Rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald.
a triumph of charm and intuition
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám Rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald.
Hodder and Stoughton, 1913.
First edition. Number 29 of 250 deluxe copies signed by the artist. Large 4to. Publisher's full white vellum with elaborate decoration to the upper cover stamped in gilt and blue, whilst the spine is lettered in gold. Top edge gilt and others untrimmed. This is a beautifully designed book. Printed on rectos only, many text pages have decorative blue borders. There are ten full page colour plates mounted within gold borders and protected by captioned tissue guards. Plus nineteen smaller colour plates mounted in the text and numerous line drawings printed in blue. A near fine, bright copy, lacking ties.
Bull's interpretation of this classic work is without doubt one of the most beautiful. This deluxe edition was published at £2/2- and was an immediate success. A contemporary review read, "In its binding of peculiar beauty this latest Omar is a triumph of charm and intuition." Bull had worked as a war artist in many major campaigns from 1896 onwards. His first hand knowledge of Arab customs and costume helped him produce such suitable designs for this work. The Bookman reviewer described the book as having, "caught in these remarkable paintings the spirit and atmosphere of Fitzgerald's immortal adaptation; the glowing imagination, the sombre occultism, the mystery and Oriental magnificence of the poem are sensitively and glamorously expressed in this beautiful, ornately decorative work."
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