Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

London: Engraved and printed by André E. Sleigh, Bushey, Herts., 1911. Full Straight-Grained Morocco. Slipcase with marbled paper pastedown. Near Fine. Exquisite version of the Rubaiyat, bound handsomely by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, who also were responsible for the original illumination, which this copy reproduces. Printed mostly on vellum! 4to. 31.5 by 23 cm. [10 -- blanks], [2], 7, [37 -- the poem itself, unpaginated], [12 leaves interspersed in the text, with the color plates replicating the illumination of the manuscript copy, and also containing parts of verse or text, these on a glossy thick paper and printed on one side only], 16 -- Biography, [1 - blank], [14 -- Notes]. [7 -- List of Illustrations], [1 -- Colophon], [4 -- Blanks]. Chromolithographic plates heightened with bright gold. Even the text pages have an abundance of ornamental decoration, with the first letter of every quatrain an elaborately decorated historiated and illuminated letter. Front cover gilt and blindstamped with name of a prior owner, and probably the original owner, Pauline E. Fields. Condition: The only condition issue is that the plates on glossy leaves can have some grubbiness in their margins that look like finger smudging and the like. Virtually all of this is erasable with an ordinary eraser -- we have tested this in a number of places with satisfying results. We have not cleaned all the margins simply because of time. None of this touches the actual artwork, we hasten to add. But for this soluble issue, we would grade this copy Fine.