Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Hodder and Stoughton, c1915) | René Bull

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald
illustrated in colour and in line by René Bull
Hodder and Stoughton, reprint [No Date] circa 1915

The René Bull illustrated edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám was first published in 1913 [undated] as a signed limited edition in a vellum binding, and as a trade edition in the publisher’s decorated cloth.

The trade edition appears to have a complicated publishing history, however my understanding is it came in three states of binding: a first state with gilt title and decoration to the front board, a second state binding with gilt replaced with colour excepting the standing figure to lower corner of front which remains in gilt, and a third state with no gilt only colour to front. The first two states of the trade edition had gilt title and decoration to spine, the third state having gilt title and red decoration. Each state of the first trade edition had title in blue with surrounding decorative illustration in gilt colour to title page, captioned tissue guards to the tipped-in plates, and with the plate border decoration in gilt colour.

The copy offered here is, I believe, an undated reprint which retains the third state binding of the first trade edition. However, the title page illustration is in blue, it loses the captioned tissue guards to plates (excepting the frontispiece) – the captions are instead printed to verso of preceding page, and the plate borders are in blue instead of gilt. Also, the book overall is slightly smaller in dimensions compared to the first trade edition.

To further complicate matters I have also seen a copy of this reprint with a binding that has title and decoration in gilt to spine, the front board title and decoration being all in colour. Helpfully however, that particular copy also had a contemporary gift inscription dated December 1915.

Superbly illustrated in colour with ten tipped-in plates and nineteen smaller mounted plates, plus numerous line drawings and decoration in blue and with the occasional in black.

For reference: PRINTED BY HENRY STONE & SON, LTD., BANBURY, ENGLAND centred to last page.

Hardback. Publisher’s light brown cloth with gilt title and red decoration to spine; title in red to front board with decoration in red, blue and dark brown; plain endpapers. pp [unmumbered], including illustrations and plates. Size: 10.75 x 8.25 inches approx. (272mm x 210mm).

Light wear and rubbing to covers but generally clean and bright; not very evident but a little bubbling to cloth on front board; spine ends a touch crushed; cloth a little marked in places, especially to rear board where someone has tried to remove some small stains but only resulting in rubbing away dye pigment (and perhaps doesn’t look quite as severe when not under harsh photo lighting) – the stain spots appear to be in the cloth or impurities coming through from the board below. Lacking the front free endpaper which has been cut out, presumably a former owner had their name there; heavy offsetting and foxing to half-title page, and a slight surface abrasion to upper corner where it appears a small label may have been; offsetting and foxing to rear free endpaper; pages age-toned and with occasional foxing but generally very clean throughout; light spotting/foxing to edges of page-block.

Overall, notwithstanding the marking to rear board and lack of free endpaper, this remains a particularly nice, clean and bright copy – very attractive indeed.

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References

[99] Ambrose George Potter, A Bibliography of Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (Ingpen & Grant, 1929) & Garry Garrard, A Book of Verse (Sutton Publishing, 2007)