The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
Honnold/Mudd Library, 2nd floor
January 25–May 19, 2008
Who hasn’t heard the lines, “A book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, A Loaf of Bread, and Thou” quoted, often wrongly? Persian astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) was renowned in his own country and time for his scientific achievements, but he is chiefly known to English-speaking readers through the translation of a collection of his roba’iyat (“quatrains”) in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859), by the English writer Edward FitzGerald.
Decorative headpiece by Henry Meacham from The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1931). Philip Corrin Collection, Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library.
FitzGerald’s editions of The Rubáiyát were wildly popular in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and have remained in print ever since. Indeed, FitzGerald’s translation of Omar Khayyám’s quatrains, now considered a literary classic, is largely responsible for coloring European ideas about Persian poetry. On view with original editions of FitzGerald are other translations, finely printed editions, illustrated editions, and parodies of The Rubáiyát.
The books on view are from the Philip Corrin Collection, Honnold/Mudd Special Collections, and the John I. Perkins Collection, Denison Library.
Mrs. Wilson’s “Beautiful Books” & Other Deluxe Artists’ Books
Denison Library
February 4–March 30, 2008
Madame Butterfly Unbound. Artists’ Books Collection, Denison Library, Scripps College.
An exhibit of elegantly produced books whose format, materials and content, particularly illustration and imagery, make a visual statement. This exhibition complements a show of Artists’ Books 2000–2007 curated by Core III students in the Clark Humanities Museum at Scripps College.
