RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM

London: Bernard Quaritch, 1868. Second Edition. 205 x 157 mm. (8 x 6"). xviii, 30 pp.
A nice amateur binding of brown pebble-grain morocco decorated in blind and gilt to a sunburst design, raised bands, marbled endpapers. Title page with ink inscription "John C. Ropes / With all good wishes from W. A. Harris / Feb. 6th 1870"; p. 30 with letter to Ropes from William Dean Howells, dated Boston, Feb. 28, 1891, tipped on, and rear flyleaf with a handwritten copy of Howells' poem "Judgment Day," signed by the poet, pasted on. Potter 129. ◆Top of spine and joints somewhat rubbed, a very faint vertical crease through much of the text, otherwise excellent.

As the second printing of Fitgerald's "Omar," this is an important book, but our copy is especially intriguing because of the letter and manuscript poem from William Dean Howells in the back and the inscription on the title page to American attorney and military historian John C. Ropes from W[illiam] A. Harris. A Harvard graduate, Ropes (1836-99) co-founded the still-prominent Boston law firm Ropes & Gray. A disability prevented him from serving in the Civil War, but he was a great supporter of the "Harvard" Regiment (the 20th Massachusetts), in which his brother Henry fought until his death at Gettysburg. After the war, he applied his sharp legal skills to recording an accurate history of battle and campaigns, and founded the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts. William Harris was also a Harvard-educated attorney, and served with Ropes on the university's Board of Overseers, a group then composed of both alumni and other leading citizens of Boston who were committed to supporting and preserving Harvard's academic mission and institutional interests. In the 1872-73 academic year, Ropes and Harris, along with poet, novelist, and critic William Dean Howells (1837-1920) served together on the Board of Overseers' "Committee to Visit the Academic Department," which had responsibility for the liberal arts and undergraduate education. Howells (1837-1920) was one of the most prominent literary figures in America in the late 19th century, as an editor of "The Atlantic Monthly," a writer for "Harper's," and a novelist known for his realism and humane values. In his letter to Ropes included here, he writes, "I send you these verses [presumably the poem "Judgment Day"] for your Omar Khayyam. Do not let them be copied, please, for I have not printed them yet." "Judgment Day" was issued as a broadside in 1893, and appeared in "The First Book of the Authors Club" (p. 288) that same year..