Sinking of Titanic Spawns Bookbinding Legend- The Great Omar
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1YeomansintheFork
The loss of the famed jeweled book, "The Rubaiyat" by Omar Khayyam (with illustrations by Eliku Vedder) is one of the least told stories from the sinking of the Titanic a hundred years ago. The centenary passed with little, if any, media attention to “The Great Omar,” a book with more than 1,500 precious stones — each separately set in gold and equivalent to more than $45,000 by today’s standards.
Famed London Bindery, Sangorsky & Sutcliffe, produced “The Great Omar,” the centerpiece of its many legendary fine and jeweled bindings from around the turn of the century. With two years of continuous work, and over one thousand jewels and leather onlays (and a lot of publicity surrounding the book), “The Great Omar” was completed in 1911. In 1912, this great cultural artifact sunk with the Titanic en route to the United States.
Both Francis Sangorsky and George Sutcliffe were famous in the field of bookbinding, opened their bindery in Bloomsbury in 1901. Each contributed their talents to the art: Sangorsky was gifted in forwarding, the process of assembling and binding a book and Sutcliffe acted as the finisher, decorating the covers and providing the aesthetic value to the books.
Shortly after “The Great Omar” sank with the Titanic, Sangorsky met a similar fate: he drowned. Sutliffe took over the bindery and Sutliffe’s nephew, Stanley Bray, joined the firm. In 1932 , Bray had discovered the original designs for the Rubiyat, and for seven years began the ambitious task to recreate a "second Omar". But during the London Blitz during World War II, the bindery was bombed and the book was destroyed... except for the jewels. Undaunted, Bray created the third “Great Omar,” which he completed in the spring of 1989, where it is now on display at the British Library.
“The Great Omar” remains today as bookbinding’s greatest legend.
Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6V9JRHGUao
For more interesting stories go to our blog home page at http://www.yeomansinthefork.com/blog
Famed London Bindery, Sangorsky & Sutcliffe, produced “The Great Omar,” the centerpiece of its many legendary fine and jeweled bindings from around the turn of the century. With two years of continuous work, and over one thousand jewels and leather onlays (and a lot of publicity surrounding the book), “The Great Omar” was completed in 1911. In 1912, this great cultural artifact sunk with the Titanic en route to the United States.
Both Francis Sangorsky and George Sutcliffe were famous in the field of bookbinding, opened their bindery in Bloomsbury in 1901. Each contributed their talents to the art: Sangorsky was gifted in forwarding, the process of assembling and binding a book and Sutcliffe acted as the finisher, decorating the covers and providing the aesthetic value to the books.
Shortly after “The Great Omar” sank with the Titanic, Sangorsky met a similar fate: he drowned. Sutliffe took over the bindery and Sutliffe’s nephew, Stanley Bray, joined the firm. In 1932 , Bray had discovered the original designs for the Rubiyat, and for seven years began the ambitious task to recreate a "second Omar". But during the London Blitz during World War II, the bindery was bombed and the book was destroyed... except for the jewels. Undaunted, Bray created the third “Great Omar,” which he completed in the spring of 1989, where it is now on display at the British Library.
“The Great Omar” remains today as bookbinding’s greatest legend.
Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6V9JRHGUao
For more interesting stories go to our blog home page at http://www.yeomansinthefork.com/blog
