Introduction by a C Benson (4 results)

Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 339 pages. 7.50x5.00x0.75 inches. In Stock.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. HARDBACK BOUND IN A LATER HALF LEATHER BINDING BY THE SPOTTISWOODE BINDERY, PART OF THE SESAME LIBRARY SERIES. BOOK MEASURES APPROX 7 x 4.5 INCHES WITH 32 + 220 PAGES. MINOR BROWNING TO EDGES OF ENDPAPERS, SMALL INSCRIPTION TO FRONT ENDPAPER, FEW PAGES TO INTRODUCTION WITH SMALL PENCIL REFERENCE LINES TO MARGINS, THE VERY OCCASIONAL PAGE MARGIN CHIPPED WITH NO LOSS TO TEXT. OVERALL A LOVELY COPY IN VERY GOOD PLUS CONDITION. EXTRA POSTAGE COSTS MAY APPLY TO OVERSEAS ORDERS.…

Finely bound edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald and reproduced from a manuscript written and illuminated by F. Sangorski & G. Sutcliffe. Quarto, bound in full deerskin with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, gilt borders and blind stamping to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, illustrated with twelve full-color drawings by E. Geddes and engraved borders, initials, and writing by A. Sutcliffe. In very good condition. Eleventh-century Persian poet and mathematician Omar Khayyam composed more than one thousand quatrains, or rubaiyat, on love and mortality, expressing an enigmatic theology that has been interpreted and disputed over the course of centuries. Scholar Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883), first translator and author of five separate English versions of the Rubaiyat, did not produce strict translations as much as loose "transmogrifications" of the poetry, often taking great liberties with the original Persian text. Nevertheless, he remains the most famous of Omar Khayyam's translators, and is credited with bringing the Rubaiyat to broad public notice in the English-speaking world.…

Condition: Near Fine. Exquisite version of the Rubaiyat, bound handsomely by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, who also were responsible for the original illumination, which this copy reproduces. Printed mostly on vellum! 4to. 31.5 by 23 cm. [10 -- blanks], [2], 7, [37 -- the poem itself, unpaginated], [12 leaves interspersed in the text, with the color plates replicating the illumination of the manuscript copy, and also containing parts of verse or text, these on a glossy thick paper and printed on one side only], 16 -- Biography, [1 - blank], [14 -- Notes]. [7 -- List of Illustrations], [1 -- Colophon], [4 -- Blanks]. Chromolithographic plates heightened with bright gold. Even the text pages have an abundance of ornamental decoration, with the first letter of every quatrain an elaborately decorated historiated and illuminated letter. Front cover gilt and blindstamped with name of a prior owner, and probably the original owner, Pauline E. Fields. Condition: The only condition issue is that the plates on glossy leaves can have some grubbiness in their margins that look like finger smudging and the like. Virtually all of this is erasable with an ordinary eraser -- we have tested this in a number of places with satisfying results. We have not cleaned all the margins simply because of time. None of this touches the actual artwork, we hasten to add. But for this soluble issue, we would grade this copy Fine. Full Straight-Grained Morocco. Slipcase with marbled paper pastedown.…