Sale 2683 - Lot 287
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Khayyam, Omar (1048-1131)
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Translated into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald.
London: Siegle, Hill & Co.; Philadelphia: David McKay, [1911].
First edition, deluxe limited issue, folio; no. 295 of 550 copies printed on handmade paper and signed by the publishers; the text reproduces the calligraphy and illuminations by A. Sutcliffe; with 12 color plates by E. Geddes; bound in full vellum tooled in gilt with large peacock motif within an elaborate border; spine similarly adorned, pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt, others edges uncut; 13 1/4 x 9 3/4 in.
When Sangorski & Sutcliffe's jewel-encrusted Rubaiyat sank with the Titanic in 1912, one of the greatest bookbinding creations of the age was lost. Only a handful of black-and-white photographs remain to bear testament to the great project, however; the present work faithfully reproduces the beautiful calligraphy and illuminations from the original manuscript by Alberto Sangorski.
