations by an American artist engraved by an American engraver and published by an American publisher." The impressive feat of illustration and book design established the reputation of American artist Elihu Vedder, who, Paas says, "was intimately involved in all aspects of the production." According to the Smithsonian, which owns the original designs, "from the moment of its publication, Elihu Vedder's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam achieved unparalleled success. . . . Critics rushed to acclaim it as a masterwork of American art, and Vedder (1836-1923) as the master American artist. Vedder's Rubaiyat set the standard for the artist-designed book in America and England." This edition sold out in six days. Though the illustrations were used again in later editions, none of those has the splendor of the first printing. The handsome binding here and the sturdy box which has preserved it through the years are the products of another group of artisans dedicated to making fine books in America. Inspired by William Morris' Kelmscott Press, midwestern soap salesman Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) purchased the struggling Roycroft Printing Shop in East Aurora, New York, and set out to launch an American Arts & Crafts Movement. According to ANB, within five years, the Roycroft organization "had shops for printing and binding and for furniture, metal, and leather work; it also established training schools for the local youth in drawing, watercolor, and bookbinding. . . . Hubbard allowed free experimentation and never questioned the cost . . . Designers and craftsmen could work out ideas and, if unsuccessful, just start over. There were never deadlines for the books or prohibitions on design motifs." Among the artisans he attracted were designer and craftsman Dard Hunter (1883-1966) and Louis Herman Kinder (1866-1938), a bookbinder born and trained in Leipzig. Kinder immigrated to America in 1880 and worked in commercial binderies before joining Hubbard in East Aurora to establish a bindery for the Roycroft printers. There, the Oxford Companion tells us, he not only "made individual fine bindings," but also "created new binding styles." The austerely elegant geometric design on our binding shows the influence of Hunter, the most prominent Roycroft graphic designer. Our binding and box were likely done after 1900, when Roycrofters began expanding their efforts in furniture and metalwork. The woman for whom the binding was made, Helen Ruth Morrow (1889-1964), graduated from the University of Kansas in 1911; it is possible this work was commissioned as a graduation gift. Miss Morrow is described in a 1922 issue of the university's "Graduate" magazine as "a thorough Cosmopolitan" who lived and worked in New York and Paris as a singer and actress..