The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
1898 Henry T. Coates & Co. Edition
This 1898 Henry T. Coates & Co. Edition is in rough condition. The cover’s off and it looks like it’s suffered from water damage. No matter. The content is still quite readable.
And the content is amazing.
This edition is complete with poetry regarding Omar Khayyam, pieces about Omar Khayyam and his legacy, a sketch of Omar Khayyam, and more… It’s actually crazy how much has been packed into this copy. It contains in it so much historical/cultural context.
All of it together makes this feel like a real collaborative effort. Some sort of…artistic endeavor to express Omar Khayyam and the poetry in the fullest way possible. This is quite a special copy that I will attempt to repair and appreciate further.
This edition was donated by Bill Cloutier. Thank you!
Publisher: Henry T. Coates & Co. (Philadelphia)
Year: 1898
Introduction(s) by: Foreword by Talcott Williams
Contributed by: Bill Cloutier
The Book Itself
This edition has poetic works from various creatives, a foreword, the typical biographical preface, notes, and more. It’s so flush with information. The sporadic inserts of poetry are delightful…it adds such character. It builds up to the actual work.
It’s actually incredibly enlightening to see the table of contents in this because it calls out the writer of the Biographical Preface as Michael Kearney. And not to mention all the authors that worked on this content!
I can’t forget to mention the art and the long caption for it either. I was taken aback by the red text!
The Poetry
Straight forward, but the drop caps are ornate.
