Edward Fitzgerald (trans.)
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, 1906
NP (Likely Worcester, MA), Privately Printed
Inscribed by Eben Francis Thompson.
28
Further images
Near-miniature. (6)ff. One of fifty copies, printed on Japan paper. Frontispiece of ornamental Arabic printed in gilt and red. Title-page border likewise in red, as well as limitation statement, header,...
Near-miniature. (6)ff. One of fifty copies, printed on Japan paper. Frontispiece of ornamental Arabic printed in gilt and red. Title-page border likewise in red, as well as limitation statement, header, and tailpiece. Inscribed by Omar Khayyam Club founder Eben Francis Thompson on inner front wrapper to fellow Omar Khayyam enthusiast and Boston ad pioneer Albert W. Wells. The inscription is dated "29 January, 1921" at Boston's Chile Club. No references cite a printer associated with this small, but well-printed production: Potter cites Boston, which is carried through to the recent catalogue of the Roger Paas collection. It is intriguing to consider whether Thompson had a hand in this work, having completed his translation of The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam the same year. Thompson would, of course, go on to publish The Rose Garden of Omar Khayyam in 1910, in conjunction with H. B. Wood at the Commonwealth Press in Worcester; and again more famously in 1933 with the same title advertised as the smallest printed book in the world. Bound in plain wrappers printed in red and gilt. Light soiling, else near fine.