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The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
by Fitzgerald, Edward
- Used
- fair
- Paperback
- Condition
- Fair
- Seller
-
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: George Harrap. Fair. 1930. paperback. Publisher's original decorated suede wrappers; rather worn and marked; spine worn; binding very frail, but intact, the suede does shed its colour on your hands, clothes or adjacent books, so needs to be kept in a plastic cover . A number of tipped in colour plates by Willy Pogany (all present), in text, and highly decorated page numbers. The text is Fitzgerald's first (and best!) English translation of the great Persian poet. Undated, but ca 1930.; 4to (8" x 10"); app 75 pages .
Synopsis
he Moving Finger writes; and, having writ Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a line Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.' In the 'rubaiyat' (short epigrammatic poems) of the medieval Persian poet, mathematician, and philosopher Omar Khayyam, Edward Fitzgerald saw an unflinching challenge to the illusions and consolations of mankind in every age. His version of Omar is neither a translation nor an independent poem; sceptical of divine providence and insistent on the pleasure of the passing moment, its 'Orientalism' offers FitzGerald a powerful and distinctive voice, in whose accents a whole Victorian generation comes to life. Although the poem's vision is bleak, it is conveyed in some of the most beautiful and haunting images in English poetry - and some of the sharpest- edged. The poem sold no copies at all on its first appearance in 1859, yet when it was 'discovered' two years later its first admirers included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Swinburne, and Ruskin. Daniel Karlin's richly annotated edition does justice to the scope and complexity of FitzGerald's lyrical meditation on 'human death and fate'.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Walden Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 33340
- Title
- The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
- Author
- Fitzgerald, Edward
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Fair
- Publisher
- George Harrap
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1930
Terms of Sale
Walden Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Walden Books
Biblio member since 2010
London, Greater London
About Walden Books
Second-hand and antiquarian booksellers since 1977, in present shop since 1979, open Thurs-Sunday, with an emphasis on History of Art and Architecture, Photography, Literature and Poetry, Literary Biography and Criticism and the the History of London.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Tipped In
- Tipped In is used to describe something which has been glued into a book. Tipped-in items can include photos, book plates,...
- Fair
- is a worn book that has complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc....
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
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