The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam of Naishapur by Fitzgerald, Edward (Translation); Angelo, Valenti (Illustrations) - 1935

New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1935. Limited Edition. Leather bound. Fine. Angelo, Valenti. No. 510 of 1500 copies, sixteenmo size, 80 unnumbered pp., signed by Valenti Angelo. Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) was a Persian mathematician and astronomer, best known for his work on cubic equations and for designing the Jalali calendar; many poems are attributed to him (though with much skepticism and uncertainty in the academic world) in the quatrain style. English poet Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883) created the first and most famous translation of Khayyam's poetry, "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam", translated from Farsi to English, and greatly popular among the Pre-Raphaelites during the Orientalism at the end of the nineteenth century. This volume was printed by The Limited Editions Club for its members and is a definitive text taken from the five editions of the translation previously printed. It is designed, illustrated, and hand-illuminated by Valenti Angelo (1897-1982), an Italian printmaker and illustrator who created stunning linocuts of the American Southwest, as well as book illustrations for the Grabhorn Press in San Francisco. ___DESCRIPTION: Full yellow morocco with blind-stamped illustrations and patterned borders on the front and back boards, silver lettering and blind-stamped ornaments on the spine, all edges speckled red, orange and blue endpapers with geometric pattern, illustrations, and hand-illumination by Valenti Angelo, French-folded pages, title page in orange and blue with decorative border and hand-illumination, all pages with outer illustrative borders in orange and inner decorative borders in orange and blue, text with black ruled borders and silver hand-illumination, ten orange, blue, and black illustrations with hand-illuminations by Angelo throughout; Centaur type, Japanese Kozo paper, sixteenmo size (6.25" by 4.25"), pagination: 80 unnumbered pages, one of 1500 copies, this number 510, signed by Valenti Angelo on the colophon. In a black paper chemise with gold lettering and ornaments on the spine, and a black paper slipcase which is numbered in white on the spine. Loosely laid in is an announcement from The Limited Editions Club describing the book. ___CONDITION: A fine copy; the covers clean, the corners straight and unrubbed, the binding tight with solid hinges, the interior clean and bright, and free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, as new. The chemise is near fine, clean overall, with sturdy hinges, some rubbing to the edges of the spine. The slipcase is also near fine, clean overall, strong and sturdy, with some rubbing to the head and tail of the spine, and to the corners of the boards, else fine. The LEC announcement is fine, clean without wear, bottom edge is cut at an angle, we presume by the prior owner, indicating the original sheet may have been larger. ___CITATIONS: LEC Bibliography, #75. Valenti Angelo Bibliography, p. 54. ___POSTAGE:  International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.