To Rubaiyat Or Not To Rubaiyat.

To rubaiyat or not to rubaiyat, that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of Fitzgerald foible,

Or to take arms against a sea of doubles,

And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That poem is heir to, 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep of truth what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this wrongful poem,

Must give us pause; there's the respect

That makes calamity of Sufi thought;

- Hamlet, Act III, Scene I, with apologies to the Bard of Avon.

Edward FitzGerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is arguably the best known and most widely quoted poem (though certainly not the finest) in the English language, rivaled only by Rudyard Kipling's 'If'. Remarkably, its existence is a bit of an accident. Fitzgerald, a natural born idler, attended Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1826 and following university and a year in Paris found himself living in a rural farmhouse on the battlefield of Naseby in 1831. He would spend much of his life in his native Suffolk devoted to gardening, music and literature. However, while studying Persian literature at the University of Oxford in 1853, a fortuitous association with Prof. Edward Byles Cowell would change his fortunes and his life. Cowell was a noted translator of Persian poetry and he assisted Fitzgerald with the language. Cowell discovered an Omar Khayyam manuscript in the Bodleian Library and with Cowell's assistance Fitzgerald began translating the poems between 1857 to 1859. The rest, as they say, is history and a literary star was born.

Fitzgerald's masterpiece, although loosely derived from Khayyam's quatrains, is nevertheless a highly original work. He would take Khayyam's thousand-plus quatrains ('rubaiyat' in the Arabic language), distill and rearrange them into seventy-five quatrains, and twist and distort them beyond what any self-respecting Sufi would recognize. Whereas Sufism is the mystic form of Islam, a way of life devoted to finding a deeper identity beyond what is commonly known as personality and a path leading away from secular, everyday concerns, Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat is a sprawling narrative poem exhorting its readers to live for the moment, becoming absorbed into, reveling in and appreciating the here and now. It is only fleetingly concerned with questions about fate, doubt and mortality and more concerned with life on earth, death and the pleasures of imbibing.

Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat is not a literal translation nor was it ever intended to be. Rather, Khayyam's quatrains would merely serve as the springboard for Fitzgerald's nihilism, hedonism, preoccupation with mortality and the transience of life on earth. He took the initial idea or concern of each selected quatrain, then shaped and embellished it to fit his own philosophical needs. If the thought was inconsistent with the direction Fitzgerald wanted to take, he changed it. The agnosticism and Epicureanism are Fitzgerald's, not Khayyam's.

What is not often appreciated is just how subversive and heretical Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat is, how at-odds it is with conventional Victorian society thought. The poem's overarching theme of seizing the moment and living for the day because there is no afterlife is hardly the stuff of dreams in a staid, conservative Victorian society. Nor is it it in keeping with Omar Khayyam's deeper, more spiritual concerns regarding the place of the individual within the larger universe. Despite the seemingly contrary themes of the Rubaiyat with prevailing Victorian attitudes, the sheer musicality of the four-line stanza and its addicting rhythmic AABA scheme prevailed and carried the day. In a sense the immense popularity of Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat is confirmation of the poet Henry Austin Dobson's famous maxim: "All passes. Art alone endures."

All that said, inquiring minds may want to know:

"What did Omar Khayyam REALLY say in his thousand-plus original quatrains and what is Sufism and Sufi thought REALLY about?"

Fortunately, Dear Reader, two wonderful private press books will help you answer these questions:

1. The Mirror & the Eye. The Rubaiyat translated Iftikhar Azmi, Whittington Press, 1984.

A gorgeous folio-sized book (15 x 11 3/4 inches or 38 x 30 cm) in which a generous selection of Omar Khayyam's original quatrains are translated faihfully by Azmi in accordance with Sufi thought and philosophy. Every page of quatrains is opposed by a full page illustration by Richard Kennedy in magenta color, printed from line blocks made by Keene Engraving. Further details of this publication can be found in the photo of the colophon.

2. Sufi Interpretations of the Quatraine of Omar Khayyam and Fitzgerald by C.H.A. Bjerregaard, J.F. Taylor & Co., 1902. Large quarto (4 v.o.) 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches or 32 x 24 1/2 cm.

This is a much more detailed, scholarly comparison between Edward Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat and the true nature of Sufi thought and philosophy. The Danish-born Bjerregaard (1845-1922) was a librarian who served on the staff of the Astor and New York Public Libraries (main branch on Fifth Avenue) and wrote several works on mysticism and occult and oriental philosophy. The book includes the complete text of the Fitzgerald translation of the Rubaiyat printed on the verso pages with Bjerregaard's commentary and Sufi interpretation of each stanza on the opposing recto page with the header "Thus Spake Omar, the Sufi:".

Printed and issued in several editions, the two most highly sought after are the Ramazan Edition (only 26 copies) and the Naishapur Edition (only 50 copies), both printed on Japan vellum paper, with original hand watercoloring applied to the illustrations, then given deluxe bindings. My copy is one of the Naishapur edition, printed in red and black on Japan paper on one side of the leaf only with pages French-fold. Binding was executed by Blackwell in 3/4 dark crushed morocco with hand-marbled papers and endpapers, top edge gilt.

Photos to follow.

Overview photo showing books placed together with a standard octavo (8 v.o.) book.

The Mirror & the Eye.

Frontispiece, verso page.

Title page, recto.

Colophon.

Macro photo of type and paper.

Macro photo of colophon.

Sufi Interpretations of the Quatraine of Omar Khayyam and Fitzgerald, 1902.

Another magnificent diphcoraci fine edition from what must be one of the planet's finest libraries.

Frontispiece (hand-colored).

Title page.

Hand-colored illustration.

Hand-colored illustration.

Hand-colored illustration.

Macro photo of text and stylized type.

Macro photo of hand-colored frontispiece.

Macro photo of hand-colored illustration.

>18 wcarter:

Thanks, Warwick.

Kind words always appreciated. :-)

Thank you for sharing these lovely editions.

>35 averym:

You're welcome.

Pleased to hear that you like these private press book selections. Hopefully, more to follow.

>36 dlphcoracl:

The ‘Sufi Interpretations..’ is absolutely stunning. Is Bjerregaard also the illustrator? What are the chances of picking up one of these Naishapur editions?

Gary

Beautiful books. The frontispiece of the Sufi interpretations is amazing.

>37 gmurphy:

C.H.A. Bjerregaard was a scholar and an expert on mysticism and oriental philosophy. His lifelong interest in mysticism encompassed all forms and he became knowledgeable about a wide-range of topics representing different forms of mysticism including Jewish Kabbalah, American Transcendentalism and Sufism. He became influential within the New York Theosophical Society branch and was a senior librarian at the main branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL) at 5th Avenue & 42nd Street, one of the world's great libraries and a Beaux Arts landmark. The main branch of the NYPL is a favorite charity amongst ultra-wealthy New Yorkers. For example, in 2008, it was the recipient of a $100 million donation from Stephen Schwarzman, the hedge fund owner.

https://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d116236-Reviews-New_York_Pu...


Bjerregaard was not the illustrator, however. There is no mention of who the illustrator was and the all-too-brief colophon does not help.

>1 dlphcoracl: "What did Omar Khayyam REALLY say in his thousand-plus original quatrains and what is Sufism and Sufi thought REALLY about?"

Fortunately, Dear Reader, two wonderful private press books will help you answer these questions

Looking at the pictures, especially in the Mirror and the Eye, it looks like Sufism is all about sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, so what did Fitzgerald get wrong? :) I guess I have to read one of the more literal translations to find out!

P.S. Beautiful books, interesting post. Please keep your series going!

>1 dlphcoracl: I recently acquired a copy of the Naishapur Edition. The paper sides are hand marbled, but in a different design than your copy. Instead of a number on the limitation page, C.H.A. Bjerregaard's name is signed. Perhaps I have his copy?

>41 ultrarightist:

My copy does not have any signatures nor are any called for. In the publishing of nearly all private press books a handful of copies, typically 10-20 books, are designated "Out of Series" and are unnumbered and unsigned, reserved for participants in the design and production of the book. They are often referred to as "hors de commerce" books. Your copy may well be one of them and it may have been reserved for C.H.A. Bjerregaard. As such, it is a unique copy.

My copy of The Mirror & the Eye (my second Whittington Press book) has arrived. It is even more lovely in person. The dlphcoracl is an expensive habit to follow.

>43 kdweber:

LOL.

So many books, so little time, so little money............ . We all know the drill. More to follow.