tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51557074823357154582024-03-12T20:11:23.097-07:00Moon of My DelightCraig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-82735536951950969072021-12-12T21:45:00.005-08:002022-03-06T18:00:11.729-08:00Persians...<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: justify;">One thing that we
will continue to see as we explore the history and impact of FitzGerald’s poem,
is a desire to reclaim the poem from its translator. As we have seen - and as
we will see further – the poem is not so much a </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: justify;">translation</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: justify;"> as it is an </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: justify;">inspired
adaptation</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: justify;">. FitzGerald didn’t think much of Khayyam as a poet – he
preferred Hafiz – but he </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: justify;">did</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: justify;"> like the concepts that Omar touched upon in
his scribblings. They suited his Romantic, Victorian sensibilities and so he
took the verses and processed them through his own lens. However, there were
many individuals out there who couldn’t see this distinction and who couldn’t
see the point of playing with the verses if the result wasn’t to be a direct lifting
of the poetry from the Persian to the English idiom. Some, like Graves, became
infuriated; others were troubled and gnawed at the issue like a dog with a
bone.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Amongst those
troubled by the poem were many critics of Persian (later Iranian) extract, who
saw in FitzGerald’s work an attempt at colonialization, or cultural
appropriation. These charges are far more difficult to shrug off than the
notion of sloppy translation work: Orientalism is, no doubt about it, a kind of
cultural thievery, no matter how benign its intents. It is the slippery
stereotypical slope to generalization and onwards to racism, casual or
otherwise, and the critics who were concerned about this side of the poem had
every reason to cavil.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We’ve seen how the
Shah Brothers played this cultural appropriation card in order to get Robert
Graves all fired up and to swindle him out of his cash and reputation, but
there were other readers who were less venal and far more serious. Many of
these sided with the French academics – still smarting about having not
provided the first translation - and howled for “correct” interpretations to be
created and to be given greater credence than FitzGerald’s. These were slow in
coming and have really only started to appear in the latter end of the Twentieth
and into the Twenty-First Centuries. None of them have come anywhere near to
reaching the popularity of FitzGerald’s efforts and we might even conclude from
this that, as far as poetry is concerned, Omar Khayyam was, as Edward pointed
out way back when, a really good mathematician.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On the other hand,
in the area of illustration, Persian and Iranian artists have done much to
reclaim the poem as a Persian entity, by decorating it in the distinctive style
of their country. Even Western artists – as we’ve seen with René Bull and Willy
Pogany, for example – have mined the Persian and Middle Eastern art styles in
order to inform their own illustrative renderings, even if these were a bit
ham-fisted in places. Many examples of the poem, illustrated in the unique
cultural sensibilities of Persia, have been produced and some of the best and
most beautiful copies have been the result. Let’s take a look at some of them…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSR14QQthjUJHxcPOfAEm0Eomsd5JnHwdHAhymbiyzL8DACdgClCFBu6gASePoprLaMZ2fn4V9AeKxRnVM2HddXJ9VubaLdUh4RwxlhU85TNZ5e8niIoEbAJd15iUqJXew3UNtJKYm_sUWsoXeKUseAmH2SQkKqXkc0Dd9d5mGMRLDxAAXyc5V5ZsFUQ=s803" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="755" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSR14QQthjUJHxcPOfAEm0Eomsd5JnHwdHAhymbiyzL8DACdgClCFBu6gASePoprLaMZ2fn4V9AeKxRnVM2HddXJ9VubaLdUh4RwxlhU85TNZ5e8niIoEbAJd15iUqJXew3UNtJKYm_sUWsoXeKUseAmH2SQkKqXkc0Dd9d5mGMRLDxAAXyc5V5ZsFUQ=s320" width="301" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Edward FitzGerald (Foreword
by B.W. Robinson, ed.), <i>Rubâiyât of Omar Khayyâm, Persian Miniatures</i>, Miller
Graphics/Production Liber S.A., Fribourg/Genève Switzerland, 1979.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Quarto; hardcover, with
gilt spine titles and decorative endpapers; 124pp., with many full-colour
illustrations. Dustwrapper.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A mainstay in
Rubaiyat collecting, this volume is more a showcase of Persian miniature
painting than a reproduction of the poem (although it is that too). In that
sense it can be described as a rigorous overview of the art form, dressed up
with some quaint Victorian English poetry. The work kicks off with FitzGerald’s
biography -<i> <a name="_Hlk90292454">Omar Khayyam – The Astronomer-Poet of
Persia</a></i><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk90292454;"></span> - and a brief
overview of the stylistic and historical terminology used in evaluating the art
style by B.W. Robinson, in his somewhat terse <i>Foreword</i>. From there on,
the work lets the art speak for itself and it is a gorgeous collection of
Persian miniature art at its best. Many of the pictures used to illustrate the
verses had never been published before this book came out and they all derive
from the <i>Reza Abbasi Museum</i> in Teheran. The version of the poem used in
this edition is that of the Second Translation, from 1868.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY5mNHGfhLr97JtiTQz8Fc3ZwHzURupp0zIqy27YQf3V7cco4lhWvxa23MttYMA0Df82nG-PQAMsvokCY5xg1XDLXSBQivCFZZqbALQmcln_Qg2SaNsIpKv0mCHJcofbvDkPUFMIkjFUxQ_uxKcSUMX3T-NjUHnaeyJPGAfqmbGUVP7FRxAs_R2j0QLA=s1080" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1080" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY5mNHGfhLr97JtiTQz8Fc3ZwHzURupp0zIqy27YQf3V7cco4lhWvxa23MttYMA0Df82nG-PQAMsvokCY5xg1XDLXSBQivCFZZqbALQmcln_Qg2SaNsIpKv0mCHJcofbvDkPUFMIkjFUxQ_uxKcSUMX3T-NjUHnaeyJPGAfqmbGUVP7FRxAs_R2j0QLA=s320" width="320" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Edward FitzGerald
(Sarkis Katchadourian, illus.), <i>Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam; Rendered into
English Verse by Edward FitzGerald; with Paintings and Decorations by Sarkis
Katchadourian</i>, Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, New York NY, 1946.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Quarto; hardcover,
full cloth with bevel-edged boards, gilt spine titles and decorations on a
white label and a blind-stamped upper board decoration; 138pp., top edges gilt,
all pages decoratively bordered, with a colour frontispiece, ten plates
likewise and many monochrome illustrations. Signed and numbered in ink by the
artist to the limitations page (this is number 22 of only 1,000 copies). No
dustwrapper.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sarkis
Katchadourian (1886-1946) was a world-famous Armenian artist renowned for his
works done in the Persian style. After training in Rome, Paris and Munich, he
travelled to India where he spent much of his time restoring ancient Mughal
frescoes. He travelled to New York after the Second World War and created his
illustrations for the <i>Rubaiyat</i> which were published by Grosset &
Dunlap in the year of his death. The eleven images reproduced in this book
perfectly compliment the poetry (the Fourth and First translation are seen here)
along with the beautiful traditional decorations. The poem is accompanied by a
biographical note on Katchadourian and FitzGerald’s <i>Omar Khayyam – The
Astronomer-Poet of Persia, </i>an ever-present starter for many editions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinFglTvKR6ojXLq_v5E1RM0Fg824Odn6j5eulxkFkFQ-TRUY7FqQUH-o-Mechb6NwVA9nw7CqPMNcrW_sMhz7r63xXf-jq3BL2cMmXh1y4p2yGDuQu3JoffSPZ2sC_dzxvI-8ewvjvjV-xFx9qNy2iYit8at3Ndxq48SeOxTEc1jBDISZWNU17bT9ZfQ=s804" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="746" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinFglTvKR6ojXLq_v5E1RM0Fg824Odn6j5eulxkFkFQ-TRUY7FqQUH-o-Mechb6NwVA9nw7CqPMNcrW_sMhz7r63xXf-jq3BL2cMmXh1y4p2yGDuQu3JoffSPZ2sC_dzxvI-8ewvjvjV-xFx9qNy2iYit8at3Ndxq48SeOxTEc1jBDISZWNU17bT9ZfQ=s320" width="297" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Edward FitzGerald
(Sarkis Katchadourian, illus.), <i>Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam; Rendered into
English Verse by Edward FitzGerald; with Paintings and Decorations by Sarkis
Katchadourian</i>, Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, New York NY, 1946.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Quarto; hardcover,
quarter-bound in full cloth with a tipped-on upper board decoration, gilt spine
titles and blind-stamped upper board titles; 138pp., top edges dyed plum, all
pages decoratively bordered, with a colour frontispiece, ten plates likewise
and many monochrome illustrations. No dustwrapper<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The later and
unsigned editions of this collection are just as pretty, with blind-stamped
titles and decorations to the boards a notable feature<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOjzynQKduMx2dVLlTJ4Iu8685IVl43v4MVHfzY-HZTQtiGajH-bLRrYzuhgTrNiOlBReAW1zKaThySnschRDB5OB4gdE-HjKQjEI877J2268QccZjmpbXo9LS1ARg1MtOTuJxDOCKZv2EjZYDDEW-26WAS00GKSzkaw02KymQZa9ie6Jt4DcIqKZ5bw=s1080" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="1080" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOjzynQKduMx2dVLlTJ4Iu8685IVl43v4MVHfzY-HZTQtiGajH-bLRrYzuhgTrNiOlBReAW1zKaThySnschRDB5OB4gdE-HjKQjEI877J2268QccZjmpbXo9LS1ARg1MtOTuJxDOCKZv2EjZYDDEW-26WAS00GKSzkaw02KymQZa9ie6Jt4DcIqKZ5bw=s320" width="320" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Edward FitzGerald
(Introduction by Louis Untermeyer, ed.; Mahmoud Sayah, illus.),</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <b><i>Rubáiyát
of Omar Khayyám; Translated into English Quatrains by Edward FitzGerald; A
Complete reprint of the First Edition and the combined Third, Fourth and Fifth
Editions, with an Appendix containing FitzGerald’s Prefaces and Notes,</i> Random
House Inc., New York NY, 1947.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Octavo; hardcover,
full decorated cloth with gilt spine titles on a black label and decorative
endpapers; 150pp., all pages with decorative borders and many colour
illustrations. No dustwrapper.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mahmoud Sayah, like
Katchadourian, is an ex-pat exponent of the Persian Miniature style; however -
unlike Katchadourian – he was actually born in Persia. And like many other <i>Rubaiyat</i>
artists, he was trained to do anything other than art, but his natural
inclinations led him from his destined path. Like Katchadourian’s offering,
Sayah’s is a ‘whole package’ presentation with decorations littering every
aspect of the work, from the cover cloth to the endpapers. Sayah’s images are
more colourfully intense than the gloomier style of the previous book – some
might even call them garish – but they definitely work well with the poetry.
This edition covers the <i>First Translation</i> in full and then cherry-picks
the <i>Third</i>, <i>Fourth</i> and <i>Fifth</i> re-workings, combining them
into what was (presumably) Untermeyer’s preferred selection of verses.
FitzGerald’s <i>Notes</i> and <i>Biography</i> of Khayyam round things off.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq0oTXMzilo97SiJ_ZmmxkiJD4J65JTqgQinzLF8eSTSJsCzQlTaDwNPSeG6VB9pgezGJGWJxmVl0kKWwUHE8A7N3qc-iHf1pChYa-uc69o_aQMjCeL3UTw1kzpEqlvAUILi2-YobwWH21ig12zryUcmx6KDGOXjYU4KwQm8bQ85cKai-KBqVubyXH_w=s803" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="753" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq0oTXMzilo97SiJ_ZmmxkiJD4J65JTqgQinzLF8eSTSJsCzQlTaDwNPSeG6VB9pgezGJGWJxmVl0kKWwUHE8A7N3qc-iHf1pChYa-uc69o_aQMjCeL3UTw1kzpEqlvAUILi2-YobwWH21ig12zryUcmx6KDGOXjYU4KwQm8bQ85cKai-KBqVubyXH_w=s320" width="300" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a name="_Hlk90290323"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Edward
FitzGerald (Abanindronath Tagore, illus.),</span></b></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk90290323;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <b><i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, The Astronomer
Poet of Persia, </i>Leopold B. Hill, London, nd. (c.1926).<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk90290323;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Octavo;
hardcover, full decorated cloth with gilt spine and upper board decorations;
64pp., top edges gilt, with a tipped-in colour frontispiece and six plates
likewise. No dustwrapper.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk90290323;"></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi61YUCYburnlSmW-r-Rblsv6uE8foEJdjPAK7SbwR2Ay3VKkEvPR4v16HPmK05YnqjkrQodg5CJwXrTwyvZNCWQZWdzYV-XY4sfbk6RXOtDFGIA8M3DOkd1b1qqMk9tYPJycSbKjn-bD2NvYMvoiBACWVbOjSyL7Mb240s34YfAlZu6PYq7qr2K2Poxg=s1080" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="1080" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi61YUCYburnlSmW-r-Rblsv6uE8foEJdjPAK7SbwR2Ay3VKkEvPR4v16HPmK05YnqjkrQodg5CJwXrTwyvZNCWQZWdzYV-XY4sfbk6RXOtDFGIA8M3DOkd1b1qqMk9tYPJycSbKjn-bD2NvYMvoiBACWVbOjSyL7Mb240s34YfAlZu6PYq7qr2K2Poxg=s320" width="320" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Abanindronath
Tagore was the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore and yet another stellar creative
from that noted Bengali family. His career was highlighted by a need to rescue
Indian art from the influences of outside colonializing forces and therefore
it’s not so surprising to see him take on the <i>Rubaiyat</i>. The school he
founded – the <i>Indian Society of Oriental Art</i> – was designed to counter
British influences over modern Indian art. After his death, his son bequeathed
all of his father’s works to an institution named the Rabindra Bharati Society
Trust which has locked them away from view – it’s said that Abanindronath’s
best works have never been seen by the public as a result. His illustrations in
this volume are heavily Mughal in influence and quite austere, a nice fit with
the presentation of the text with its 1920s typography. Sadly, most copies of
this edition fall prey to heavy offsetting and embrowning around the plates.
The text is the <i>First Translation</i> with FitzGerald’s <i>Biography of
Khayyam</i> and <i>Notes</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfFRaVsasDUcm9zRCyYBc2QQoo0bPKy9rNDkpqYDyj-g8WAClwH7bT-Wm99ps1h2q4VerRGnD1LY9eUY-Fr7YbJqi_-719PY6JxSxOKOIk1paoLCZtTtSH_JEl0cvZjcFNunoi49tMAp7W9uKGjJ74x9Q-1DgX7WGEfumqW0pgxhxw35Eh2B2H9LXqfA=s801" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="748" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfFRaVsasDUcm9zRCyYBc2QQoo0bPKy9rNDkpqYDyj-g8WAClwH7bT-Wm99ps1h2q4VerRGnD1LY9eUY-Fr7YbJqi_-719PY6JxSxOKOIk1paoLCZtTtSH_JEl0cvZjcFNunoi49tMAp7W9uKGjJ74x9Q-1DgX7WGEfumqW0pgxhxw35Eh2B2H9LXqfA=s320" width="299" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Edward FitzGerald (Muraqqa-i-Chughtai,
illus.),</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <b><i>The Illustrated Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, </i>Caxton
Editions/Caxton Publishing Group, London, 2001.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Quarto; hardcover, illustrated
boards with metallic-red upper board titles and borders and decorated endpapers;
109pp., all pages with decorative borders, with a colour frontispiece and many
colour and monochrome illustrations. Dustwrapper.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Muraqqa i-Chughtai
(here referred-to as “Muraqqa Chugtai”) was an Indo-Persian artist who worked
at the beginning of the last century and whose Mughal stylings are heavily
influenced by the Persian Miniature style as well as the Art Nouveau flavour of
the time. The images used here were not created intentionally for the <i>Rubaiyat</i>,
but rather were designed to accompany the poems of another Persian poet, Mirza
Ghalib: I guess that the Caxton Editions editor who helmed this project felt
that they would serve. It’s clear that some jiggery-pokery might have been
going on as well, since many of the images have been reproduced horizontally-flipped
and weirdly cropped, possibly to avoid copyright issues but more likely just to
suit the personal aesthetics of those in charge. Chughtai was directly
influenced by Abanindronath Tagore’s thinking and personal art style, which is abundantly
clear from these images. The <i>First Translation</i> is the text in use here.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhh_c2G9dFmgDKvjMDCMwq1tSYOHVxzUXUpt8GVNQhbImG2i8TliX_3Zil91ElN4XXTIe1Rul8dVKnNxQdis9fp6vQ-MqMI4PvygZq97I6L2UZKIq7VoSneZ3f6LxMCq-WefX7eDrSoHvAAEPkxdfLfrIAnznm3aUqzesmbOT_rRqVbL6IMYO4a53hnzg=s804" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhh_c2G9dFmgDKvjMDCMwq1tSYOHVxzUXUpt8GVNQhbImG2i8TliX_3Zil91ElN4XXTIe1Rul8dVKnNxQdis9fp6vQ-MqMI4PvygZq97I6L2UZKIq7VoSneZ3f6LxMCq-WefX7eDrSoHvAAEPkxdfLfrIAnznm3aUqzesmbOT_rRqVbL6IMYO4a53hnzg=s320" width="299" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">[Edward J.
FitzGerald], <i>Rubaiyyat of Hakim Omar Khayyam</i>, Amir-Kabir, Tehran Iran,
1967.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Octavo; hardcover,
with illustrated boards and decorated endpapers; 143pp., all decorated, text in
Persian, English, German and French, with 28 colour and monochrome plates. No
dustwrapper.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8tmlf9P8taukyQMaB9S3L3RL2AgWxrfR31mqq42DF0KeRAKzQfpqZlpf5pcoBIKEKGgJwl4QHPE_rNCCacyNpvn0Mzo9YxVxpr8CSxSp_a_IxrVSKd7kvVhiJey7kpyTJcluzCc9pqNM-uXmPWGoXp3_28St81LxeSjxU7HZZoMOSEk0OBR6Ji95RFg=s1076" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="1076" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8tmlf9P8taukyQMaB9S3L3RL2AgWxrfR31mqq42DF0KeRAKzQfpqZlpf5pcoBIKEKGgJwl4QHPE_rNCCacyNpvn0Mzo9YxVxpr8CSxSp_a_IxrVSKd7kvVhiJey7kpyTJcluzCc9pqNM-uXmPWGoXp3_28St81LxeSjxU7HZZoMOSEk0OBR6Ji95RFg=s320" width="320" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This Persian
edition really fires on all cylinders. The artist is not identified in English
translation, but their work is consistent throughout the book, sometimes
adhering to strict Persian Miniature stylings and occasionally taking off on
wild flights of fantasy as the inspirational text dictates. The script is
FitzGerald’s <i>First Translation</i> and is usefully accompanied by
translations into three other languages for comparison (and probably with an
eye to widening the marketplace for this book). FitzGerald is not explicitly
stated as the author of the piece, but his name does appear at the end of his
essay, <i>Omar Khayyam – The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, </i>with the addition
of his middle initial. Omar is also renamed as “Hakim” for reasons unstated (in
English at least!). Such additions and elisions certainly feel like they stem
from a desire to ‘reclaim’ the poetry for Iran as a Persian cultural artefact.
The production-levels are cheap but luxe and make for a pleasing whole.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*****<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyVTvcWy64dHJ0Ps9nR2IXtt09XqfbnecKvLQAYq8nNHwpzY8-rA1gFu8wOJMX4b1IDH-rDD8Xv0trGimO0b7PaRZ3NWK2slpVGvjx4qdW9KCX7CSrNMKHILIWZ9jGNzAYCmAbFRxpFz06ExtA8qhP31l3hS3Xudk2veLfkuMXo-PKMUBKGzGr7Jgjhw=s800" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="747" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyVTvcWy64dHJ0Ps9nR2IXtt09XqfbnecKvLQAYq8nNHwpzY8-rA1gFu8wOJMX4b1IDH-rDD8Xv0trGimO0b7PaRZ3NWK2slpVGvjx4qdW9KCX7CSrNMKHILIWZ9jGNzAYCmAbFRxpFz06ExtA8qhP31l3hS3Xudk2veLfkuMXo-PKMUBKGzGr7Jgjhw=s320" width="299" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Edward FitzGerald
(Willy Pogany, illus.),</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <b><i>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Fourth Rendering
in English Verse, </i>George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., London, 1934.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Octavo; hardcover,
full green leather, with gilt spine and upper board titles and decorations and
decorative endpapers; unpaginated (pp.), top edges gilt and all pages with
decorative borders, with a tipped-in colour frontispiece, seven plates
likewise, and many monochrome illustrations. No dustwrapper</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgw_dYJx7Vz-_QBJpTPEi0-97OPLwdM4NtyKp0ibPu2rCfvPaezp2_OHtBNIuZdPtf5tuMAUV1VK4YQDlDRJ6D41CEo272CoU5wsB68uMB6FPZTsJIuhsjSzW94rLNnWR-Fbmt9em0WMNw4_ZfN8FuByW4B6wHGUE289d1pn7KxIVJ866-mxc1tVe6OGA=s1080" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="1080" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgw_dYJx7Vz-_QBJpTPEi0-97OPLwdM4NtyKp0ibPu2rCfvPaezp2_OHtBNIuZdPtf5tuMAUV1VK4YQDlDRJ6D41CEo272CoU5wsB68uMB6FPZTsJIuhsjSzW94rLNnWR-Fbmt9em0WMNw4_ZfN8FuByW4B6wHGUE289d1pn7KxIVJ866-mxc1tVe6OGA=s320" width="320" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At the start of
this overview, I stated that many Western illustrators who undertook to
illuminate the <i>Rubaiyat</i> often took their inspiration from Persian (or
other, Middle Eastern) artists. One of these was the noted <i>Rubaiyat</i>
illustrator Willy Pogany. In my previous post on his contributions, I mentioned
that I didn’t have a copy of the 1930 edition that he did for George G. Harrap
& Co.; however, since then I have made up for that oversight. This is a
reprint of that 1930 edition containing a subset of the original plates and the
other decorations. This was standard practice with these gift book productions
– release the full deal initially, then pare it back and release it – usually
in a smaller format - for subsequent printings. This is the reduced 1934
production with only seven of the original twelve plates, but I’m getting
closer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Hollywood
influence is quite marked in this set of images, livening up the <i>naiveté</i>
of his first attempt. In that sense, it’s more of an Orientalist artefact than
his first outing, but nevertheless he’s still trying to be true to the stated
roots of the work. The Persian influence is marked, and there is no indication
of the radical shift about to take place between this set and the 1942, David
Mackay, edition. In the initial printing, the <i>First</i> and <i>Fourth</i> <i>Translation</i>
were presented; here, only the <i>Fourth</i> is present, without any of
FitzGerald’s accompanying explanatory material.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*****<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It can be seen from
the above list that Persian contribution to the literary history of the <i>Rubaiyat</i>
goes far beyond the original text as written by Omar Khayyam. There is a sense
of reclamation in these works – whether that goal is warranted or not – but it
doesn’t really descend to a wholesale grinding of axes and pushing of barrows,
which would definitely colour the whole exercise badly. Rather, the
contributions of these artists broadens, and deepens the texture of the <i>Rubaiyat’s</i>
history, adding even more layers of nuance for collectors and appreciators!<o:p></o:p></span></p>Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-45306899155068761032020-04-06T22:35:00.001-07:002020-05-01T23:11:46.534-07:00Ophelias…<br />
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg51wFxv_yQ-vqaCiZRV0omq78W2E3OW7nG0b_Lp4MPZ3RbqaophYPE6xUFs2m-pTBcSLeyA0-0CXBj-lTe2lYZFS5e6vJIt5E79zHA8nIwLGdi7L7jhsdILerQMf2paWO3_0G3RVq1btU/s1600/HughesOphelia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg51wFxv_yQ-vqaCiZRV0omq78W2E3OW7nG0b_Lp4MPZ3RbqaophYPE6xUFs2m-pTBcSLeyA0-0CXBj-lTe2lYZFS5e6vJIt5E79zHA8nIwLGdi7L7jhsdILerQMf2paWO3_0G3RVq1btU/s320/HughesOphelia.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">It’s
almost inevitable really. People coming together over wine and poetry, maybe
with a few candles and something toothsome to nibble. At some point, the intimacy
becomes too distracting and, the next thing you know, the <i>“Book of Verse”</i>
is going up in smoke. Obviously, if the intimate moment is taking place upon
the <i>“delightful Herb whose tender Green Fledges the River’s Lip”</i>, then it’s
a simple expedient to bung the Book into the River to quench the flames. Poetry
saved; problem solved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I
have a couple of copies of the <i>Rubaiyat</i> which have had this happen to them –
or rather, which I <i>imagine</i> have experienced this – moisture damaged and
a little singed around the edges. I call them ‘Ophelias’ because, like the character
from <i>“Hamlet”</i>, they too have been burned by love and then drowned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP40y_0c5_e2yamZZOCBJQKE7g9AYcipasO0dUjWwzYtFNMxG2Ac4PkPU9hpt7298u7VIBdFkmEAJ8c2gBId6pM6l_YdDQt94NCSmyJw3m2jOKfyBGQvG_fayKrGg5WFEfJYlu2X4tx8QN/s1600/Ophelia1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP40y_0c5_e2yamZZOCBJQKE7g9AYcipasO0dUjWwzYtFNMxG2Ac4PkPU9hpt7298u7VIBdFkmEAJ8c2gBId6pM6l_YdDQt94NCSmyJw3m2jOKfyBGQvG_fayKrGg5WFEfJYlu2X4tx8QN/s320/Ophelia1.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">FITZGERALD,
Edward (Willy Pogany, illus.), <i>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám</i>, George G.
Harrap & Co. Ltd., n.p. (London), n.d. (c.1925).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Duodecimo;
limp suede wrappers, with blind-stamped spine titles and upper board decoration,
gilt upper board titles and a cream ribbon; unpaginated (96pp.), top edges gilt
and all pages untrimmed with decorative borders, with a tipped-in colour
frontispiece and three plates likewise.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Moderate wear: covers well-rubbed and edgeworn with charring
to the front cover; spine head pulled; text block edges toned with some smoke
damage; spine cracked; endpapers moisture damaged with some creasing; previous
owners’ contemporary ink inscriptions to the half-title page; ribbon detached;
some pages loose; tears to the fore-edges of a couple of the last pages. Fair.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFPzFH6GTPIw020X__uzoKFMXm9LvpJ1TTgwEAWzFgtmapKZ0SBd2dtp7SPXbdV6CaihLsNnXhx_FedKHyMapCGv5TiNSd7NxdEfrZAO3cP3-Y6sYzYGnUEuLWPPvTOSIuK3qALLhEe7d/s1600/Ophelia2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFPzFH6GTPIw020X__uzoKFMXm9LvpJ1TTgwEAWzFgtmapKZ0SBd2dtp7SPXbdV6CaihLsNnXhx_FedKHyMapCGv5TiNSd7NxdEfrZAO3cP3-Y6sYzYGnUEuLWPPvTOSIuK3qALLhEe7d/s320/Ophelia2.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This
example bears all of the hallmarks. The front cover is completely singed, with
the suede burned down to the leather along the bottom edge; the corners and
spine head are chipped where the scorched sections have flaked off and the
whole text block is starting to come apart. Basically, it’s a mess, with little
or no re-sale value: it’s not even worth getting it repaired. Still, the story
it tells of an eventful evening (possibly) is something I find endearing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYTGubdg8Hl7TzcLGIn2HQGdRimFDGzJKKucoSbeVO700aUhZRCMmN2fg76BIKAOLSRGa0Sqe37KBF50S8hJ1QgTPMPikxjE1y9mkwAkErh1XWFi39nS-a-zFniY80iZBHlHukw5vhVqi-/s1600/Ophelia6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYTGubdg8Hl7TzcLGIn2HQGdRimFDGzJKKucoSbeVO700aUhZRCMmN2fg76BIKAOLSRGa0Sqe37KBF50S8hJ1QgTPMPikxjE1y9mkwAkErh1XWFi39nS-a-zFniY80iZBHlHukw5vhVqi-/s320/Ophelia6.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">FITZGERALD,
Edward (Gilbert James, illus.), <i>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám</i>, R.F. Fenno
& Company, New York NY, n.d. (c.1910).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Octavo;
full red morocco, with gilt upper board titles and decoration and watered-silk
bonded endpapers; 118pp., untrimmed, top edges gilt and all pages with
decorative coloured borders, with a colour frontispiece (with tissue guard) and
11 plates likewise (no guards).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Moderate wear: boards rubbed and edgeworn with some fraying to
the corners; spine extremities pulled and spine sunned; text block edges toned
with some staining; spine cracked; moisture damage – rippling and staining to
most pages; fore-edges of some pages lightly torn from being separated after
being dried; some light scorchmarks to a few page fore-edges. Fair.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBvoXdPsGwSN0scETnd5rpk281j3rQ2soiwD5D_Sf3bU66a01mA_aSWK2abL1O9B_1aTbmYF87iYxj_B1LZOKkYPat_Ll3qSkAyexKngHE3D4hXGIsORqFJH5eWoQh9YVSGUxmRc3CUfQ/s1600/Ophelia3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBvoXdPsGwSN0scETnd5rpk281j3rQ2soiwD5D_Sf3bU66a01mA_aSWK2abL1O9B_1aTbmYF87iYxj_B1LZOKkYPat_Ll3qSkAyexKngHE3D4hXGIsORqFJH5eWoQh9YVSGUxmRc3CUfQ/s320/Ophelia3.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">In
this instance, it’s clear that this was a case of over-compensation. The amount
of fire damage here is very slight, but obviously, someone panicked and dunked
the book more than was absolutely necessary. I keep this copy around because it
contains a selection of the Gilbert James illustrations which have been copied
using a kind of photogravure process: this has made the otherwise light and
ephemeral drawings rather harsh and flat with a kind of effect similar to the
poster work of Alphonse Mucha. It’s also typical of the rampant piracy that the
Americans were into back then, in terms of copying this work from across the
Pond.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuCe8axi82R0qTBBmxTaCU75GC5m3dpTEk2TXcibrVCdEypNsivuslp4ULXgt3G8_9c2By2w0fD_ylNoaK12wYswfaCPa6dP7LSe19pXsej1-4oCAXzVu8ExuhjqhH02aPhxK1-KmYwnc9/s1600/Ophelia4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuCe8axi82R0qTBBmxTaCU75GC5m3dpTEk2TXcibrVCdEypNsivuslp4ULXgt3G8_9c2By2w0fD_ylNoaK12wYswfaCPa6dP7LSe19pXsej1-4oCAXzVu8ExuhjqhH02aPhxK1-KmYwnc9/s320/Ophelia4.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Again,
the condition of this book means that it has no real monetary value; but for
me, it serves as a demonstrative example of not only James’ collection of <i>Rubaiyat</i>
images (which have rarely been published all together in the same edition), but
also as a concrete indicator of the publishing story of this poem. And I simply
can’t bring myself to throw her away!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LJmRNImQGzUCQIWa6-QOH9yeIU-G1Xk023bO-y312uRDsOy7i-RGsj_Bop1AKoq2b6jcgTcDeLN9gwPYxfBtQgJX3nwy6fUi_Led8jkEH6OZrIlKZ5QSxfQ3K6YrIaNY3cgxq4HKC3KI/s1600/Ophelia5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LJmRNImQGzUCQIWa6-QOH9yeIU-G1Xk023bO-y312uRDsOy7i-RGsj_Bop1AKoq2b6jcgTcDeLN9gwPYxfBtQgJX3nwy6fUi_Led8jkEH6OZrIlKZ5QSxfQ3K6YrIaNY3cgxq4HKC3KI/s320/Ophelia5.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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<br />Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-51712927490473368132020-04-04T21:44:00.016-07:002022-11-22T20:19:38.200-08:00Censorship...<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">FitzGerald,
Edward (trans.), <i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam – Fitzgerald Translation</i>,
Gornall the Publisher, Sydney NSW, nd. (c.1946).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Duodecimo;
paperback, staple-bound with decorated snakeskin-embossed paper wrappers in a
yapp binding; 80pp., all decorated, with 4 monochrome plates.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Moderate wear; covers rubbed and edgeworn with some marks;
some light spotting to the text block top edge; light spotting to the preliminaries;
previous owner’s contemporary ink inscription to the first page, along with the
retailer’s ink stamp; “Caboolture Historical Society” ink stamp to several
points within the text block. Very good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
history of publishing in Australia abounds with occasions of censorship, especially
in the Twentieth Century. There are instances of well-known infamy of which
most people are aware, and which seem - to the untrained eye – to be standalone
occurrences rather than irruptions of an entrenched policy, locked firmly into
place. The importation and dissemination of D.H. Lawrence’s <i>Lady Chatterley’s
Lover,</i> for instance, was squelched within these borders (no surprise there –
it was suppressed in most parts of the world), but it caused extra tension here
due to the fact that he also penned another book entitled <i>Kangaroo</i>, set amongst
union organisers in Sydney: why then, it was asked, can we print <i>this</i>
book and not <i>that</i> one? The arguments went back and forth… <i>Ulysses</i>
by Joyce was also unremarkable in being targeted for suppression and spent time
here in limbo, along with <i>Lolita</i> by Nabokov.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Some
incidents became stellar news events. When Sir Eugene Goossens returned from
Europe with a bunch of material in his luggage deemed to be “pornographic”, his
sexual and mystical preoccupations were dragged screaming into the light of day
by the Fourth Estate - he lost his job as the conductor of the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra and was hounded out of the country. His time in the spotlight
highlighted the works of Sydney witch Rosaleen Norton (with whom Goossens had
an intense association) which had also been withdrawn from sale, denied
distribution rights and subsequently censored. Later, in the 1970s, the debacle
surrounding the publication of <i>“Oz”</i> magazine emerged – a lampooning
journal founded, ironically, in the spirit of that bastion of Australian
periodicals <i>“The Bulletin”</i> – which led to court cases and headlines and
(with the passage of time) guaranteed the future careers of those who produced
it as leaders of the Australian art and publications scene. Time apparently <i>does</i>
heal all wounds…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">These
few instances, while shaking the headlines, were the stressed expressions of a
more far-flung and pervasive policy. In the post-World War Two era, Australia was
wary of being financially bitten, as it had been by Mother England after the
First World War – British demand for War reparations at that time crippled the
country economically and drove it deep into the Depression. Decisions were made
that were aimed at preventing money leaving the country, in order to prop up
the local economy in the post-War boom. Comics, pulp fiction – both books and
magazines – women’s journals on cooking and craft: it was deemed judicious to
prevent such material coming into the country from overseas, with the idea
that, if the punters wanted to buy this stuff badly enough, they would create
homegrown versions of it, inside Australian borders. There were many ramifications
from this decision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Many
standard genre fiction magazines, showcasing works by up-and-coming writers, suddenly
developed “Australian editions” with local entrepreneurs buying the re-print
rights for local manufacture. Companies like Gordon & Gotch, quickly snapped
up Australasian rights for things such as Marvel and DC Comics, <i>“Archie”</i>
and <i>“Katy Keene” </i>magazines, even Donald Duck comics, and produced cheap (often
only black-and-white) versions from printing bases in Singapore. Local author “Carter
Brown” – penner of over 300 pulp titles of exploitative gumshoe fiction - became
so popular that his work began to be exported overseas, especially to the US.
Anything brought into the country that was deemed a competitor to homegrown
versions was quickly denied distribution. The sector most affected by these strictures was the "trashy" end of the literary scale - comics, pulp, ephemera - and so, for the most part, went unnoticed as MIA by the general populace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">However,
there was an extra layer to this process as well. On top of considerations about
the local economy, there was also a moral tone to these events, and it was these
wranglings which invariably hit the headlines. Norman Lindsay spent his last
years railing against “wowsers” in Australian artistic circles, referring to
those people liable to be shocked by liberal attitudes in personal expression and who,
contrarily, prudishly seek it out in order to quash it and deny others their
own opinion. The censorship regime which took over Australian print media in
the post-War era was laced with this wowser attitude and the times when it was
seen to over-reach its ambit were usually the times when the public became
pointedly aware of its purse-lipped moral crusaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">With
this particular version of the <i>Rubaiyat</i>, we can see the process in action.
To kick off with, the format is quite a cheap one: many publishers looked at this
poem as a cost-effective item in their stables. The poem was hugely popular;
people would always be prone to shell out for a nice pocket copy of it, for themselves,
or as a token of affection for some significant other. As well, it was literature,
lauded at the highest levels of academia and considered one of the Western
canon’s great works – who could object to its dissemination? Publishers could
make small cheap copies of it in ongoing sizable print-runs and still recoup
their overheads – we have to remember that there were strict restrictions on
paper usage during the War, and for quite some time afterwards too. It was a
solid cash cow essentially, and every publisher worth the name was doing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">As
we’ve seen already, the poem lends itself extremely well to illustration and
decoration. It costs little more to add two-tone colour effects to the pages,
or to insert plates at various points along the way; even to shell out for a fancy
cover effect, such as the one utilised here. The only thing you really have to keep an
eye on is your illustrator.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">In
this instance, the artist is simply referred to as “O’Brien”, either because they were well known in magazine circles (possibly a newsprint illustrator*), or
because they wished to retain a sense of anonymity. Their illustrations for this
edition are somewhat racy it has to be said (given the time period), and this
might have caused the publisher some concern. As we’ve seen before, often an
artist creates a whole suite of images for the work and these are published in
a deluxe edition; subsequent, usually smaller, editions, edit out some of the
plates as the size format dwindles. That might have happened here – I’m not
sure. The plates that remain are somewhat orgiastic, in that they mainly depict drinking parties peopled with mostly naked individuals, and in the post-War
censorship atmosphere, that might have been a headache for the publisher.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">That’s
not to say that the publisher might not have approved of the artwork or the
illustrator; quite the contrary: they might even have been wishing to
create a stir by bringing this version out on to the market, with its risqué doodlings.
Equally, there might have been many tortuous discussions as to which plates
could be included and which ones would have to go by the wayside: it’s just not
clear. What <i>is</i> clear though, is that the publisher decided to whack the
following trademark on the back cover:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This
<i>imprimatur</i> – <i>“Gornall Instructional Publications”</i> – seems to me to be deliberately
designed to take the curse off the whole venture. Gornall could easily claim
that “<i>The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”</i> was literature and, as such, they
had every right to get it out there to the masses – for “instructional”
purposes. So, their artist got a little carried away with the theme – was it <i>that</i>
bad? It could surely have been worse, like that stuff that Lindsay bloke comes
up with, say. This is clearly a strategy, and many Australasian publishing
houses were probably dancing this little two-step at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I
have a bunch of these kinds of editions of <i>The Rubaiyat</i> cheaply made in
large quantities to serve the market demand, which was surprisingly high. Interestingly,
the most ‘edgy’ of them (including many spoofs of the poem) seem to have
originated from Queensland: this one, while published in Sydney, has a Brisbane
retailer’s stamp on the first page, so maybe there was a concerted effort to
flout censorship from up there? Who can say? Regardless, this one seems to have
squeezed its way past the notice of the censorship board and to have made its
way out into the light on its “instructional” rationale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
days of the censorship of printed material for economic (and, just quietly,
other purposes) has passed us by – it all came undone in the early 80s – but its
impacts upon the Australian readership cannot be understated. Maybe it did become
the spur for many local authors who - due to the presence within the local market of
foreign versions of the stories they wanted to tell - might never have put pen
to paper. Maybe, though, they would have started writing regardless. Magazines like <i>“The
Women’s Weekly”</i> might never have grown as much as they did, in the face of
imported journals like <i>“Better Homes & Gardens”</i> and <i>“Town &
Country”.</i> If foreign journals, foreign thinking, foreign <i>writing </i>had been freely available here, we might never have experienced the 60s 'brain-drain' which saw many of our greatest minds - Clive James, Germaine Greer, Robert Hughes - flee these intellectually-deprived shores for greener pastures. The whole issue goes to prove that our freedoms of printed
expression are often not as free as we like to believe and that they’re certainly
worth keeping an eye on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia;">*Actually, <i>her </i>name was Kathleen O'Brien, a well-known comic strip artist of the day...</span>Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-20105766834376150902019-11-09T17:09:00.002-08:002019-11-13T13:52:47.155-08:00Jazz...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhHfVrUHfiix-TrK76k9jcr8tlu1py_NjiR6Vk7yYyP9elutevpMUJjtlf6fh3pb7sw1iwS-8zIqm1Xk0xdWyhMeYqdszAw5qYP1XJyVQtgsgWWme2VoYjcnBAJHZdIu-gcetutykX7vo/s1600/CBP2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="258" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhHfVrUHfiix-TrK76k9jcr8tlu1py_NjiR6Vk7yYyP9elutevpMUJjtlf6fh3pb7sw1iwS-8zIqm1Xk0xdWyhMeYqdszAw5qYP1XJyVQtgsgWWme2VoYjcnBAJHZdIu-gcetutykX7vo/s320/CBP2.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">“The
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">
was a pervasive text throughout the Victorian and Edwardian eras and continued
to have influence over the War years and into the modern era. It continues to
be quoted today and remains one of the most instantly-recognisable of English
texts. We’ve seen that it has inspired illustrators, book designers and
publishers, but its influence moves even beyond these. There are many occasions
where lines from the “<i>Rubaiyat”</i> have been used as inspiration, or as
touchstones to action or cogitation. Here is a musical instance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Charlie
“Bird” Parker lived a life that seems to have taken its cue from Khayyam’s <i>Carpe
Diem</i> philosophy. He grew up in hardscrabble conditions and managed to soar
above the limits of his origins to become the greatest jazz-player and
innovator of all time. He is credited with defining the scope of modern jazz
music and for the creation of the bebop style, along with “Dizzy” Gillespie and
others. Unfortunately, Parker had serious mental problems stemming from
substance abuse issues, involving heroin and painkillers, and his output was
thus reduced to a short and intense 15-year period. After dying of an overdose in
the New York apartment of his patron Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, the
Rothschild heiress and jazz fan, doctors thought they were investigating the
body of a man in his late 50s or early 60s; Parker was only 35.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">As
a black musician in less-than-tolerant times, Parker was exposed to all of the
thoughtless cruelty inflicted upon performers of colour during his career, and
it is no wonder that he chose to “seize the cup that clears Today of all
regrets” in order to keep on going. He was often found to have sold his saxophone
or his train tickets in order to pay for his next fix, and these instances were
alternatively the making or breaking of him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Ironically,
just as Parker and Gillespie were formalizing the identity of the bebop sound,
a two-year strike broke out to address inconsistencies in the payment of
royalties received by musical performers. This led to a period where music was
forbidden to be recorded for the purposes of re-playing by television or film
companies, or for sale as vinyl discs. Some bodies were exempted – such as the
authority that created vinyl discs for US troops stationed overseas (so-called “V-discs”)
but, for the most part, the creation of bebop was not recorded at its birth and
would have to wait until the ban had been lifted to begin its proliferation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Another
ironic instance concerns what was, perhaps, Parker’s greatest live performance.
An <i>ad hoc</i> production ensemble somehow convinced Parker, “Dizzy”
Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell and Max Roach to play the Massey Hall in
Toronto on the 15<sup>th</sup> of May in 1953. There were legal, personal and
logistical problems galore in getting the five players there (Parker was
contractually forbidden to attend – he performed as “Charlie Chan”) and, in the
end, a championship boxing bout across the street between “Rocky” Marciano and “Jersey
Joe” Walcott meant that the concert was so poorly attended that the producers
were unable to pay the musicians for showing up. Nevertheless, it remains a
defining moment in the history of jazz and perhaps Charlie Parker’s best live
performance. Fortunately, Charles Mingus recorded the event, unbeknownst to
many present, and, despite having to later dub in his own bass lines which were
lost in the process, managed to capture an ephemeral moment in jazz music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">On
top of all this, Parker showed up without his sax, having sold it to buy drugs <i>en
route</i>, and he played a borrowed plastic instrument.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Like
many performers of the time, Parker felt quite at home in France, where jazz
and its performers – regardless of background – were well received. In 1949, he
toured there and ended up on the Left Bank of the Seine, holding court for his
admirers with the <i>literati</i> of the day. As Geoffrey Haydon has it in his
book <i>Quintet of the Year</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">“The
late-night jam sessions, in the cabarets on the Left Bank of the Seine, were blessed
by the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. Pilgrims flocked across
Europe to engage Parker in intellectual debate. Champagne was the all-day
drink. Obtaining drugs was no problem. A critic from the </span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">‘Melody Maker’<i>, bible for Great Britain’s
syncopated music fans, hastened from London bearing a questionnaire he had
compiled on behalf of his readers. Parker, no doubt charmed by the English accent,
rewarded each question with a quotation from the </i>‘Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam’<i>”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">And
there you have it: it seems that FitzGerald’s and Omar’s philosophies were a
guiding influence upon the life of Charlie “Bird” Parker and the development of
jazz music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This
“Bird of Time” had “but a little way to fly”, but he was on the wing…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-65900888382845256992018-09-23T02:54:00.005-07:002019-07-19T05:50:02.764-07:00Graves…<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Graves, Robert, & Omar ali-Shah
(trans.), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam –
A new Translation with critical commentaries</i>, Cassell & Company Ltd.,
London, 1968.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Octavo;
hardcover, full cloth with gilt spine titles and decorative endpapers; 86pp.
Mild wear; some softening and wear to the spine extremities; offset to the endpapers.
Price-clipped dustwrapper mildly rubbed; some staining to the lower panel; now
protected by non-adhesive plastic wrap.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
famous British writer, poet and translator Robert Graves had a contentious
relationship with Edward FitzGerald and the <i>Rubaiyat</i>. All through his life,
Graves derided FitzGerald for being homosexual; this from a man who professed
undying affection for his fellow poet Siegfried Sassoon during the Great War
and then embarked upon a resolutely heterosexual existence after his overtures
were rebuffed. From the outside, it smacked of a serious case of overcompensation
in the face of rejection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">From
textual and eye-witness evidence – along with the nature of FitzGerald’s
unusual domestic situation – on balance, he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i>
probably gay, or at least, somewhere on the non-hetero spectrum. Not that it
matters. Unfortunately, for Graves it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i>
matter. An <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">awful</i> lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Graves
had a stellar career as a literary figure and his contributions can be measured
by the fact that he was nominated for a Nobel Prize for Literature. There is no
question that his contributions are jewels in the crown of the English literary
tradition. However, the vitriol that he spewed on FitzGerald was excessive and
led him down a seedy and sorry path that all but ruined his career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">In
1967, Graves was approached by a Persian man named Omar Ali-Shah who claimed to
have a copy of Omar Khayyam’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i>
that had been in his family for 800 or so years. He proposed that both Graves
and he – and his younger brother, Idries, a long-time <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">protégé</i> of Graves – could translate the quatrains into a ‘more
faithful’ rendition, and thus ‘set the record of Omar Khayyam straight’. They
began work upon the project, none more eagerly than Graves, and they produced a
translation of the verses which was released in the same year. During the
process, Shah travelled back and forth from Persia and, on one of these trips
salted away the advance monies that had been provided by the publisher, after
which he and his brother fell out of contact with Graves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">He
had been conned. The book came out, but all the money which his lofty
reputation had attracted had vanished in the production. The Shahs had chosen
their dupe well – if Graves hadn’t been involved, the cash which had been
ante’d up would have been much less; and Graves’s well-known distaste for
FitzGerald had ensured that he would have talked the project up for anyone
interested in listening to the possibility of ‘correcting’ FitzGerald’s efforts.
If he’d been less egotistical and less well-known as a FitzGerald hater, the
scheme might not have worked at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
Graves-Shah version of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i>
was met with acrimony. Graves was staunchly accused of trying to ruin
FitzGerald’s work and of deliberately trying to destroy FitzGerald’s
reputation. The academic world moved quickly to the conclusion that the Shah’s
copy of the verses was actually a forgery. The book was a critical failure.
Graves left England shortly after and spent the rest of his life hiding in
Majorca.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHupzkzWMHlsajLv4UIwRtC8FOyJC2uqL5fKeHLFDQAHrTMgk9ExzBN746DNoWtYZhIPPS6z_0Zxn-cjaU8B8qYacfYS2Jm_Ty4jYNgJM-fq8z8vICPgthwjeGOGfg8Te0zd0p1UEYtY6W/s1600/IdriesShah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHupzkzWMHlsajLv4UIwRtC8FOyJC2uqL5fKeHLFDQAHrTMgk9ExzBN746DNoWtYZhIPPS6z_0Zxn-cjaU8B8qYacfYS2Jm_Ty4jYNgJM-fq8z8vICPgthwjeGOGfg8Te0zd0p1UEYtY6W/s1600/IdriesShah.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">A
particular sore point for Graves was that he had long aided Idries Shah in
getting his works on Sufism and Witchcraft (among other subjects) published in
England. In the aftermath of the scandal, Graves repeatedly wrote to Idries
asking him to come forward with the original family document from which they’d
made their translation, in order to vindicate their work; however, Idries Shah
claimed that it was no longer in his possession and that his father (the owner)
was not prepared to come forward with it, due to the anger he felt at its translation’s
poor reception by the academic community. In time, the fraudulent source
material of the Graves-Shah effort was identified as having been culled
from some preliminary notes penned by a Victorian student who’d attempted to
organise an early translation of the work. Ironically, these were the same
notes that FitzGerald had used when he had first embarked upon his own
endeavours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Graves
lost out badly on the venture. The translation was spurned and the sales of
the rest of his books went into a nose dive. It took years for him to recoup
anything of his former reputation. He had created a “stuffed eagle” which had
savaged him mercilessly, with little power left over to affect FitzGerald’s
“live sparrow”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Graves, Robert, & Omar ali-Shah
(trans.), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam –
A new Translation with critical commentaries</i>, Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd.,
Ringwood Vic., 1972.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Octavo;
paperback; 95pp. Moderate wear; covers rubbed and lightly edgeworn; mild
creasing to the spine; text block and page edges toned; offset to the
preliminaries; some early pages starting. Good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHwXS45_x-z5yttEYCKnbN-89HE_VWlcHJ2eHfRnH9eKfH19LCqneXexsp5Pt3gdEcUyMGhQ8linX4I77HK1gqTYhCU7U7vrvOdRQ4nEPp2ENtnFVzZlDud9b-MAihYoXOadkThcbJQfxs/s1600/Dinkus9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHwXS45_x-z5yttEYCKnbN-89HE_VWlcHJ2eHfRnH9eKfH19LCqneXexsp5Pt3gdEcUyMGhQ8linX4I77HK1gqTYhCU7U7vrvOdRQ4nEPp2ENtnFVzZlDud9b-MAihYoXOadkThcbJQfxs/s1600/Dinkus9.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">But
let us not depend merely upon the word of distant academics for judgement; let’s
take a close look at the verses translated by Graves and Shah and compare them
to FitzGerald’s versions. Here’s FitzGerald’s translation of the first stanza,
from his first published version:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“Awake! For Morning in the
Bowl of Night<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Has flung the Stone that
puts the Stars to Flight:<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">And Lo! The Hunter of the
East has caught<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
Sultan’s Turret in a Noose of Light.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Here’s
the Grave-Shah attempt:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“While Dawn, Day’s herald
straddling the whole sky,<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Offers the drowsy world a
toast ‘To Wine’,<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The Sun spills early gold
on city roofs –<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Day’s
regal Host, replenishing his jug.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">What
the…? And now here’s another famous verse:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“Here with a Loaf of Bread
beneath the Bough,<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">A Flask of Wine, a book of
Verse – and Thou<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Beside me singing in the
Wilderness –<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">And
Wilderness is Paradise enow.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Which
Graves transforms into:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“A gourd of red wine and a
sheaf of poems –<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">A bare subsistence, half a
loaf, not more –<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Supplied us two alone in
the free desert<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">What
Sultan could we envy on his throne?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">A
review of the translation from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Time
Magazine</i> in 1968 accused Graves roundly of deliberately trying to strip the beauty out
of FitzGerald’s verses and I think the charge is justified. The efforts all
through the version are pedestrian in tone and lack any sort of poetic vibrancy.
They read like literal transpositions from the Persian into English without any
acknowledgement of the Art that FitzGerald alluded to when he set out to shape
the poetry. Even the presentation of the book – severe in design without any ornamentation
– reads like an attempt to transform the Poetic into the Spartan, to suck the joy right out of the verse. If nothing
else, Graves and Shah revealed that perhaps the original verses just aren’t
that poetically magical, and that FitzGerald’s was the secret ingredient that really
made them sing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
rest of the book is full of bitchy ‘criticism’ with screeds of venom-inflected
details about what FitzGerald left out, what he added and where he was 'wrong'. For the most part
these are completely subjective and entirely pernickety, stemming from Graves’s
years of pent-up frustration and – I suspect – jealousy. There is an extended
essay too, entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The Fitz-Omar Cult”</i>
which derides fans and supporters of the FitzGerald translation as wanting in
their critical faculties – surely not the best way to endear one’s efforts to
that same public?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Graves's eagerness to trash Edward FitzGerald led only to his own skewering by the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">literati</i>, and the embarrassment of being
seen to have been duped by con-men in the full glare of the public view. It’s a
tawdry episode in the long and interesting history of the enduring Fitz-Omar
collaboration which suffered in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">imbroglio</i>
not at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-35248808314310203282018-06-08T20:26:00.003-07:002018-06-08T20:26:48.730-07:00The Cup that Clears…<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYiI0gSzYt4zDcZW_fGRfgcbtHPLOi1x7kJ7RkDnyeEL0y5tcnZKgwonC080MuPr4yS2kUX_UQzSo3zm6LyRTEC1cd_ZEzWFfvm0c_QQakhNnubE3sPQiABX7oNMuE98HD2VLurCf-ZOs/s1600/Cups.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="719" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiYiI0gSzYt4zDcZW_fGRfgcbtHPLOi1x7kJ7RkDnyeEL0y5tcnZKgwonC080MuPr4yS2kUX_UQzSo3zm6LyRTEC1cd_ZEzWFfvm0c_QQakhNnubE3sPQiABX7oNMuE98HD2VLurCf-ZOs/s320/Cups.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">XX.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“Ah! my beloved, fill the
cup that clears<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">To-day of past regrets and
future fears-<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">To-morrow? – why, to-morrow
I may be<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Myself
with yesterday’s sev’n thousand years.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
this verse, FitzGerald makes explicit his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">carpe
diem</i> theme. In a sense, this verse is a summation of several others that
have gone before. In re-arranging Khayyam’s epigrammatic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ru’bai</i>, FitzGerald creates a definite framework for the sentiments.
Thus we have some image-heavy verses one after the other and then we hit a
fixed point – like this one – which makes explicit what the foregoing verses
were driving at. There’s a lot packed into this particular quatrain, so let’s
take it apart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">First,
we have the Beloved. In the first translation, this figure is quite nebulous,
but it firms up in the later versions. In one sense, the Beloved is simply an
audience for the voice of the writer to address; in another, it becomes more
personal and spiritual. Sufi belief identifies the ‘Beloved’ with God, the one
who – out of love – created humanity and the world and for whom love in return is
the highest form of worship. Sufism strives towards an ecstasy of love for the
Divine into which one loses oneself as a form of mystical reuniting. As with
many elements of FitzGerald’s translation, there are multiple readings at work
here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
later translations identify the Beloved explicitly as “Saki” – the cup bearer –
kind of an Arabian Nights wine-waiter. The Saki ensures that the drinker’s cup
is full and that the wine keeps flowing. Years of pop songs have taught us to
recognise that ‘filling one’s cup’ is a metaphor for making one feel fulfilled
and content; often the cup-filler is the one who is loved, or who is otherwise
an object of affection. The Sufi mystics, notably the Whirling Dervishes,
recognised the trance-like states that they entered through their dancing as
being filled up with the ecstatic essence of God. We have a long poetic debt to
Omar Khayyam and FitzGerald here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It’s
noteworthy here to point out that the Saki is never identified as either male
or female. Some, like Robert Graves for instance, have chosen to use this as
‘evidence’ for the fact that FitzGerald was homosexual (something that has
never been definitively determined). Given that, as we’ve seen, the Saki, the
Beloved, might well be an image of God, the importance of gender for this
figure is rendered completely beside the point. On the other hand – more
prosaically – by rendering the Saki sexless, it allows the reader – regardless
of their own persuasion – to bond seamlessly with the “I” of the authorial
voice. In short, it allows everyone to read the work equally. The fact that
most artists depicting the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i>
choose to show the Saki as female, is another issue altogether…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
verse addresses the Beloved, telling them to fill their cup in order to remove
regret caused by past actions and also the fearful anticipation of the
unforeseen events to come. “The Cup that Clears” is a symbol of making peace
with the past and releasing hesitation about the future; it’s a
Persian-Medieval-by-way-of-the-Victorian-Era injunction to practise
mindfulness; to live in the present. It’s quite possible that Charles Dumont
and Michel Vaucaire were channelling just such sentiments when penning <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Non, Je ne Regrette Rien”</i> for Edith
Piaf in 1960.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Now
that we’ve cleared ourselves of regret for our past actions, that leaves What Comes
Next. Here again the authors are explicit – nothing may change. Nothing
untoward might take place. There is no point in worrying about what might
happen, or what might not. Tomorrow, they say, you might simply be the same as
you are today, with the same seven-thousand years of history behind you as
before. (Both Khayyam and FitzGerald were raised with notions of the Earth only
having been around for a few thousand years.) Amazingly, everything might stay <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exactly the same</i>, as much as anything
might change. There’s no point in fretting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">At
this stage in the poem we’ve almost reached a point where the thesis changes
over to a new tack. For those interested, there are six more “Seize the Day”
verses to go before another subject enters the field; however, we should take the
time to savour each of these as they pass and try not to worry about where we’re
headed next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-3277444578517693002017-12-25T18:44:00.000-08:002017-12-25T18:46:02.400-08:00Liberties...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-RayjqUYcvPtIsxPNM6D42dMEwfuS4cdg_i7GRiVuyYTsQ_W9SfdRQbCMc4zToKKySFd_RZlyn8hPireET-bcIo7mzWvonGifPzHvpnkgzJKzWLaNgRO-mOdOgK7tS1CmoNo1rbqElqa/s1600/Libertine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="574" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-RayjqUYcvPtIsxPNM6D42dMEwfuS4cdg_i7GRiVuyYTsQ_W9SfdRQbCMc4zToKKySFd_RZlyn8hPireET-bcIo7mzWvonGifPzHvpnkgzJKzWLaNgRO-mOdOgK7tS1CmoNo1rbqElqa/s320/Libertine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“It is an amusement to me
to take what Liberties I like with these Persians who (as I think) are not
Poets enough to frighten one from such excursions, & who really </span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">do<i> want
a little </i>Art<i> to shape them.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">-Edward FitzGerald<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Throughout
his tenure as the re-interpreter of Khayyam and his point of entry into the
English-speaking world, FitzGerald came up against a wall of criticism and
outrage. The constant refrain from his detractors is that of his lack of fidelity
to the source material and his loose handling of the verses. It has to be said that
there’s no real answer to these charges and – something that is generally
overlooked in the discussion – FitzGerald never tried to defend himself against
them. He <i>did</i> take liberties; he <i>did</i> play fast and loose; he <i>never</i> claimed to be doing otherwise. And
yet there is this tidal surge of outrage against him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
first to voice opposition was the man who actually invited FitzGerald to take a
stab at Omar. Professor Edward Byles Cowell was FitzGerald’s tutor at
university and taught him Medieval Spanish, before encouraging him to venture
from the Mozarabi into the Arabic. Part of Cowell’s instruction was of a vested
nature: the <i>Calcutta Manuscript</i> had
languished untranslated in the Bodleian Library, considered an unimportant
work, and, as far as scut-work was concerned, Cowell decided it was scut-work
that FitzGerald could do. Whatever it was that he expected from his pupil, it
certainly wasn’t what he got.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
<i>Calcutta Manuscript</i> had a chequered
story, being purchased in Kolkata and then ignored by the British and yet of
significance to the French, particularly a French academic named J.B. Nicolas,
the one-time French consul at Resht in Teheran. Professor Nicolas had made
copies of the work and had gone out into the world, recognising that other
collections of the poetry existed, waiting to be found. He spent time gathering
verses of the original, trying to pin down a definitive number. This proved to
be a largely fruitless pastime:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">According
to the legend (and, like so many aspects of this story, it might not even be
true), Omar wrote his <i>ru’baiyah</i> while
in class, overseeing his students. As they toiled over the mathematical exercises
he set them, he would work on his poems and, as often as not, crumple them up
and toss them, as keep them. His students began to look for the rejected poems
and collect them together. This had two effects: first, it exposed Khayyam’s
heterodoxical thinking and got him into politically-hot water; second, it meant
that the collation of his verses was arbitrary and piecemeal, no two copies of
the collected poems the same, or indeed forming any kind of philosophical or
thematic framework. The <i>Calcutta
Manuscript</i> is simply one of these collected strings of poetry, albeit
sumptuously put together. The idea is that there are as few as 70+ verses attributed
to Omar Khayyam, or as many as 200+; there’s just no way to be sure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Anyway,
in retaliation to FitzGerald’s success with his release of the poem in English,
Nicolas appointed himself the self-proclaimed ‘Keeper of the Rubaiyat’ and
lobbied to have FitzGerald called-out as a fraud, even writing to Professor
Cowell for support. To this end, he also encouraged other students (notably,
Jessie Cadell) to turn their hands to the verses and come up with something
better. No-one ever came close.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
clue here lies in FitzGerald’s statement, above. The original verses lacked that
elusive quality which he calls “Art”. In re-combining the verses into a
consistent framework that elevates and emphasises their message, and by
highlighting a handful of the available symbols and metaphors, FitzGerald
brings a level of clarity to the poetry that is clearly lacking in the
original. In short, he turns a string of unrelated epigrams into a cohesive whole.
You’d think his detractors could surely grant him that, but no – once they began
their derision, it had to be all or nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">FitzGerald
had access to a whole range of Persian poetry to which he could have turned his
hand, and to which he often did. It’s clear that he felt there were ‘Poets’
among the “Persians” and that there were ‘poets’. In talking about Hafiz, he
refers to him as the “most Persian” and talks of his verses as being too
beautiful in the original to ever be translated – this is surely high praise.
In terms of Omar, he often talks of his themes as being “the true metal”; his
poetry? Not so much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">This
allows me to take a little diversion into the world of Rabindranath Tagore.
When he first came to the West, his poetry went through the hands of several
editors and translators before appearing in print, in English. The main
translator of his works was W.B. Yeats, a poet whose own work might be
considered a good match to Tagore’s in terms of its mystical insight (although not
that Golden Dawn rubbish) and lyricism. Tagore became the first non-European
winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature as a result and received a Knighthood
(which he later rejected). There is however, as we have seen, translation and
then there is translation: I have read Yeats’ version of <i>“Gitanjali”</i> and another version by another translator – the second
is almost wincingly bad. Given the variation, it begs the question that the
quality of the original must lie somewhere between the two extremes, or
somehow, in some ineffable fashion, transcend both. Can the same be said of
Khayyam?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Inevitably,
given the heat generated by this debate (and we haven’t even gotten to Robert
Graves yet!), a Peacemaker stepped into the ring. The arbiter in the discussion
was the academic, Professor Edward Heron-Allen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">FitzGerald, Edward, & Edward
Heron-Allen (Ella Hallward, illus.), <i>Edward
FitzGerald's </i>“Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”<i>
With Their Original Persian Sources Collated from His Own MSS., and Literally
Translated</i>, L.C. Page & Company, Boston MA, 1900.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Quarto;
hardcover, in decorated cloth, with gilt spine and upper board titles and
decorations; 164pp., in English and Arabic, top edges gilt, all opened with
decorations, with a monochrome frontispiece and tissue guard. Mild wear; covers
well-rubbed with some marks; corners and edges bumped; spine extremities
softened; spine head pulled; discolouration to the upper board bottom corner;
text block edges toned; very mild offset to the endpapers; previous owner's
inscription to the flyleaf, erased; very light scattered foxing throughout,
mainly to the preliminaries; top joint cracked; spine cracked. No dustwrapper.
Very good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">His
method of approach was a simple one: lay out the material – translated and not –
in a single format wherein the quality of the translations could be compared
and contrasted and the relative merits calculated by the reader. This wasn’t a
new practise: translations of writers such as Plato and Aeschylus have been put
through this mill since there have been university presses to publish them. However,
in this instance, the objections and celebrations of the various factions
surrounding the work could be put into perspective by the one party that really
mattered – the Reader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">(It’s
noteworthy to mention here that this copy of the work was published in England
by Bernard Quaritch, the original publisher of FitzGerald’s <i>“Rubaiyat”</i>, and licensed to L.C. Page of
Boston to produce for the American market. Maybe all the controversy was bad
for business?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Anyway,
this book – and many like it to come – attempted to pour soothing oil on very
troubled waters and, perhaps, put the discussion into some kind of perspective
for the population at large. How do you reconcile a piece of writing that, in
the case of Graves, creates apoplexy on the one hand, and provides extreme
comfort on the other – specifically referring to the fact that Thomas Hardy had
the poem read to him on his death-bed? This production goes some of the way
towards providing that resolution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-57701769011296405262017-11-10T18:27:00.003-08:002017-11-10T18:27:35.225-08:00Herb...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">XIX.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“And this delightful Herb
whose tender Green<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Fledges the River’s Lip on
which we lean –<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Ah! lean upon it lightly! for
who knows<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">From
what once lovely Lip it springs unseen!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Carrying
on from the previous quatrain, Omar and Edward push the thought of death and
what happens next to its logical conclusion – in the end, we are all dirt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Once
perished and placed in the ground, we become once more part of a greater unity
- the Earth. And having gone back to that point of origin, the cycle begins
once more: the ground puts forth grass; the grass is eaten; the eater nourishes
its consumer; the consumer generates more of its kind. It’s basic science; but
something which we – in our lives removed from the natural progression of
things – oftentimes forget, or overlook. We all, as they say, “go down to dust”;
we all serve “the Force that through the Green Fuse drives the Flower”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">To
me, this verse is a reminder that, despite all of our accomplishments and
deeds, we are all connected by the fact of being a part of this system. It’s an
exhortation to be aware of the cycles that envelop us and the systems which
produce us and return us and recycle us. I’m sure that both Omar and Edward
didn’t think in terms of “the Environment”, or “Green movements”, but then they
were both far more connected to Nature than we are today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Poisoned
ground brings forth nothing; Nature is capable of sparking life in the most
arid, desolate and inhospitable places. Unfortunately, we have reached a stage
where we can create places where even Nature gets stumped. Plastic has been
found at the bottom of the ocean’s deepest chasms. Antarctic rookeries regularly
produce fewer penguin chicks than can be counted on the fingers of one hand. In
the face of rising sea-levels, the Maldives has reserved a whole island of their
chain to heaping up the garbage left behind by their tourist industry, an
industry decreasing due to the constant odours of decay and rafts of floating
refuse. Are we leaning lightly upon our river-bank in the universe? I don’t
think so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Climate
deniers carry on about “the facts”, and simultaneously cherry-pick those same
facts to support their personal opinions. Not the <i>Truth</i>; their <i>Opinions</i>. Opinions
which can be dramatically altered by a simple Facebook advertisement. Behind
these folk you will find vested interests based upon Industrial Investments and
Cash-Flows in every instance. There is never any notion of Preservation, or
Conservation, in their rhetoric. It’s talk which supports a greedy agenda to
consume and use every available resource, turning it all into cold, hard, cash.
Even people. Once you kill all of the Tigers and Sharks and Rhinos though,
there’s nothing left. And you can’t eat money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Listen
to what Omar and Edward are saying. Lean lightly upon the Earth: it’s a part of
us; all of us. And the thing that’s killing it (and us) is our greed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-59657399886651112872016-10-29T20:21:00.002-07:002016-10-29T20:36:27.580-07:00Buried...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpo0WZTizzL581bOpJXLl4BIrUR7ZCf0HZPG9ryUoDXk1hCsts_UCFnkGDn1OBHReb4LRYWzOGUQWnMF8UHyjYdghzr6E5B4yR99MHKFWdZgFL8z5dIVVbgBU7kjnGJqWFbTb3XZsS-0jg/s1600/DeadSouls2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpo0WZTizzL581bOpJXLl4BIrUR7ZCf0HZPG9ryUoDXk1hCsts_UCFnkGDn1OBHReb4LRYWzOGUQWnMF8UHyjYdghzr6E5B4yR99MHKFWdZgFL8z5dIVVbgBU7kjnGJqWFbTb3XZsS-0jg/s320/DeadSouls2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">XVIII</span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“I sometimes think that never blows so red</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled;</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That every Hyacinth the Garden wears</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dropt in its Lap from some once lovely Head.”</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is always joy in unearthing something wonderful, discovering something heretofore unknown. Treasure comes in different forms and its discovery elicits a frisson of excitement and an exquisite sense of pleasure. Oftentimes the process of finding treasure is its own reward and far outweighs the treasure itself.</span></div>
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I have recently returned from a holiday in New Zealand and, while there, I discovered some treasures of my own. Some of these returned with me but others were not the kind of things that can be purchased, much less re-located. My greatest discovery was an amazing bookshop in Dunedin – south of the Octagon, if that means anything to you – called “Dead Souls”, after the novel by Gogol.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The place has recently moved from its original location to a new place on Princes Street, but you’d never know it: it already has that lovely worn-in feel that all the best bookshops have. The front of the store gleams with bright leather and gilt lettering; there are fresh flowers in vases and Persian rugs; and the ceiling and walls are decorated with a mosaic of old torn dustwrappers, slowly creeping over all the blank space. And yes, there is a giant Jesus in the front window.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Architect of the emporium is Dean, bibliophile and publisher, with whom I enjoyed a long conversation about all things book-related, comparing notes on our particular markets and the current trends in sales. I was amazed to learn on this trip, that most NZ booksellers eschew the Internet in favour of a more personalised, face-to-face approach, and the Godzone is very much the type of place where such endeavours can absolutely thrive. Let’s hope it stays that way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">While with Dean, I asked about copies of the <i>Rubáiyát </i>and he threw me an absolute winner:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">FITZGERALD, Edward, <i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, Rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald,</i> The Riccardi Press for Philip Lee Warner publisher to the Medici Society, London, 1913.<br /><br /><i>Quarto; hardcover, quarter-bound in papered boards with gilt spine and upper-board titles and a green ribbon; 50pp. [i-xxiv + 1-26], on laid paper with wide margins, all opened, top edge gilt. Moderate wear; boards mildly rubbed with some scattered foxing and light bumping to the edges; text block edges lightly spotted; mild offset to the endpapers; ribbon lightly frayed; previous owners’ ink inscriptions to the front pastedown and the half-title; numbered in ink on the limitations page. Number 66 of 1,000 copies. Very good.</i></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></b>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Riccardi Press of London was established in 1909 by Herbert Percy Horne (1864-1916), a poet, typographer, designer, art historian and antiquarian, who also edited magazines of art appreciation through the Edwardian era. In his later years he re-located to Florence and restored an old <i>palazzo </i>into which he moved, living there until his death. The Riccardi Press published books on behalf of The Medici Society, a London operation started in 1908 by Philip Lee Warner and Eustace Gurney, whose avowed purpose was to bring reproductions of fine art to the masses "for the lowest price commercially possible". Initially, the Riccardi Press produced all the Society’s books until they began to focus exclusively on prints and cards, which they do to this day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Given their various peccadilloes, it’s not surprising that these guys would bring a copy of the <i>Rubáiyát </i>to light. I had heard of this edition before, but finding a copy of it in Dunedin wasn’t even on my radar. Buried treasure indeed! To make things better, this copy includes a printed leaflet advertising other works produced by the Riccardi Press, a bookmark with advertising information about the Medici Society, and two black-and-white box-brownie photographs belonging to the previous owner. This kind of stuff, for me, adds all kinds of value and interest to the business of collecting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One photo is of a studious young fellow posing before some stone edifice with a sheaf of papers tucked under his arm; the other shows a laneway bordered by Tudor architecture, with the phrase <i>“Chef d’oeuvre”</i> (“masterpiece”) in ink on the back. The oldest inscription in the book is by “M. Saxton” and dated November 1913, so one might assume that the previous owner was an ex-pat Kiwi studying in either Oxford or Cambridge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of course, such conclusions cannot be taken as read, based as they are upon such nebulous fragments; but such tiny sparks are apt to set off a raft of fiery imaginings. The <i>Rubáiyát</i>, as we have seen before, is a book into which its owners impress a wealth of meaning and import, and these windows into past lives are the main reason that I collect my copies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“M. Saxton” may not be some “buried Caesar”, but his or her <i>Rubáiyát </i>is definitely one of the brightest roses to fall into my garden!</span><br />
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-28786643349698361542015-08-15T16:55:00.000-07:002016-10-28T21:59:31.243-07:00Lions & Lizards...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JeYW6UBZfWUu9JTXo2RbWDJ_u3SAQTFTCglbStZMxqyNu01NbswZutHTBZBn5Xv6vkNZOjPFX8GpLphR-TcqcIIhdKvuZbiEsZDVZi_zLuuBf_kOaooo8xDfEA6yTJFJSLZn2xXNJirR/s1600/LionLizard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JeYW6UBZfWUu9JTXo2RbWDJ_u3SAQTFTCglbStZMxqyNu01NbswZutHTBZBn5Xv6vkNZOjPFX8GpLphR-TcqcIIhdKvuZbiEsZDVZi_zLuuBf_kOaooo8xDfEA6yTJFJSLZn2xXNJirR/s320/LionLizard.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">XVII<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“They say the Lion and the
Lizard keep<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The Courts where Jamshýd
gloried and drank deep;<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">And Bahrám, that great
Hunter – the Wild Ass<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Stamps
o’er his Head, and he lies fast asleep.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">There’s
been quite a lot in the news lately about lions, so I figured this was a good
time to contribute my two-cent’s worth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">What
is this stanza saying? Essentially, it’s reinforcing previous <i>rubai’s</i> by saying that the works of
individual humans are short-lived and impermanent. Jamshýd was a legendary
ruler of yore to the Persians and created many great works, including a famous
cup which was referenced in stanza 5. He built magnificent palaces and
entertained lavishly in them. Now he’s dead and his castles are all in ruins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">FitzGerald
is playing the Romantic card with this verse. Not the melodramatic, treacly,
Hallmark-card of Romance, but the Nineteenth Century aesthetic movement one,
which cleaved to all things natural – after the teachings of Ruskin (who,
ironically, couldn’t cope with “natural” when he saw it) - especially the
wilder, moodier, gloomier side of the Old Dame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“Nature
is eternal”, say the Romantics; “after we are gone, only nature will remain to
erase all our achievements”. That was all well and good, back in the day, but
now, humanity has all kinds of methods to ensure that, once we’re done with the
planet and our time upon it, Mother Nature is not going to be a sure bet to
lift herself off the canvas. Lions are an ever-diminishing quantity and Lizards
are being out-gunned by climate change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMeLmugsskgVACl3kE4AvJWLQV_4w8MKlN_XdZM0pBPmLyd5nRIC7HjOoqQZhA4SgagD1LKKHNyMR7YSJYeWqkWoMgcZFmQBo8Y8Mi1gJLfsZ1fLfzZmajS4c2WaG0zOhlWrqn5qpzTAy/s1600/CairdBahram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMeLmugsskgVACl3kE4AvJWLQV_4w8MKlN_XdZM0pBPmLyd5nRIC7HjOoqQZhA4SgagD1LKKHNyMR7YSJYeWqkWoMgcZFmQBo8Y8Mi1gJLfsZ1fLfzZmajS4c2WaG0zOhlWrqn5qpzTAy/s320/CairdBahram.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Bahrám,
the other guy mentioned in this verse, was a famous hunter in ancient Iran, and
the “Wild Ass”, or Onager, was his quarry of choice. In his time, being a
hunter of high repute was something that could be called employment, and it was
seriously dangerous: arrows, swords, and spears really levelled the playing
field between all parties in those days, making the contest decidedly more
equal. If it were possible for Bahrám to run into a certain American Dentist of
ill-fame, I’m sure he would have a few things to say about his technique, like
hunting actual, wild, undomesticated lions, without hi-tech, laser-sighted
bows, and without guys in train carrying high-powered rifles to pull your fat
out of the fire when you screw up. Not that I’m lauding <i>any</i> kind of hunter; let me be clear: nowadays, the Onager is
extinct in Europe and Asia, and certainly Mr. Bahrám had a hand in that.
Unfortunately, we live at a time when anything natural that isn’t being
passively destroyed <i>en-masse</i> by our
mere presence, is being actively slaughtered by testosteronal A-holes with
performance issues to address. If only these morons would be content with
watching DVDs of bikini-clad women shooting automatic weaponry in quarry pits,
it would be okay; but no, they have to get out there and have a go themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Here’s
a thought, especially since it’s a Shark Year, that cyclical time when sharks
roam further afield than usual and folks in Byron Bay and Perth forget that it
happens every 4-5 years, get all twitchy and start talking about “culls” and
“netting”: round up all the “he-man” hunters out there and dump them in the
oceans with a steak knife each. Problem solved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">There
are two copies of the <i>Rubaiyat</i> from
which I’ve drawn images for this post: the first is illustrated by Robert
Stewart Sherriffs, whose set of illustrations is one of my favourites; the
other is taken from Margaret Caird’s set of pictures and is taken from an
octavo Collins copy of the poem – usually, I come across the duodecimo version with
a single image used as a frontispiece, so obtaining this volume was a definite
bonus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54MsfpaqHG3HwstJx0wuqsn4CI8p3nlaPfBT92fNzzXR7twLTLuWzteJZIH2hX4kwcOn0kH_lYguxOP2-fiecgsQIlvqMSK2rHq_JPXgMZs639xuL6G05U5rHdmL9VIl4EPA8CpOOUzkT/s1600/SherriffsRubaiyat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54MsfpaqHG3HwstJx0wuqsn4CI8p3nlaPfBT92fNzzXR7twLTLuWzteJZIH2hX4kwcOn0kH_lYguxOP2-fiecgsQIlvqMSK2rHq_JPXgMZs639xuL6G05U5rHdmL9VIl4EPA8CpOOUzkT/s320/SherriffsRubaiyat.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">FitzGerald, Edward (G.F.
Maine, Ed.; Robert Stewart Sherriffs, illus.), <i>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám,
Rendered into English verse with an Introduction by Laurence Housman</i>,
Collins Clear-Type Press, London, 1947.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Quarto;
full royal-blue leather, with gilt spine and upper board titles and decorations
on red labels, and a royal blue ribbon; 222pp., all edges gilt, with a
full-colour frontispiece and 11 plates likewise. Some sunning to the board
edges and spine; chipping to the leather at the spine head; retailer’s
bookplate to the front pastedown; mild scattered foxing to the preliminaries;
corners bumped with some minor fraying. Very good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyPnCuiejD7ybhYlMrCSizjy529OVJfX1T54LpXUaXl0wGYjSOMXReZ_msxW6nsHwpKe-Eimz8zCY2MkPg7i1HdbB8dBX1iYkaErqMoXJdX7IsSMlpEPkD7ImJmtoC8cgV9GWIO4rDTliR/s1600/CairdRubaiyat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyPnCuiejD7ybhYlMrCSizjy529OVJfX1T54LpXUaXl0wGYjSOMXReZ_msxW6nsHwpKe-Eimz8zCY2MkPg7i1HdbB8dBX1iYkaErqMoXJdX7IsSMlpEPkD7ImJmtoC8cgV9GWIO4rDTliR/s320/CairdRubaiyat.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">FitzGerald, Edward (Margaret Caird, illus.), <i>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám,
Rendered into English verse with an Introduction by Laurence Housman</i>,
Collins Clear-Type Press, London, nd. (c.1920s).</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Octavo;
hardcover in decorated cloth, with decorative endpapers; 56pp., with a
monochrome frontispiece and four plates likewise. Mild sunning to the board
edges and spine; spine lightly cracked; softening to the spine extremities;
some mild toning to the text block edges. Lacks dustwrapper. Very good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-14101321382551113202015-06-20T20:55:00.002-07:002017-03-19T19:56:17.846-07:00Arthur "The One-Man Army" Szyk...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-KZFN0E4ceGQOU_WLwwcNG6Pe63ULmAUbMovSJw4UZG4pQoqfYH0Scy6VnQQaNliAtpmlAsWw6nlLf1nH4AtpkAlXFOv5V8FqU6U6xLos1Pc0ujPTx_kplVcAcbgo709kTsbqicePTo7/s1600/Szyk1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-KZFN0E4ceGQOU_WLwwcNG6Pe63ULmAUbMovSJw4UZG4pQoqfYH0Scy6VnQQaNliAtpmlAsWw6nlLf1nH4AtpkAlXFOv5V8FqU6U6xLos1Pc0ujPTx_kplVcAcbgo709kTsbqicePTo7/s320/Szyk1.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FITZGERALD,
Edward (Arthur Szyk, illus.), <i>Rubáiyát of
Omar Khayyám, rendered into English verse</i>, The Heritage Press for the
George Macy Companies Inc., New York, NY, USA, 1946.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Quarto; hardcover, quarter-bound in
illustrated boards; unpaginated (24pp.), printed and bound </span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">orihon<i> style, with a full-colour, gilt-decorated frontispiece and 7 plates
likewise. Boards rubbed with mild bumping; spine extremities softened; mild
spotting to the text block edges and endpapers. Lacks dustwrapper. Very good.<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Art is not my aim, it is my means.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-Arthur Szyk.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Arthur Szyk, like Willy Pogany, was
born in Eastern Europe and, unlike many other illustrators, seemed fated to
make a living in that profession from his earliest days. Unlike Pogany,
however, who was mostly easy-going and positive, Szyk was contentious,
darkly-humoured and, with a pencil in his hand, downright antagonistic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Born in Łódź, Poland, on the 16<sup>th</sup>
day of June 1894, Szyk (pronounced “Shick”) was the son of wealthy textile
merchants, of Jewish extraction but non-Orthodox. Throughout his life, Szyk was
proud of his heritage, both national and religious, and used his skills to
promote pro-Polish causes and to fight anti-Semitism wherever he found them.
During the <i>Łódź Insurrection</i> in 1905,
Szyk’s father lost his eyesight when a disgruntled worker flung acid in his
face. Despite this, Solomon Szyk staunchly supported his son’s artistic
leanings, sending him to the Académie Julian in Paris for his education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">There, Arthur was exposed to all the
great artistic movements which arose during the start of last century. However,
it seemed that the more he encountered the New in terms of art, the more he
chose to cleave to the traditional, Eastern-influenced styles of his homeland,
as well as developing a liking for the stylistic forms of medieval manuscripts.
From 1912-1914, he was regularly published in the Łódź magazine </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">“Śmiech”</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> (“Laughter”), providing many
politically-charged cartoons and caricatures. By this time he had left Paris
and had taken up studies at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków
studying under Teodor Axentowicz. In 1914 he went to Palestine with several
associates to observe the efforts of jewish settlers in constructing a Jewish
state; however, the trip was cut short due to the outbreak of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">World War One</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">. Palestine was in the
control of the Ottoman Empire and Szyk, being Polish, was considered Russian and
therefore unwelcome in Ottoman territories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Returning home to Łódź, Szyk was
conscripted into the Russian army and fought in the battle to defend his
hometown in November/December 1914. Whilst in the army he drew many images of
Russian soldiers which were sold successfully as postcards. At the commencement
of 1915, he fled the army and returned to Łódź, where he waited out the War. In
September of 1916, he met and married Julia Likerman, with whom he had two
children, George in 1917 and Alexandra in 1922.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Poland regained its independence from
Russia in 1918. In response to the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">German
Revolution of 1918-19</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">, he illustrated a satirical work, co-authored by
himself and poet Julian Tuwim, entitled </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Rewolucja
w Niemczech</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> (</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Revolution in Germany</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">).
The book poked fun at the German people for requiring the permission of their
Kaiser to enact a revolutionary proceedings. Shortly afterwards, Szyk was back
in battle himself in the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Soviet-Polish
War of 1919-20</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">, which he began by working as a propagandist, and then as a
Polish cavalry officer. In 1921, he re-located to Paris once more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In France, Szyk began illustrating in
earnest. Previous to this period, his work was mainly executed in black and
white; now he began to prefer colour and his book illustrations took on the jewel-like
aspect which became characteristic of his style. While based in Paris, he
travelled extensively returning frequently to Łódź. In Marrakesh he drew the
portrait of the Pasha, and he went to Geneva to illustrate the <i>Statute of the League of Nations</i>. For
the Pasha’s portrait he received the <i>Ordre
des Palmes Académiques</i>, for being a goodwill ambassador; he left the <i>Statute</i> incomplete, turning in disgust
from what he perceived to be half-hearted efforts by the League.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAExzDyLypCiOeIZXyzLa_SyxrcRkaGwdugYfc69otfSoddqK94c7AVjW3CJYZET1O9kLl3DNXwUk4kTpq9xtigE-Bc9peptxDML4iOnIGoV93wbBLDYpO2-pIU68g7cbjz5cZ10_MrRI/s1600/Szyk3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAExzDyLypCiOeIZXyzLa_SyxrcRkaGwdugYfc69otfSoddqK94c7AVjW3CJYZET1O9kLl3DNXwUk4kTpq9xtigE-Bc9peptxDML4iOnIGoV93wbBLDYpO2-pIU68g7cbjz5cZ10_MrRI/s320/Szyk3.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Also during this period, he began
illustrating the <i>Statute of Kalisz</i>, a
charter of liberties which were granted to the Jews by Boleslaw the Pious, the
Duke of </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Kalisz</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">,
in 1264. Work on the project gained widespread recognition and, before it was
even finished, postcard reproductions of certain pages and a travelling
exhibition cemented Szyk’s popularity in the lead-up to the publishing of the
work in Munich in 1932. He was awarded the Polish Gold Cross of Merit for his
effort in showcasing the Jewish contributions made to Polish culture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At the same time, Szyk was embarked
upon illustrating a history of George Washington and the <i>American Revolutionary War</i> entitled <i>Washington and his Times</i>. This series of 38 watercolour images was begun
in Paris in 1930 and was exhibited in 1934 at the Library of Congress in
Washington, at which time Szyk was awarded the George Washington Bicentennial
Medal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Starting in 1932, Szyk began to
illustrate a version of the Jewish text </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The
Haggadah</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">, which contained 48 full-colour illustrations and many other
decorations. It is considered to be his </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">magnum
opus</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">. With the unsettling reverberations which were coming out of Germany
however, Szyk was compelled to add many modern flourishes to the work – evil
characters in the work depicted in German clothing and with Hitler moustaches,
caricatures of Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring, and many images of
swastika-bearing snakes proliferated. In 1937 while in London, Szyk was forced
by his publishers to amend these details before the work went to print: at the
time the British Government was actively pursuing a policy of appeasement with
Germany and didn’t want anything to sour the deal. Three years of compromise
later, Szyk dedicated the book to King George VI and walked away from it. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The Times</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> review of the final work
declared it “worthy to be placed among the most beautiful of books that the
hand of man has ever produced”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Probably compelled by the compromises
he made to this work, Szyk held an exhibition of 72 caricatures held at the
London Fine Art Society, entitled <i>War and
“Kultur” in Poland</i>. A reviewer in <i>The
Times</i> rated the display in 1940 as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“There are three leading motives in the
exhibition: the brutality of the Germans – and the more primitive savagery of
the Russians, the heroism of the Poles, and the suffering of the Jews. The
cumulative effect of the exhibition is immensely powerful because nothing in it
appears to be a hasty judgment, but part of the unrelenting pursuit of an evil
so firmly grasped that it can be dwelt upon with artistic satisfaction.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Shortly thereafter, Szyk left England
to travel to America, charged by the Polish government in exile to spread the
word in the US about the fate of Poland and the Jews under Nazi rule.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Szyk felt a spiritual affinity with the
United States and declared that he felt completely free to speak his mind
(through his art). He was inspired by various governmental proclamations and
pieces of legislation to illustrate these and to create works of art to
celebrate them. He designed stamps and official documents, but primarily he
created illustrations propagandizing the Axis powers and celebrating Allied
victories. These were published in various magazines and turned into posters
which, it is said, were even more popular amongst the US troops than their
pin-up girls. Eleanor Roosevelt said of Szyk, “This is a personal war of Szyk
against Hitler, and I do not think that Mr. Szyk will lose this war!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjebAhRqaZNxBlDF3JTWfzg_dPRSKvX4Q8bHS0Bq-1Zugm76Vp1USuUgQW0ZFKt4un1iwj0ysNs4tUWkl-1wV1DLZhhkID6jlYBpQs4itvKfAQesjhVXP3Nc54EjVz3jahF1ewbM42A7pk0/s1600/RooseveltSzyk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjebAhRqaZNxBlDF3JTWfzg_dPRSKvX4Q8bHS0Bq-1Zugm76Vp1USuUgQW0ZFKt4un1iwj0ysNs4tUWkl-1wV1DLZhhkID6jlYBpQs4itvKfAQesjhVXP3Nc54EjVz3jahF1ewbM42A7pk0/s320/RooseveltSzyk.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Szyk’s unwavering moral compass was not
reserved only for the Axis enemies. He also created many works critical of the
American culture, particularly the entrenched racism that h<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">e</span> perceived there. In
one cartoon he has two US soldiers – one white and one black – discussing what
they would have done with him if they had captured Hitler. The black soldier
says “I would have made him a Negro and dropped him somewhere in the U.S.A.”
The Ku Klux Klan were another hated organisation who felt his acerbic barbs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Szyk’s popularity waned after the War
and he eventually died of a heart attack in New Canaan in September 1951. He
left behind an incredible legacy of illustrative work, not only of his war
propaganda but also many meticulously designed books, immediately recognisable
due to his minute, jewel-like work. Recent exhibitions have revived interest in
his work and re-established him as one of the most driven and passionate
illustrators of the Twentieth Century. After his death Judge Simon H. Rifkind
summed up his life with this eulogy:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"The Arthur Szyk whom the world
knows, the Arthur Szyk of the wondrous color, and of the beautiful design, that
Arthur Szyk whom the world mourns today—he is indeed not dead at all. How can
he be when the Arthur Szyk who is known to mankind lives and is immortal and
will remain immortal as long as the love of truth and beauty prevails among
mankind?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-17066531869959376942015-06-02T03:30:00.001-07:002017-03-19T19:59:08.967-07:00Batter'd...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Rw8hYOW8eWrHd6nGSf5uyg73d82Fxp-RyoCa6x4GUuGByZOt5rbw0KoEsF7JQ6cQMNnnIQsIdj9BvjxboBsjtGXLcjYv4fvxYLk1b4UDexZkDWQJls8GaTkshjVpuA32x9as98dhQRRy/s1600/LeaveTaking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Rw8hYOW8eWrHd6nGSf5uyg73d82Fxp-RyoCa6x4GUuGByZOt5rbw0KoEsF7JQ6cQMNnnIQsIdj9BvjxboBsjtGXLcjYv4fvxYLk1b4UDexZkDWQJls8GaTkshjVpuA32x9as98dhQRRy/s320/LeaveTaking.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">XVI.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“Think, in this batter’d
Caravanserai<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Whose Doorways are
alternate Night and Day,<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">How Sultán after Sultán
with his Pomp</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "ms shell dlg 2" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Abode
his Hour or two, and went his way.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqavGSxIPIxwx-SJN3iL3mxosZWXgoz05aYCHuamYxNoPhZPxXLGWit9G-PysD87jUHsDbSB7x3UDYHq8tgrvsZAw_3ypZUf5OZsgAgkkdAUbuhjBCdMebu3UoRKbdgERHZPo6LLTKZnBT/s1600/Dinkus7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqavGSxIPIxwx-SJN3iL3mxosZWXgoz05aYCHuamYxNoPhZPxXLGWit9G-PysD87jUHsDbSB7x3UDYHq8tgrvsZAw_3ypZUf5OZsgAgkkdAUbuhjBCdMebu3UoRKbdgERHZPo6LLTKZnBT/s1600/Dinkus7.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This
is a neat little image: a caravanserai is basically a semi-permanent encampment
of traders, their tents arranged in an orderly fashion around a central meeting
area. These locales were designed as places where traders and travellers could
meet to discuss the market, swap gossip, and rest secure knowing that there was
some degree of safety in numbers on the road. You can easily imagine such a
campsite settling down in the evening: a cluster of little tents each with its
lamp and a patch of growing darkness between each one – effectively an
“alternate Night and Day”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">FitzGerald
devises many ways in which to encapsulate this idea of endless, successive days
and nights, to symbolise the progress of time. We’ve seen the Bird of Time on
the wing already and this is yet another urging to be aware that time is
endless and that our participation in its passage is woefully short.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Have
you ever wandered into a place that reeked of history? Have you ever sat down
somewhere and been compelled to say “if only these walls could talk?” Well,
what they’d speak of is how some “Sultán after Sultán with his pomp” stayed
here for a little while and then moved on. There are restaurants and bars in
Paris where tables bear plaques to indicate that this was where Gustave
Flaubert sat, or that Alexandre Dumas took his coffee here: in this sense,
FitzGerald is saying once more that we need to leave an impression; we need to
make our mark. In one sense this is an exhortation to do something useful with
the time we have. To be remembered as a Sultán and not a Slave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">There
is a flipside to this, and this is the other recurring theme of FitzGerald’s
work: whether a Sultán or a Slave, no-one is immune to the harsh governance of
Time. Wealth and consequence doesn’t make you immune to Death. Time will get
you in the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
closest we get, is to enjoy the batter’d caravanserai. When everyone else has
moved on, the place remains. We get to absorb the traces of those who went
before, to learn the lessons that they have left behind. This is the value of
age, and of the old. This is the lesson of place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">When
we denigrate the things that those before us have built, we deny our own past –
we dismiss the lessons to be learned, the message that is Time. Santayana said
it and it’s become cliché nowadays – <i>“those
who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">We
are what we achieve in our lives. But we are also what led to us being here. If
we claim to have sprung wholly from the Now, untrammelled by the things that
went before us, then we are, in effect, simply striding out of the encampment
and into the dark desert beyond, a desert that is filled with jackals and
scorpions and a lonely, isolated death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Call
it a caravanserai; call it Nineveh; call it Palmyra; call it the Pyramids of
Giza. No-one came here of their own accord and no-one is free from the debt
they owe the past. FitzGerald knew this; he saw it in the verse and he let us
know that Omar knew it too.</span></div>
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-32668191423599824122015-04-21T22:38:00.003-07:002017-03-19T20:13:12.517-07:00Edmund J. Sullivan...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">In
my last post, I made a glancing reference to Edmund J. Sullivan (he of the
pirated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grateful Dead</i> poster), so I
thought I’d take the opportunity to introduce this particular illustrator
properly, although he may well be the most instantly-recognisable illustrator
of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i> out there.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6SXORmM4FIMO-VViQHJKH5AsVMUbKEkC2Wp4JebqefGwGlTXp6fVXkks7mbmmzVaMHVzM10gp9zevsXy-J1gkXNJUzac5c4HLOiszixHAWqwuy3zqMeE-tckrG6uDWGWmVOIxYiEgEL1/s1600/EdmundJ1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6SXORmM4FIMO-VViQHJKH5AsVMUbKEkC2Wp4JebqefGwGlTXp6fVXkks7mbmmzVaMHVzM10gp9zevsXy-J1gkXNJUzac5c4HLOiszixHAWqwuy3zqMeE-tckrG6uDWGWmVOIxYiEgEL1/s1600/EdmundJ1.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";">FITZGERALD, Edward (trans.), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: First and Fifth
Editions with drawings by Edmund J. Sullivan,</i> Three Sirens Press, New York,
NY, USA, nd. (c.1938)</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";">Octavo;
hardcover, fully bound in pigskin, with spine-titling on a green cloth label,
upper board titles and decorations, and laid-paper endpapers; 194pp., on laid
paper, top edges dyed green and all opened, with a monochrome frontispiece and
many illustrations likewise. Sunning to the spine; mild discolouration to the
boards; previous owner’s ink inscription to the front pastedown; rear free
endpaper torn; some pages inexpertly opened; mild offset to the preliminaries.
Slipcase rubbed with a tipped-on printed label, in good condition. Very good.</span></i></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">English,
born in 1869 and dying in 1933, Sullivan was a prolific illustrator and teacher
of illustration, known mainly for his drawings of skeletons. He was obsessed
with skeletal anatomy and took every opportunity to include a set of bones in
his commissions. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grateful Dead</i>
poster image is not so surprising therefore!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Sullivan
undertook a commission to illustrate an edition of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i> released in 1913, and it has been in and out of print
pretty much constantly since then. Unusually, he took the arduous approach of
illustrating every single verse, something rarely attempted (Gordon Ross – 1873
to 1941 – being the only other instance which springs to mind). Sullivan
eschewed the improved colour processes of the day and chose to illustrate in
monochromatic line drawings. His images are mainly pen and ink, although within
this portfolio there is evidence of a variety of technique and possibly the
creeping-in of other media. The resulting images are occasionally criticised
for being somewhat “cartoon-y”, but the overall effect is quite powerful and
aptly serves to highlight the imagery of the poem.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrVhybWnf0r2o-GkaN15Q5-L1o4oUbDM5dr1ACFvmRLP_jEIzditWeJZwadSLt_zuHMNijL92mM3qbdmfOkrcG7Lf7nVz1A570Ybj3D_gh4NFJt3yZJT2I1nCVIZ-sCDi84rhZqnWVfT1/s1600/EdmundJ2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrVhybWnf0r2o-GkaN15Q5-L1o4oUbDM5dr1ACFvmRLP_jEIzditWeJZwadSLt_zuHMNijL92mM3qbdmfOkrcG7Lf7nVz1A570Ybj3D_gh4NFJt3yZJT2I1nCVIZ-sCDi84rhZqnWVfT1/s1600/EdmundJ2.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";">FITZGERALD, Edward (trans.), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám with drawings by
Edmund J. Sullivan,</i> Avenel Books/Crown Publishers Inc., New York, NY, USA,
nd. (c.1940s)</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";">Octavo;
hardcover, in papered boards, with gilt spine- and upper board titles and
decorations; unpaginated [156pp.], many monochrome illustrations. Light sunning
to the spine; previous owner’s ink inscription to the front free endpaper; mild
toning to the text block and page edges. Good.</span></i></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Some
commentators of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i>
illustrators attempt to place the various contributors within three “camps” –
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Art Nouveau</i> illustrators; those
of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Art Deco</i> period; and the
Moderns. While a case may be made for such divisions, I feel that they’re
somewhat arbitrary. Both Elihu Vedder and Sullivan are unceremoniously dumped
into the “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nouveau</i>” camp, but neither
is an entirely happy fit within that style. Personally, I prefer to let each
artist stand on their own merits and try not to over-classify them.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Sullivan
approached his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i> images in a
clever way, identifying references within the verse and creating an iconography
to suit. Thus “Destiny”, or “Fate”, is depicted as a naked, medusa-like hag,
complete with snake-y hair, while “Time” is shown as the standard
Chronos-figure, with wings, hourglass and scythe. The main narrator of the poem
– the “I” of the sequence – is an aged Persian man, while the unnamed “Saki”,
or cupbearer, is a traditionally-garbed Persian woman. A strange addition is
the presence of the “Creator” figure, or God equivalent, shown often as merely
an arm with wings and starry knuckles. The rest is a stunning cavalcade of
mitred popes, knights, animals, pottery and landscapes. The identification and
depiction of these “roles” within the poem serve greatly to keep the sense of
the poem – in both words and pictures – on track.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ZXk6Hc4VMmxEVLXnzuWdD2jxIpsn3SL_WRKdA1hBebb7wuIY8FVHaRqR_y6SHDNOFbRdW5PrtxChRgTWph7hpzuElw6_KT2ZP4jWfTIplKHOiE0zj5JgXjReXazo8eCj0EvgATChlyPu/s1600/Sullivan3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ZXk6Hc4VMmxEVLXnzuWdD2jxIpsn3SL_WRKdA1hBebb7wuIY8FVHaRqR_y6SHDNOFbRdW5PrtxChRgTWph7hpzuElw6_KT2ZP4jWfTIplKHOiE0zj5JgXjReXazo8eCj0EvgATChlyPu/s1600/Sullivan3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">There
are some odd moments. In the final image accompanying verse LXXV, the scene
shows a gathering of friends and the Saki about to turn down the empty glass in
memory of the Narrator. Beside her where she stands however, there are a series
of concentric lines emerging from a rose bush at the centre of which is an
outstretched pair of ghostly arms. Too, in the background, a tree occupying the
top right corner of the frame seems half-inclined to turn into a skeleton. Neither
element sits well within the overall picture: it seems like Sullivan had some
notion which he wanted to inject into the scene but, possibly due to difficulty
or time constraints, left it unfinished and nebulous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Some
of the illustrations are barely pictorial at all, specifically the images for
verses VI, XLII and LIV. These are almost diagrammatical in nature, schematics
and doodles tricked out with some scrollwork in order to fit the bill of
“illustration”. Along with this random sketchiness, many of the images have a
rushed feel to them, as though they were done without much enthusiasm, or with
the imminence of an imposing deadline curtailing their creativity.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJg3dK63eK_GS8tmy4aH6IDiWsMqtgjKG38FkIdP1qFnhOjnV46mV5H3BeTjgSvSSJvMyou3TTHU-J71kYhvxjY51c7KoFKO_pIRC_jdVTnL2tO2ozMo8h2gsA0g-rIRrjQ6TNL5mb9bBR/s1600/Sullivan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJg3dK63eK_GS8tmy4aH6IDiWsMqtgjKG38FkIdP1qFnhOjnV46mV5H3BeTjgSvSSJvMyou3TTHU-J71kYhvxjY51c7KoFKO_pIRC_jdVTnL2tO2ozMo8h2gsA0g-rIRrjQ6TNL5mb9bBR/s1600/Sullivan2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Some
other illustrations seem to have been manually altered after completion. The
“saints and sages” of verse XXV seem to have had their background edited out
with a pair of scissors; and the image of Eve and the Serpent in verse LVIII
looks to have been executed in charcoal, or some frottage method, instead of
pen and ink. These changes, of course, may have been altered by editorial
authority without Sullivan’s knowledge or intervention, rather than having been
done by him personally.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMFMgJE6o_Xiqzyxx6y8vuoDdfhgwmWhRAlGy1Z1z1EGtVtHBKtQmac06MiJMrAIdFZW-MIBZxs0L4R3klnqXSUvSmAk0D7xEvJ29lIPXaDlnUesCofsouyxdfvochcmIGLlpaYkzXuN1/s1600/Sullivan4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMFMgJE6o_Xiqzyxx6y8vuoDdfhgwmWhRAlGy1Z1z1EGtVtHBKtQmac06MiJMrAIdFZW-MIBZxs0L4R3klnqXSUvSmAk0D7xEvJ29lIPXaDlnUesCofsouyxdfvochcmIGLlpaYkzXuN1/s1600/Sullivan4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Having
illustrated all of the quatrains of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First
Edition</i>, the final effect can be termed almost literal in its presentation.
This could be seen as a defect, but I think that Sullivan manages to skate past
such criticism. Other illustrators prefer not to depict the actual imagery of a
particular verse, but rather try to convey the mood or sensibility of the text
as a whole; this works for the most part, but I think Sullivan, by selecting
his cast for his portfolio at the outset, manages to capture sense and mood at
once. If you flick through his pictures from the early sketches, his Narrator
and the Saki follow a line of intoxication from joy, to maudlin regret, to
hope, that perfectly captures the tone of FitzGerald’s take on the verse.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">In
the final analysis, Sullivan’s portfolio of imagery, at its best, is a
fantastic accompaniment to the text; at worst, didactic. Nevertheless, it
manages to powerfully convey the meaning of the translator, if not the author.
His illustrated version was published in 1913 by Methuen; he had wanted to
produce the first illustrated English version and had completed some images a
few years earlier but the Publisher (whoever they were is unrecorded) to which
he was attached would not commit to the timetable; he produced several more
images over the next couple of years, some of which were published in local
newspapers, before amassing a portfolio sufficient to encourage Methuen to
undertake publication. It is likely this series of false starts which account
for the patchy quality of some of the pictures. That first release was a quarto
format with a coloured frontispiece, but many fans would have seen the later
releases in octavo format through Avenel in the US. I have several of these
later issues – including one misbound, with the binding on upside-down – and a
paperback version which uses the coloured frontispiece of the original edition
as the front cover. I have yet to clap eyes on a 1913 original.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThwWUtwaDLqYGisXIKcbhmIHuK4_yHDCbUcTEJkH3S6pbSMgS2lmmeDzN1cDDm0t6KXDvbEyZJEDcdfMtJD1OaY82GPRyjFYRaB6GB_nbppjhb1Wo1k8MEjNxl9JW8Klubm0QLjDorcRW/s1600/EdmundJ3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThwWUtwaDLqYGisXIKcbhmIHuK4_yHDCbUcTEJkH3S6pbSMgS2lmmeDzN1cDDm0t6KXDvbEyZJEDcdfMtJD1OaY82GPRyjFYRaB6GB_nbppjhb1Wo1k8MEjNxl9JW8Klubm0QLjDorcRW/s1600/EdmundJ3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";">FITZGERALD, Edward (trans.), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám with drawings by
Edmund J. Sullivan,</i> Airmont Publishing Company Inc., New York, NY, USA,
1970.</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";">Octavo;
paperback, with illustrated wrappers; 160pp., with many monochrome
illustrations. Text block and page edges toned; verso of the wrappers quite
browned; mild wear. Very good.</span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">If
I was to compile a “Top Ten” of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i>
illustrators, I would definitely include Sullivan in the list. It’s not just
that he provides “pretty pictures to go with the poetry”, he also attempts to
interpret and to decode the meanings within the verse, which makes these
editions the perfect vehicles for those who come new to Omar, and to
FitzGerald’s re-workings.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbDBVkQ1iGA6mEpL25l-JZITcll_jomBHU9sdyNlsYE8hLiAIUUEz4HgYTWkASJm6RR4TWA_gdpMi5Z6d4nNY5xM_-PfM3SbawOLeONhQu_DgX0EVvGeSUlRMtQp1kSvd8cUOifyWHJl3/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbDBVkQ1iGA6mEpL25l-JZITcll_jomBHU9sdyNlsYE8hLiAIUUEz4HgYTWkASJm6RR4TWA_gdpMi5Z6d4nNY5xM_-PfM3SbawOLeONhQu_DgX0EVvGeSUlRMtQp1kSvd8cUOifyWHJl3/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Postscript:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I apologise to anyone who may have thought that this was a new post - when I uploaded the initial version, there was something screwy with the final result, so I deleted it and started again. This iteration is more acceptable I think. </span></div>
Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-51008400076941986762015-03-13T20:27:00.002-07:002022-03-06T18:34:19.737-08:00The Great Omars...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ddyzOF8114/VQOokDhw1DI/AAAAAAAAEDQ/Z2RzwyaksWI/s1600/PotterFirst.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ddyzOF8114/VQOokDhw1DI/AAAAAAAAEDQ/Z2RzwyaksWI/s1600/PotterFirst.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Working
with books you get a sense of what is valuable and what is not, in any
particular collecting field. There are the titles that – logically – a
collector should seek out automatically, to define the range of their activity
and set up the basic structure of their collection: Harry Potter fans should
obviously have copies of all the canon texts, in as close to first edition, top
quality, format as they can get them. But there are fringe elements to any
collectible range and sometimes these are the Holy Grails of the collectors’
quests. As a retailer in the field, you get to know what’s valuable and what
isn’t. For instance, a hardcover first edition copy of <i>Harry Potter and the Philosophers’ Stone</i> is paramount: only 500 of
these were published – half that number in paperback – and the bulk of them
were distributed to libraries. This means that few copies are not cursed with
the “ex-library” taint, and fewer still are in any sort of worthwhile
condition. Many are ignored because they lack dustwrappers, but the canny
collector knows that the first editions <i>didn’t
come</i> <i>with a wrapper</i>. If you do
find a copy, you’ve scored yourself an easy £50,000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">It’s
the same with <i>The Prisoner of Azkaban</i>,
where there were misprints in the first run. Or, for collectors of early
Australiana, in Surgeon John White’s <i>Account
of the Colony of New South Wales</i>, where some of them were hand coloured
(giving rise to the weird term “coloured White”) and some were not. There are
myriad other instances where scarcity, obscurity - so-called “points of
difference” - cause the value of otherwise unremarkable books to skyrocket. For
instance, one of America’s most valuable books is a old school text which is so
beaten up that it lives in a Ziploc bag - an archival-quality one but,
nevertheless. It’s the fact that it’s a Latin primer and, amongst the names of
the students who used it, written on the flyleaf, is listed one “A. Lincoln”
that lifts it from the herd. It speaks volumes about the roots of Lincoln’s
career as a lawyer and lawmaker, and thus is a tangible link to the man
himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">So
how does this relate to <i>The Rubaiyat of
Omar Khayyam</i>? Well, it’s a field open to collecting and I’m not alone in
pursuing it. The nice thing about it is that there are many aspects to the
books that allow for specialisation and focus: some collectors like illustrated
editions; others like early British ones. I range widely, but I keep an eye out
for copies produced in the Southern hemisphere, mainly Australia, New Zealand
and South Africa. I also try to pick up copies produced during the Wars, when
paper restrictions made the <i>Rubaiyat</i>
a perfect item for booksellers to mass produce. There are rarities and obscure
editions out there and anyone with their senses honed (and a copy of Potter and
of Garrard to hand) would be ready to pounce on them. A First Edition,
obviously, is the Holy Grail for most fans, but at £80,000+ it’s a serious
investment. An Elihu Vedder First is hardly less expensive, and recent
exhibitions of his work have served to drive the price higher. Firsts of the
various Gift Book editions – Pogany, Dulac, and don’t get me started on Bull! -
are easier to come by, but finding one in a reasonable condition is the tricky
part – many of these were dumped into nurseries, relegated to the realm of
‘kids’ books’, and have suffered accordingly. A thing I’ve always coveted – and
this is <i>really</i> obscure – is a copy of
the Grateful Dead concert poster which pirates Edmund J. Sullivan’s
illustration for quatrain XXVI without credit. But that’s just me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C-guAWvtddo/VQOlGhDCTLI/AAAAAAAAECo/PwbkgaoPhDc/s1600/Grateful.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C-guAWvtddo/VQOlGhDCTLI/AAAAAAAAECo/PwbkgaoPhDc/s1600/Grateful.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Limited
editions and short print runs also affect the value of a book and the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Rubaiyat</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> is an instance where this kind
of artificial rarity was deliberately imposed to an extreme extent. It’s the
story of The Great Omars, and it’s a rollicking tale, so sit back and enjoy...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">There
are great books and great writers in the book world, but there are also great
bookbinders - the people who actually assemble the printed pages into a
readable form. At the end of the Nineteenth Century there rose to prominence a
company, the works of which became a touchstone of quality in bookbinding ever
since. The company was called Sangorski & Sutcliffe, and their books are
collectable nowadays for their bindings alone (I have a very nice Sangorski
& Sutcliffe bound <i>Rubaiyat</i> in my
collection).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
company started from very humble beginnings. Sangorski was a jeweller from
Eastern Europe and Sutcliffe was a part-time artist and leatherworker. They met
whilst unemployed in London, doing drudge work to keep the wolf from the door.
While on their breaks, they discussed the possibility of combining their
various talents to produce bespoke items which would command commensurate fees.
They thought bookbinding might be the way to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
success that followed was enormous. They became known for the fineness of their
work and their attention to detail, and the fact that they were prepared to
bedizen a book with gems if that was what the client wanted. At the turn of the
Twentieth Century, they began to look around for a project that would push the
limits of what they could do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-96Y0wVBClYw/VQOlAx3Mu2I/AAAAAAAAECI/-1Uj8QqXEj4/s1600/GreatOmar1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-96Y0wVBClYw/VQOlAx3Mu2I/AAAAAAAAECI/-1Uj8QqXEj4/s1600/GreatOmar1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">It
speaks volumes of the popularity of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> at that time that they decided to embark upon the
printing and binding of one – </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">one</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> –
copy of the work, bringing to it all the technical and artistic expertise which
they commanded. The text and interior illustrations were printed on finest
vellum and hand-coloured; Sangorski designed the boards and painstakingly
stitched them together from the tiniest slivers of hand-dyed leather; finally,
the binding was lavished with as much gold leaf as it and good taste could withstand
and covered with gemstones – pearls, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, lapis lazuli
and turquoise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">A
subscription fund, in the form of an auction, was held to finance the project.
Bidders were advised by mail invitation and allowed to bid and raise over a
period of time, before a final bid was accepted. The more money that was laid
down – and the bidding was fierce – the higher the quality of the final work.
In the end, the winner was an anonymous American purchaser in upstate New York.
The work consumed Sangorski and almost killed him through exhaustion. However,
it was finally finished, named “The Great Omar”, carefully parcelled up, and prepared
for despatch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">On
the <i>RMS Titanic</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dXrJnpYLv0M/VQOk-dqAUKI/AAAAAAAAEB8/3MqiptUqPfo/s1600/Titanic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dXrJnpYLv0M/VQOk-dqAUKI/AAAAAAAAEB8/3MqiptUqPfo/s1600/Titanic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">As
we all know, the unthinkable happened to the unsinkable, and The Great Omar is
one of many treasures that will now never be rescued from the safe on the White
Star Line’s greatest fiasco (although I’m sure I was not alone in keeping tabs
on Robert Ballard’s efforts in that regard!).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Sangorski,
stricken by the disaster, suffered a massive reversal in his health and was
driven into early retirement. The spectre of The Great Omar hung over the
company for many years as a symbol of hubris; however the company was still a
very viable concern. The idea never really went away though: after Sangorski’s
death, Sutcliffe began musing over the standing type and the original design
work. There were enough leftover gems and gold and specially-treated leather to
bring this phoenix (or maybe peacock is better in this instance) back from the
ashes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IeRElyaZU2g/VQOlFpHKRxI/AAAAAAAAECg/mqHAIDDBvY0/s1600/GreatOmar2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IeRElyaZU2g/VQOlFpHKRxI/AAAAAAAAECg/mqHAIDDBvY0/s1600/GreatOmar2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">He
revised the design to accommodate the available resources and set to work,
keeping it as a side-project to the more serious work which occupied his team
in the lead-up to World War Two: uniformly-bound copies of the classics were a
pre-requisite for all battleships at the time; my S&S </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Rubaiyat,</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> for example, is one bound for the Royal Navy. He worked
at night in a warehouse and workshop which the company owned in the Bloomsbury
area of London. There were many more pearls in this incarnation, because
Sangorski had thought them too unwieldy for his original design and had
dismissed them from the first project. Sutcliffe made them a feature of the new
design and deftly set them in place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Again,
interest piqued when word of the project got out. Money was tight but the hunger
was there and Sutcliffe seriously contemplated notions of donating the proceeds
to the War Effort. It was probably with hopeful spirits that he locked the
workshop door behind him on the night the binding was finished, that moonless
summer night in 1941.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">During
the Blitz.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5IR4kysIbPo/VQOk_YD9EyI/AAAAAAAAEDE/qVEigKI6-9g/s1600/WarehouseFire.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5IR4kysIbPo/VQOk_YD9EyI/AAAAAAAAEDE/qVEigKI6-9g/s1600/WarehouseFire.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">For
Sutcliffe and his company, that was the final straw. All the notes and
leftovers from the project were archived and the entire endeavour forgotten
about. Until, that is, the 1980s.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">At
that time a certain Stanley Bray had been reading about The Great Omars and
their fates and took it upon himself to contact Sangorski & Sutcliffe to
see if they had any files left over from the story which he could examine, with
the view of perhaps writing an article about the events. Much to his surprise,
the S&S archive produced, not only notes about the events, but also several
sets of the printed text blocks, unused gemstones and gold and the original
design notes by Messrs. Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Stricken with inspiration,
Stanley had an idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">It
was this: he would take the leftovers of the project – permission from the
company pending – and reconstruct The Great Omar, using as much of the original
materials – supplemented by newer additions where necessary – as possible. He
sought and gained permission and was soon embarked upon a mission to recreate
the doomed tome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hHF5sPBrPzM/VQOlCVF7G3I/AAAAAAAAECQ/JDciIBKBN-0/s1600/GreatOmar3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hHF5sPBrPzM/VQOlCVF7G3I/AAAAAAAAECQ/JDciIBKBN-0/s1600/GreatOmar3.jpg" width="269" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Stanley
went back to Sangorski’s original design. Unlike Sutcliffe, he didn’t have an
issue with what to do with those clunky pearls, so reverting to the first
incarnation seemed appropriate. He hand-coloured the text and tooled the
leather, adding the precious stones in line with Sangorski’s notes and
supplementing where possible from his meagre earnings. The result, while not a
patch on the original, was technically excellent and a glorious tribute to the
master bookbinders’ talents. In 1985, with much general acclaim, it went to its
fate:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aAO3NP65X88/VQOlD90qIaI/AAAAAAAAECY/_tU7ZucI4c0/s1600/BritishLibrary.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aAO3NP65X88/VQOlD90qIaI/AAAAAAAAECY/_tU7ZucI4c0/s1600/BritishLibrary.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
Reading Room of the British Library.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">No,
seriously: it’s still there to this day, and anyone can go and look at it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">And
for us collectors out there, it’s a close as we’ll ever get to putting our
hands on a Great Omar, the Holy Grail of <i>Rubaiyat</i>
collectors!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-40257073145086496612015-03-13T20:13:00.001-07:002015-03-13T20:13:24.641-07:00Aureate...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">XV.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“And those who husbanded
the Golden Grain<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And those who flung it to
the Winds like Rain<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Alike to no such aureate
Earth are turn’d<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">As,
buried once, Men want dug up again.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">We
live in a world where everyone is unnaturally obsessed with themselves. Our
culture is one where the ego is always front and centre: we take photographs of
ourselves; we list the minutiae of our daily lives on social media; we carry a
sharp (and, frankly, offensive) sense of entitlement with us wherever we go.
It’s all about Us. Or rather, Me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Fortunately,
this isn’t the first time that such attitudes have proliferated, and,
conversely, it probably won’t be the last. One hundred years ago, the prominent
generation of the time thought that it knew best and that it had The Answer;
those youngsters blithely went to War, took drugs, or embraced radical
lifestyle choices, thinking that their sole input would be the difference that
would tip the state of affairs in Our Favour. In its way it was a stark relief
from the stultified inactivity of the previous generation, which had slipped
into a malaise, unable to see a way forward from the many woes which beset the
civilisation; but equally, it was brash and unconsidering, prone to grand
gestures which could cause more damage than they solved. This is not to say
that either generation got it right; as usual there was a middle way which, if
taken, might have had different consequences. It’s the “Me-ness” of the activity
that is its hallmark, and which is doomed – apparently – to come around in
cycles.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">FitzGerald
and Omar talk about this phenomenon in this quatrain. “Who do you think you
are?” they seem to say. “Of what value are you exactly?” And, almost
inevitably, “Think again!” You might be a miser, hoarding all of your money and
thinking that whoever dies with the most, wins; or you might be a wastrel,
throwing away your cash on anything that catches your eye. Whichever hat you
wear in life, at the moment of death you are indistinguishable from anyone
else. Dead is dead. There are no winners. After it’s all over, you’re just a
bunch of spoiling chemicals in a container rapidly losing cohesion; regardless
of what you did in life, you end up in a hole and no-one will want to dig you
up for a look-see.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">No-one
gets turned into gold – </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">“aureate Earth”</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">.
No-one is more valuable or special than anyone else. Death is the great
leveller.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This
might seem to be an overly pessimistic view of things, but, as often happens
with these two poets, there is a potential silver lining. While we are all
equal, they say, our actions have a degree of permanence which lives on after
us. We have the ability to create change. We are not the gold we use to facilitate
our schemes and plans: that gold exists apart from us. What we do with it
defines us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
Ancient Egyptians knew this also, as revealed by this inscription:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“The strength of the Pharaoh
lies in Justice.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A Destroyer’s monuments are
themselves destroyed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The acts of a Liar do not
last.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">-Kanais,
Inscription of Seti I<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Even
Pharaoh, an incarnate divine being to the Egyptian way of thinking, was not
important in and of himself – it is his Justice wherein lies his strength.
Justice – lawmaking; governmental control – exists apart from Pharaoh and lives
on after his death. Further, Seti goes on to qualify the actions of living
beings: those of a destructive bent are themselves destroyed, with all of their
works; liars are eventually discovered. The Egyptians believed in a concept
called <i>“Ma’at”</i>, often translated as
“Truth”, but more accurately meaning “Correctness”. There is a way in which
things should be done, a measure against which actions are judged: those who
flouted the tenets of <i>Ma’at</i> were in
for a sticky end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mwOGHnZToNI/VQOk2baBXQI/AAAAAAAAEBc/MuNARTqpeQU/s1600/Maat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mwOGHnZToNI/VQOk2baBXQI/AAAAAAAAEBc/MuNARTqpeQU/s1600/Maat.jpg" height="320" width="159" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The
deeds of an individual stand apart from them and define their value; this is
what Omar and FitzGerald (and the Ancient Egyptians) seem to be saying. Good or
bad, these are the things that we leave behind us after we’ve turned to dirt.
The implication seems to be that we shouldn’t think too highly of ourselves as
individuals: we should just get on with things and try to leave behind the sort
of legacy that will serve the goals to which we adhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Your
name might get slapped on a new public library; you might make headlines after
you walk into a subway station with a backpack of TNT strapped to you; someone
might name a new species of chewing louse in honour of you; you might have cast
the deciding vote allowing deadly weapons to be available for public sale. Many
years later, people may wonder how that library got there, or why exactly they
have to surrender their luggage for inspection when getting on a train; or how
to pronounce the word <i>“garylarsonii”</i>.
Or they might rail against the stupidity which led to a sharp rise in annual
gun fatalities. And they might be motivated to dig deep and examine the various
circumstances. What they won’t remember, is YOU.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One
clod of dirt looks much the same as another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-19469911675399453832015-01-17T21:00:00.000-08:002017-11-16T16:42:40.652-08:00Astronomer-Poet...<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Omar Khayyám<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
Astronomer-Poet of Persia<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">By
Edward J. FitzGerald<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">I
have chosen for this entry to let FitzGerald speak in his own words. This is
the introductory essay which prefaces many versions of the <i>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám</i>, especially those that are not illustrated
and which compare the various versions which FitzGerald produced. This
particular form of the text is taken from a very nice American copy which my
sister gave to me this Christmas just passed, and which compares all five
versions of the poem with an array of commentaries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">FITZGERALD, Edward
(trans.), <i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám,</i>
Books Inc. Publishers, New York, NY, USA, n.d. (c.1910s?).</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Octavo;
hardcover, with gilt spine-titling; 258pp., top edge dyed red. Spine
extremities mildly softened; previous owner’s ink inscription to the front free
endpaper; text block edges lightly toned. Lacks dustwrapper. Very good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">This
is the original introductory essay to the poem that followed in the wake of the
First Edition around 1868, and again in the Second Edition (1872), along with
emendations made after FitzGerald began copping flak from other translators,
especially the infamous M. Nicolas who became unreasonably incensed over
FitzGerald’s efforts. The little story about Omar and his friends that opens
the piece is pure fluff – it’s a nice tale but hardly true, and any scan of the
dates of those involved will reveal this fact. However, the real meat of the
work is FitzGerald’s assessment of Khayyam and his gentlemanly dismissal of
Nicolas’ objections. With all the academic to-ing and fro-ing that has gone on
over this poem since the late 1800s, I think it’s interesting to note that
FitzGerald had already made his position more than abundantly clear by the time
of his Second Edition; but obviously, those with a bee in their bonnets cannot
be bothered with the tiresome minutiae of Introductory material!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Anyone
even vaguely interested in Khayyam and his poem should take the time to read
this piece, so here it is in all its glory, complete with footnotes. FitzGerald
believed (reasonably, for his time) that everyone spoke French, so the bits in
that language were not translated in the text; I have done my best with my
creaky skills to provide the English forms and I apologise in advance for any faulty readings!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Omar
Khayyám was born at Naishápúr in Khorassán in the latter half of our Eleventh,
and died in the First Quarter of our Twelfth Century. The Slender Story of his
Life is curiously twined about that of two other very considerable Figures in
their Time and Country: one of whom tells the Story of all Three. This was Nizám-ul-Mulk,
Vizier to Alp Arslán the Son, and Malik Shah the Grandson, of Toghrul Beg the
Tartar, who had wrested Persia from the feeble Successor of Mahmúd the Great,
and founded that Seljukian Dynasty which finally roused Europe into the
Crusades. This Nizám-ul-Mulk, in his </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Wasiyat</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">
– or </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Testament</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> – which he wrote and
left as a Memorial for future Statesmen – relates the following, as quoted in
the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Calcutta Review, No. 59</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">, from
Mirkhond’s </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">History of the Assassins</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“‘One
of the greatest of the wise men of Khorassán was the Imám Mowaffak of Naishápúr,
a man highly honoured and reverenced, may God rejoice his soul; his illustrious
years exceeded eighty-five, and it was the universal belief that every boy who
read the Koran or studied the traditions in his presence, would assuredly
attain to honour and happiness. For this cause did my father send me from Tús
to Naishápúr with Abd-us-samad, the doctor of law, that I might employ myself
in study and learning under the guidance of that illustrious teacher. Towards
me he ever turned an eye of favour and kindness, and as his pupil I felt for
him extreme affection and devotion, so that I passed four years in his service.
When I first came there, I found two other pupils of mine own age newly
arrived, Hakim Omar Khayyám, and the ill-fated Ben Sabbáh. Both were endowed
with sharpness of wit and the highest natural powers; and we three formed a
close friendship together. When the Imam rose from his lectures, they used to
join me, and we repeated to each other the lessons we had learned. Now Omar was
a native of Naishápúr, while Hasan Ben Sabbáh’s father was one Ali, a man of
austere life and practise, but heretical in his creed and doctrine. One day
Hasan said to me and Khayyám, “It is a universal belief that the pupils of the
Imám Mowaffak will attain to fortune. Now, even if we all do not attain
thereto, without doubt one of us will; what then shall be our mutual pledge and
bond?” We answered, “Be it what you will.” “Well,” he said, “let us make a vow,
that to whomsoever this fortune falls, he shall share it equally with the rest,
and reserve no pre-eminence for himself.” “Be it so,” we both replied, and on
those terms we mutually pledged our words. Years rolled on, and I went from
Khorassán to Transoxiana, and wandered to Ghazni and Cabul; and when I
returned, I was invested with office, and rose to be administrator of affairs
during the Sultanate of Sultan Alp Arslan.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">‘He
goes on to state, that years passed by, and both his old school-friends found
him out, and came and claimed a share in his good fortune, according to the
school-day vow. The Vizier was generous an kept his word. Hasan demanded a
place in the government, which the Sultan granted at the Vizier’s request; but
discontented with a gradual rise, he plunged into the maze of intrigue of an
oriental court, and, failing in a base attempt to supplant his benefactor, he
was disgraced and fell. After many mishaps and wanderings, Hasan became the
head of the Persian sect of the <i>Ismailians</i>,
- a party of fanatics who had long murmured in obscurity, but rose to an evil
eminence under the guidance of his strong and evil will. In A.D. 1090, he
seized the castle of Alamút, in the province of Rúdbar, which lies in the
mountainous tract south of the Caspian Sea; and it was from this mountain home
he obtained that evil celebrity among the Crusaders as the OLD MAN OF THE
MOUNTAINS, and spread terror through the Mohammedan world; and it is yet
disputed whether the word Assassin, which they have left in the language of
modern Europe as their dark memorial, is derived from the hashish, or opiate of
hemp-leaves (the Indian <i>bhang</i>), with
which they maddened themselves to the sullen pitch of oriental desperation, or
from the name of the founder of the dynasty, whom we have seen in his quiet
collegiate days, at Naishápúr. One of the countless victims of the Assassin’s
dagger was Nizám-ul-Mulk himself, the old school-boy friend.’<sup>1</sup><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><sup><br /></sup></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">‘Omar
Khayyám also came to the Vizier to claim his share; but not to ask for title or
office. “The greatest boon you can confer on me,” he said, “is to let me live
in a corner under the shadow of your fortune, to spread wide the advantages of
Science, and pray for your long life and prosperity.” The Vizier tells us,
that, when he found Omar really sincere in his refusal, he pressed him no
further, but granted him a yearly pension of 1200 <i>mithkáls</i> of gold, from the treasury of Naishápúr.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">‘At
Naishápúr thus lived and died Omar Khayyám, “busied”, adds the Vizier, “in
winning knowledge of every kind, and especially in Astronomy, wherein he
attained a very high pre-eminence. Under the Sultanate of Malik Shah, he came
to Merv, and obtained great praise for proficiency in science, and the Sultan
showered favours upon him.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">‘When
Malik Shah determined to reform the calendar, Omar was one of the eight learned
men employed to do it, the result was the <i>Jaláli</i>
era (so called from <i>Jalál-ud-din</i>, one
of the king’s names) – “a computation of time,” says Gibbon, “which surpasses
the Julian and approaches the accuracy of the Gregorian style.” He is also the
author of some astronomical tables, entitled Zíji-Maliksháhí,’ and the French
have lately republished and translated an Arabic Treatise of his on Algebra.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">‘His
Takhallus or poetical name (Khayyám) signifies a Tent-maker, and he is said to
have at one time exercised that trade, perhaps before Nizám-ul-Mulk’s
generosity raised him to independence. Many Persian poets similarly derive
their names from their occupations; thus we have Attár, “a druggist”, Assár,
“an oil presser”, etc.<sup>2 </sup>Omar himself alludes to his name in the
following whimsical lines:-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 70.9pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“Khayyám, who stitched the tents of
science,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 70.9pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Has fallen in grief’s furnace and been
suddenly burned;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 70.9pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The shears of Fate have cut the tent
ropes of his life,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 70.9pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">And the broker of Hope has sold him for
nothing!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">‘We
have only one more anecdote to give of his Life, and that relates to the close;
it is told in the anonymous preface which is sometimes prefixed to his poems;
it has been printed in the Persian in the Appendix to Hyde’s <i>Veterum Persarum Religio</i>, p.499; and
D’Herbelot alludes to it in his Bibliothèque, under <i>Khiam</i>.<sup>3</sup>-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">‘“It
is written in the chronicles of the ancients that this King of the Wise, Omar
Khayyám, died at Naishápúr in the year of the Hegira, 517 (A.D. 1123); in
science he was unrivalled, - the very paragon of his age. Khwájah Nizámi of
Samarcand, who was one of his pupils, relates the following story: ‘I often
used to hold conversations with my teacher, Omar Khayyám, in a garden; and one
day he said to me, “My tomb shall be in a spot where the north wind may scatter
roses over it.” I wondered at the words he spake, but I knew that his were no
idle words.<sup>4</sup> Years after, when I chanced to revisit Naishápúr, I
went to his final resting-place, and lo! it was just outside a garden, and
trees laden with fruit stretched their boughs over the garden wall, and dropped
their flowers upon his tomb, so that the stone was hidden under them.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Thus
far – without fear of Trespass – from the Calcutta Review. The writer of it, on
reading in India this story of Omar’s Grave was reminded, he says, of finding
Cicero’s Account of finding Archimedes’ Tomb at Syracuse, buried in grass and
weeds. I think Thorwaldsen desired to have roses grow over him’ a wish
religiously fulfilled for him to the present day, I believe. However, to return
to Omar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Though
the Sultan “showered Favours upon him,” Omar’s Epicurean Audacity of Thought
and Speech caused him to be regarded askance in his own Time and Country. He is
said to have been especially hated and dreaded by the Sufi’s, whose Practice he
ridiculed, and whose Faith amounts to little more than his own, when stript of
the Mysticism and formal recognition of Islamism under which Omar would not
hide. Their Poets, including Háfiz, who are (with the exception of Firdausi) the
most considerable in Persia, borrowed largely, indeed, of Omar’s material, but
turning it to a mystical Use more convenient to Themselves and the People they
addressed; a People quite as quick as Doubt as of Belief; as keen of Bodily
Sense as of Intellectual; and delighting in a cloudy composition of both, in
which they could float luxuriously between Heaven and Earth, and this World and
the Next, on the wings of a poetical expression, that might serve indifferently
for either. Omar was too honest of Heart as well of Head for this. Having
failed (however mistakenly) of finding any Providence but Destiny, and any
World but This, he set about making the most of it; preferring rather to soothe
the Soul through the Senses into Acquiescence with Things as he saw them, than
to perplex it with vain disquietude after what they <i>might</i> be. It has been seen, however, that his Worldly Ambition was
not exorbitant; and he very likely takes a humorous or perverse pleasure in
exalting the gratification of Sense above that of Intellect, in which he must
have taken great delight, although it failed to answer the Questions in which
he, in common with all men, was most vitally interested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">For
whatever Reason, however, Omar, as before said, has never been popular in his
own Country, and therefore has been but scantily transmitted abroad. The MSS.
of his Poems, mutilated beyond the average Casualties of Oriental
Transcription, are so rare in the East as scarce to have reacht Westward at
all, in spite of all the acquisitions of Arms and Science. There is no copy at
the India House, none at the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris. We know but of
one in England: No. 140 of the Ouseley MSS. at the Bodleian, written at Shiráz,
A.D. 1460. This contains but 158 Rubáiyát. One in the Asiatic Society’s Library
at Calcutta (of which we have a Copy), contains (and yet incomplete) 516,
though swelled to that by all kinds of Repetition and Corruption. So Von Hammer
speaks of <i>his</i> copy as containing
about 200, while Dr. Sprenger catalogues the Lucknow MS. at double that number.<sup>5</sup>
The Scribes, too, of the Oxford and Calcutta MSS. seem to do their Work under a
sort of Protest; each beginning with a Tetrastich (whether genuine or not),
taken out of its alphabetical order; the Oxford with one of Apology; the Calcutta
with one of Expostulation, supposed (says a Notice prefixed to the MS.) to have
arisen from a Dream, in which Omar’s mother asked about his future fate. It may
be rendered thus:-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 70.9pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“Oh Thou who burn’st in Heart for those
who burn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 70.9pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">In Hell, whose fires thyself shall feed
in turn;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 70.9pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">How long be crying, ‘Mercy on them, God!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 70.9pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Why, who art Thou to teach, and He to
learn?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
Bodleian Quatrain pleads Pantheism by way of Justification.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 70.9pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“If I myself upon a looser Creed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 70.9pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Have loosely strung the Jewel of Good
deed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 70.9pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Let this one thing for my Atonement
plead:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 70.9pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">That One for Two I never did mis-read.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
Reviewer,<sup>6</sup> to whom I owe the Particulars of Omar’s Life, concludes
his Review by comparing him to Lucretius, both as natural Temper and Genius,
and as acted upon by the Circumstances in which he lived. Both indeed were men
of subtle, strong, and cultivated Intellect, fine Imagination, and Hearts
passionate for Truth and Justice; who justly revolted from their Country’s
false Religion, and false, or foolish, Devotion to it; but who fell short of
replacing what they subverted by such better <i>Hope</i> as others, with no better Revelation to guide them had yet
made a Law unto themselves. Lucretius, indeed, with such material as Epicurus
furnished, satisfied himself with the theory of a vast machine fortuitously
constructed, and acting by a Law that implied no Legislator; and so composing
himself into a Stoical rather than an Epicurean severity of Attitude, sat down
to contemplate the mechanical Drama of the Universe which he was part Actor in;
himself and all about him (as in his own sublime description of the Roman
Theatre) discoloured with the lurid reflex of the Curtain suspended between the
Spectator and the Sun. Omar, more desperate, or more careless of any so
complicated System as resulted in nothing but hopeless Necessity, flung his own
Genius and Learning with a bitter or humorous jest into the general Ruin which
their insufficient glimpses only served to reveal; and, pretending sensual
pleasure as the serious purpose of Life, only <i>diverted</i> himself with speculative problems of Deity, Destiny,
Matter and Spirit, Good and Evil, and other such questions easier to start than
to run down, and the pursuit of which becomes a very weary sport at last!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">With
regard to the present Translation. The original Rubáiyát (as, missing an Arabic
guttural, these Tetrastichs are more musically called) are independent Stanzas,
consisting of each of four Lines of equal, though varied, Prosody; sometimes <i>all</i> rhyming, but oftener (as here
imitated) the third line a blank. Somewhat as in the Greek Alcaic, where the
penultimate line seems to lift and suspend the Wave that falls over in the
last. AS usual with such kind of Oriental Verse, the Rubáiyát follow one
another according to Alphabetic Rhyme – a strange succession of Grave and Gay.
Those here selected are strung into something of an Eclogue, with perhaps a
less than equal proportion of the “Drink and make merry,” which (genuine or
not) recurs over-frequently in the Original. Either way, the Result is sad
enough: saddest perhaps when most ostentatiously merry: more apt to move Sorrow
than Anger toward the old Tentmaker, who, after vainly endeavouring to
unshackle his Steps from Destiny, and to catch some authentic Glimpse of
TO-MORROW, fell back upon TO-DAY (which has outlasted so many To-morrows!) as
the only Ground he had got to stand upon, however momentarily slipping from
under his Feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xynyTibFMa8/UjgqCYdefJI/AAAAAAAADLE/de06BPf1qN0/s1600/Dinkus4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xynyTibFMa8/UjgqCYdefJI/AAAAAAAADLE/de06BPf1qN0/s1600/Dinkus4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">While
the second Edition of the version of Omar was preparing, Monsieur Nicolas,
French Consul at Resht, published a very careful and very good Edition of the
Text, from a lithograph copy at Teheran, comprising 464 Rubáiyát, with
translation and notes of his own.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Mons.
Nicolas, whose Edition has reminded me of several things, and instructed me in
others, does not consider Omar to be the material Epicurean that I have
literally taken him for, but a Mystic, shadowing the Deity under the figure of
Wine, Wine-bearer, &c., as Háfiz is supposed to do; in short, a Súfi Poet
like Háfiz and the rest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">I
cannot see reason to alter my opinion, formed as it was more than a dozen years
ago<sup>7</sup> when Omar was first shown to me by one to whom I am indebted to
all I know of Oriental, and very much of other, literature. He admired Omar’s
Genius so much, that he would gladly have adopted any such Interpretation of
his meaning as Mons. Nicolas’ if he could.<sup>8</sup> That he did not, appears
by his Paper in the Calcutta Review already so largely quoted; in which he
argues from the Poems themselves, as well as from what records remain of the
Poet’s Life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">And
if more were needed to disprove Mons. Nicolas’ Theory, there is the
Biographical Notice which he himself has drawn up in direct contradiction of
the Interpretation of the Poems given in his Notes. (See pp. xiii-xiv of his
Preface.) Indeed I hardly knew poor Omar was so far gone til his Apologist
informed me. For here we see that, whatever were the Wine that Háfiz drank and
sang, the veritable Juice of the Grape it was which Omar used, not only when
carousing with his friends, but (says Mons. Nicolas) in order to excite himself
to that pitch of Devotion which others reached by cries and <i>“hurlements.”</i> And yet, whenever Wine,
Wine-bearer, &c., occur in the text – which is often enough – Mons. Nicolas
carefully annotates <i>“Dieu,”</i> <i>“La Divinité,”</i> &c.: so carefully
indeed that one is tempted to think that he was indoctrinated by the Súfi with
whom he read the Poems. (Note to Rub. ii, p.8.) A Persian would naturally wish
to vindicate a distinguished Countryman; and a Súfi to enrol him in his own
sect, which already comprises all the chief Poets of Persia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">What
historical Aurthority has Mons. Nicolas to show that Omar gave himself up <i>“avec passion à l’étude de la philosophie
des Soufis”</i>? (Preface, p. xiii.) The Doctrines of Pantheism, Materialism,
Necessity, &c., were not peculiar to the Súfi; nor to Lucretius before
them; nor to Epicurus before him; probably the very original Irreligion of
Thinking men from the first; and very likely to be the spontaneous growth of a
Philosopher living in an Age of social and political barbarism, under shadow of
one of the Two and Seventy Religions supposed to divide the world. Von Hammer
(according to Sprenger’s Oriental Catalogue) speaks of Omar as “a Free-thinker
and <i>a great opponent of Sufism;”</i>
perhaps because, while holding much of their Doctrine, he would not pretend to
any inconsistent severity of morals. Sir W, Ouseley has written a note to
something of the same effect on the fly-leaf of the Bodleian MS. And in two
Rubáiyát of Mons. Nicolas’ own Edition Súf and Súfi are both disparagingly
named.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">No
doubt many of these Quatrains seem unaccountable unless mystically interpreted;
but many more as unaccountable unless literally. Were the Wine spiritual, for
instance, how wash the Body with it when dead! Why make cups of the dead clay
to be filled with - <i>“La Divinité”</i> –
by some succeeding Mystic? Mons. Nicolas himself is puzzled by some <i>“bizarres”</i> and <i>“trop Orientales”</i> allusions and images – <i>“d’une sensualité quelquefois révoltante”</i> indeed – which <i>“les convenances”</i> do not permit him to
translate; but still which the reader cannot but refer to <i>“La Divinité”</i>.<sup>9</sup> No doubt also many of the Quatrains in
the Teheran, as in the Calcutta, Copies, are spurious; such <i>Rubáiyát</i> being the common form of
Epigram in Persia. But this, at best, tells as much one way as another; nay,
the Súfi, who may be considered the Scholar and Man of Letters in Persia, would
be far more likely than the careless Epicure to interpolate what favours his
own view of the Poet. I observe that very few of the more mystical Quatrains
are in the Bodleian MS. which must be one of the oldest, as dated at Shiraz,
A.H. 865, A.D. 1460. And this, I think, especially distinguishes Omar (I cannot
help calling him by his – no, not Christian – familiar name – from all other
Persian Poets: That, whereas with them the Poet is lost in his Song, the Man in
Allegory and Abstraction; we seem to have the Man – the <i>Bonhomme</i> – Omar himself, with all his Humours and Passions, as
frankly before us as if we were really at Table with him after the Wine had
gone round.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">I
must say that I, for one, never believed in the mysticism of Háfiz. It does not
appear there was any danger in holding and singing Súfi Pantheism, so long as
the Poet made his Salaam to Mohammed at the beginning and end of his Song.
Under such conditions Jeláluddin, Jámí, Attár, and others sang; using Wine and
Beauty indeed as Images to illustrate, not as a Mask to hide, the Divinity they
were celebrating. Perhaps some Allegory less liable to mistake or abuse had
been better among so inflammable a People: much more so when, as some think
with Háfiz and Omar, the abstract is not only likened to, but identified with,
the sensual Image; hazardous, if not to the Devotee himself, yet to his weaker
Brethren; and worse for the Profane in proportion as the Devotion of the
initiated grew warmer. And all for what? To be tantalized with Images of
sensual enjoyment which must be renounced if one would approximate a God, who
according to the Doctrine, <i>is</i> Sensual
Matter as well as Spirit, and into whose Universe one expects unconsciously to
merge after Death, without hope of any posthumous Beatitude in another world to
compensate for all one’s self-denial in this. Lucretius blind Divinity
certainly merited, and probably got, as much self-sacrifice as this of the
Súfi; and the burden of Omar’s Song – if not Let us eat” – is assuredly – “Let
us drink, for To-morrow we die!” And if Háfiz meant quite otherwise by a
similar language, he surely miscalculated when he devoted his Life and Genius
to so equivocal a Psalmody as, from his Day to this, has been said and sung by
any rather than Spiritual Worshippers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">However,
as there is some traditional presumption, and certainly the opinion of some
learned men, in favour of Omar’s being a Súfi – and even something of a Saint –
those who please may so interpret his Wine and Cupbearer. On the other hand, as
there is far more historical certainty of his being a Philosopher, of
scientific Insight and Ability far beyond that of the Age and Country he lived
in; of such moderate wants as rarely satisfy a Debauchee; other readers may be
content to believe with me that, while the Wine Omar celebrates is simply the
Juice of the Grape, he bragged more than he drank of it, in very defiance
perhaps of that Spiritual Wine which left its Votaries sunk in Hypocrisy or
Disgust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">1
– Some of Omar’s Rubáiyát warn us of the danger of Greatness, the instability
of Fortune, and while advocating Charity to all Men, recommending us to be too
intimate with none. Attár makes Nizám-ul-Mulk use the very words of his friend
Omar [Rub. xxviii.], “When Nizám-ul-Mulk was in the Agony (of Death) he said
‘Oh God! I am passing away in the hand of the wind.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">2
– Though all these, like our Smiths, Archers, Millers, Fletchers, etc., may
simply retain the Surname of an hereditary calling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">3
– <i>“Philosophe Musulman qui a vêcu en
Odeur de Sainteté dans sa Religion, vers la Fin du Premier et le Commencement
du Second Siècle,”</i> (“[Khayyám was a] Muslim philosopher who lived in the
Odour of Sanctity of his Religion, towards the End of the First and the
Beginning of the Second Century...”) no part of which, except the <i>“Philosophe”</i>, can apply to our Khayyám.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">4
– The rashness of the Words, according to D’Herbelot, consisted in being so
opposed to those of the Korán: “No Man knows where he shall die.” – This story of
Omar reminds me of another so naturally – and when one remembers how wide of
his humble mark the noble sailor aimed – so pathetically told by Captain Cook –
not by Dr. Hawkesworth – in his Second Voyage (i. 374). When leaving Ulietea,
“Oreo’s last request was for me to return. When he saw he could not obtain that
promise, he asked the name of my <i>Marai</i>
(burying place). As strange a question as this was, I hesitated not a moment to
tell him ‘Stepney’, the parish in which I live when in London. I was made to
repeat it several times over till they could pronounce it; and then on ‘Stepney
Marai no Toote’ was echoed through an hundred mouths at once. I afterwards
found the same question had been put to Mr. Forster by a man on shore; but he
gave a different, and indeed more proper answer, by saying, ‘No man who used
the sea could say where he should be buried.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">5
– “Since this paper was written” (adds the Reviewer in a note), “we have met
with a Copy of a very rare Edition, printed at Calcutta in 1836. This contains
438 Tetrastichs, with an Appendix containing 54 others not found in some MSS.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">6
– Professor Cowell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">7
– Perhaps would have edited the Poems himself some years ago. He may now as
little approve of my Version on one side, as of Mons. Nicolas’ Theory on the
other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">[8
– This was written in 1868. W. Aldis Wright.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">9
– A Note to Quatrain 234 admits that, however clear the mystical meaning of
such Images must be to Europeans, they are not quoted without <i>“rougissant” </i>(“reddening”, due to shame)
even by laymen in Persia – <i>“Quant aux
termes de tendresse qui commencent ce quatrain, comme tant d’autres dans ce
recueil, nos lecteurs, habitués maintenant à l’étrangeté des expressions si
souvent employés par Khéyam pour rendre ses pensées sur l’amour divin, et à la
singularité de ses images trop orientales, d’un sensualité quelquefois
révoltante, n’auront pas de peine à se persuader qu’il s’agit de la Divinité,
bien que cette conviction soit vivement discutée par les moullahs musulmans et
même par beaucoup de laïques, qui rougissent véritablement d’une pareille
licence de leur compatriot à l’égard des choses spirituelles.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">(“As
for terms of endearment that begin this quatrain, like so many others in this
collection, our readers, now accustomed to the strange expressions so often
employed by Kheyam to outline his thoughts about God's love, and the
singularity of its overly-Oriental images, including a sometimes shocking
sensuality, will have no difficulty in being persuaded that this is of the
Godhead, although this belief is deeply discussed by Muslim mullahs and even by
many laymen who are truly ashamed of such license in their compatriot regarding
spiritual things.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-11199737199829204132014-12-26T19:16:00.000-08:002014-12-26T19:18:55.411-08:00Hope...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zM2P3H5hqZQ/VJ4jPOaWYwI/AAAAAAAAD7Y/fgtFGxbWKX0/s1600/DesertSnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zM2P3H5hqZQ/VJ4jPOaWYwI/AAAAAAAAD7Y/fgtFGxbWKX0/s1600/DesertSnow.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">XIV.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“The Worldly Hope men set
their Hearts upon<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Turns Ashes – or it
prospers; and anon,<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Like Snow upon the Desert’s
dusty Face<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Lighting
a little Hour or two – is gone.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YcaUveeZmJk/U50LqIWa6eI/AAAAAAAADl4/kZ5YOe4fr2U/s1600/Dinkus6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YcaUveeZmJk/U50LqIWa6eI/AAAAAAAADl4/kZ5YOe4fr2U/s1600/Dinkus6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
Christmas holiday period seems like an appropriate time to get into this verse.
Here, we see an expression of the notion that worldly existence is illusory and
that the things of the physical world are impermanent and non-lasting. In fact
this stanza is quite Buddhist in its approach, although I suspect that Omar and
FitzGerald would both find the idea faintly heretical.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">By
“Worldly Hope” we are told that we shouldn’t put too much faith in tangible,
physical things. Things of the spirit are what last, while baubles and trinkets
fade over time and lose their efficacy – they “turn Ashes”. This is not to say
that we should have no hope whatsoever; it just means that the Bird of Time
will eventually pass by the things of this world upon which we count to see us
through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Money
drains away; fortresses crumble; youth and beauty fades. Politics shifts;
ideals are replaced with new ones; treaties and contracts are broken. The only
constant in the world is change and trying to fight it is like trying to pin a
river in place with a lance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eYnGmP1zzXE/VJ4jQqQscjI/AAAAAAAAD7g/6tAUor_w7bk/s1600/RiverSpear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eYnGmP1zzXE/VJ4jQqQscjI/AAAAAAAAD7g/6tAUor_w7bk/s1600/RiverSpear.jpg" height="319" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There
is a sense though, that worldly things do offer comfort - they turn ashes or
they prosper. Some things will return on an investment; in the long term
however, they disappear like snow falling on a desert. But, like snow falling
onto the dust, it creates a small space of beauty and pleasure before vanishing
– it lights a little hour and is gone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
Christmas consumerism in full overdrive, I was sent a link to a Youtube channel
with a short program displaying the <i>“Top
Ten Most Expensive Things on the Planet”</i>. These ranged from a $2,000,000
pair of shoes, to a $16,200,000 iPhone, to a $52,000,000 ocean liner, to a
woman willing to sell her virginity to the highest bidder – at last count
$3,700,000. The whole display made me feel only that we live in a pretty sick
world where such transactions and manufacturing take place. Sure, $16,200,000
makes for a pretty swanky mobile phone (until the next model comes out) but
that amount of cash could also cure quite a bit of Ebola, I’m thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I’m
not sure that Omar (and FitzGerald) are telling us that we should invest
wisely, that we should “live like there’s no tomorrow, but farm as if we’ll
live forever” (as the Africans have it); in the context of their general “seize
the day” philosophy, maybe they’re telling us we should just go for that
diamond-studded footwear and be damned. If it makes you feel good, then why
not? Just remember: it won’t last.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-69791329612731405862014-06-16T00:53:00.001-07:002017-11-19T21:36:35.423-08:00Orientalism...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XyfVhQkqa0U/U56gzNOjwoI/AAAAAAAADnk/QSgIn0IMA24/s1600/Tagore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XyfVhQkqa0U/U56gzNOjwoI/AAAAAAAADnk/QSgIn0IMA24/s1600/Tagore.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">ROTHENSTEIN, Jerome, <i>Sketch of Rabindranath Tagore</i>, 1912.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">347mm x 257mm; pencil on buff
paper stock, signed and dated by the artist; inscribed in ink with a dedication
to Danish publisher Povl Branner by Rabindranath Tagore, May 23<span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">rd</span> 1921; original wooden frame.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
story of Omar Khayyam and Edward FitzGerald is not unusual by any means; the
tale of the visionary Easterner championed by the lettered Westerner has many historical
precedents. Most put it down to the fascination which the East has for those of
Occidental origins – Edward W. Said wrote all about it in his groundbreaking work <i>Orientalism </i>(1978).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
essence of the concept is that jaded Western palates find excitement and a
certain </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">frisson</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> in what they perceive
to be the licence and exoticism of the Orient; the East becomes a fantastic
playground, filled with possibilities rendered incapable of fulfilment in the
prosaic, workaday paradigm of Western culture. Whether or not such decadence and
extravagance is the actual daily reality of Eastern individuals is rendered
moot: the Orientalist ideal is a fantasy projected upon a foreign culture by
those dwelling outside of its compass.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">In
no small part does this explain the fascination that the <i>Rubaiyat</i> has for many readers in the English-speaking world: the
poem abounds with Eastern imagery and references. It also seems to espouse
radical values, and to place those values – exciting and revolutionary as they
seem – within the Oriental context. I question however, whether the sentiments
credited to Omar and synthesised through the pen of FitzGerald, have made that
journey entirely intact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">It’s
easy to forget that Edward FitzGerald laid a heavy hand upon the quatrains
penned by Khayyam; he re-wrote them quite loosely into the English idiom and he
re-arranged them in an order that satisfied his aesthetic demands. It’s not
entirely unreasonable to credit FitzGerald’s detractors with some degree of
correctness when they say that his translation was imprecise. Even I recognise
the dangers of taking Omar Khayyam at face value through the medium of Edward
FitzGerald: in my case, it’s just that I <i>prefer</i>
his version before all the others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Still,
the Orientalist sensibilities of the reader is mostly what draws them to this
work. It’s no stretch of the imagination to grasp that that is what the
Pre-Raphaelites took from it; or that it was the hook which snared the
succeeding generations of Aesthetes, Symbolists, Decadents and other artists of
the <i>fin de siecle</i> period of new
century enthusiasm. It’s not hard to see how the poem’s <i>carpe diem</i> sentiments set fires among the hearts of the
between-Wars survivors and jaded seekers after a new society: the mad
iconoclasm of the Twenties and Thirties, with its desperate flailing around to
find something of meaning and purpose to cling to, could latch onto many things
but few better than FitzGerald’s truisms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">But,
to reiterate, I can’t help but feel that most of the values expressed in the
poem are FitzGerald’s and not, strictly speaking, Omar’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lEL6iCwnnJ8/U56g0Gf4AuI/AAAAAAAADns/rPQPDTdY788/s1600/Tagore2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lEL6iCwnnJ8/U56g0Gf4AuI/AAAAAAAADns/rPQPDTdY788/s1600/Tagore2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">As
an example of what I’m getting at, I’d like to turn to another Easterner whose
vision and artistry forged inroads into the West. Rabindranath Tagore was the
polymathic scion of a family blessed with equally-talented individuals, who
almost single-handedly revived and energised the literary efforts of his
homeland in Bengal. Born to a high-caste Hindu family, he was knighted by King
George V and became the first non-Westerner to win a Nobel Prize for literature;
he counted amongst his acquaintance Albert Einstein, Mahatma Ghandi and W.B.
Yeats, who was instrumental in translating his poetry into English. His
best-known work (in English translation) is entitled </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">“Gitanjali”</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> (1913) which was dedicated to William Rothenstein and
is a collection of his spiritual poetry:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DvR01L8737w/UfM91ezxm1I/AAAAAAAAC0I/CTcqoyXl22s/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DvR01L8737w/UfM91ezxm1I/AAAAAAAAC0I/CTcqoyXl22s/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">“When thou commandest me to
sing it seems that my heart would break with pride; and I look to thy face, and
tears come to my eyes.</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">All that is harsh and
dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony – and my adoration spreads
wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">I know thou takest pleasure
in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">I touch by the edge of the
far spreading wing of my song thy feet which I could never aspire to reach.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Drunk with joy of singing I
forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DvR01L8737w/UfM91ezxm1I/AAAAAAAAC0I/CTcqoyXl22s/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DvR01L8737w/UfM91ezxm1I/AAAAAAAAC0I/CTcqoyXl22s/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Reading
<i>about</i> Tagore is quite a different
experience to reading his writing (in translation as it is). Many commentators
- Yeats amongst them, despite his complete absence of skill with the Bengali
tongue - talk of the shimmering quality of his language, and the ecstatic
fireworks of his written expression. For me, I find the poetry rather dull and
somewhat trite. This is partly because I’m instinctively wary of ecstatic verse
– I follow Confucius’ line of argument: “believe in the gods, but keep them at
arm’s length”. Secondly, being told that the translation doesn’t do the
original justice seems to be a pointless comment: it’s kind of like a “heads-up”
before the fact that the writing is going to be bad, with the <i>caveat</i> that I’ll just have to take their
word that for it that it’s worthwhile and go along with it. Can’t win; don’t
try. I’m being asked to take on faith something I can’t test for myself. And
perhaps there’s a bridge they want to sell me, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">(This
is not to say that Tagore’s writing is bad; it’s just not for me. There are
some wonderful allusions and turns of phrase here; it’s just not my particular
cup of tea.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">This
probably sounds terribly cynical but there is a point: Tagore was alive and
able to oversee the translation of his own poetry from the original Bengali;
Omar Khayyam was not in so enviable a position. I’m pretty sure that Tagore’s
writing is telling me exactly what he wanted it to tell me (as far as English
can be bent into that shape); I’m fairly convinced that Omar’s poem is telling
me largely what <i>FitzGerald</i> wanted it
to tell me. On that basis, I’ll go with FitzGerald.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">I
didn’t just throw the word “cynical” in there on a whim. FitzGerald’s take on
Khayyam has a jaded edge to it and I’m fairly sure (Robert Graves would back me
on this point) Omar never intended his poems to be read in that way. Sad to
say, I suspect that Omar’s quatrains would probably come across more like
something written by Tagore if I could read them in the original language. The
essential reality of all this is as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">FitzGerald’s
translation is an Orientalist fantasy; it’s a Western vision dressed up in
Persian costume to appeal to Occidental readers. Sure, it’s based on Omar Khayyam’s
verses, and sure, those verses and Omar’s reputation in Iran are secure; it’s
just that they read a little differently depending upon which side of the line
you’re sitting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Before
we get to the end of this roller-coaster, there will be other Orientalist
writings which we’ll be looking at for comparison purposes; some of those fall
into the Orientalist camp and others don’t, but it’s always wise to keep
notions of this distorting lens in mind when looking at these types of writings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-82339651926511731772014-06-14T20:22:00.001-07:002014-06-14T20:22:31.983-07:00The Rose...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-42_Wwb2y4OI/U50Oj_OdVFI/AAAAAAAADmU/WzvlrVeMdj0/s1600/RedouteRose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-42_Wwb2y4OI/U50Oj_OdVFI/AAAAAAAADmU/WzvlrVeMdj0/s1600/RedouteRose.jpg" height="320" width="218" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">XIII.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Look to the Rose that blows
about us – “Lo,<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Laughing,” she says, “into
the World I blow:<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">At once the silken Tassel
of my Purse<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Tear,
and its Treasure on the Garden throw.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KI0MWx1fWx0/U50LuDxxg4I/AAAAAAAADmI/WYrU6oNuinA/s1600/Dinkus8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KI0MWx1fWx0/U50LuDxxg4I/AAAAAAAADmI/WYrU6oNuinA/s1600/Dinkus8.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">At
this point we encounter our second reference to a Rose in the poem and, for the
second instance, also find a word that, over time, has fallen from common use,
making understanding somewhat tricky. Since, in this verse, they occur
together, it seems ideal to attack them both at once.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Firstly,
the Rose is a standard image of Sufi iconography. Like many such images, it
relates back to the idea of God and is an oft-used symbol of the Deity. Due to
their range of colour and intense perfume, and given that they were quite
difficult to grow and maintain throughout many water-poor Islamic regions, roses
were much sought-after. Sufi adherents equated their heady aroma with the intensity
of Divine inspiration and their thorns became symbols of the difficulty in
attaining such a union with God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BKZ-1X1wm8M/U50OqArfBAI/AAAAAAAADmk/1cG2ZFFimPQ/s1600/RoseRoof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BKZ-1X1wm8M/U50OqArfBAI/AAAAAAAADmk/1cG2ZFFimPQ/s1600/RoseRoof.jpg" height="320" width="315" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Islamic
art, denied the possibility of creating the likenesses of living beings or
naturally-occurring phenomena, devoted itself to the creation of patterns,
usually geometric forms of an intricate nature. Roses, in that they present a
circular repeating pattern from the inner stamen to the outer petals, were a natural
inspiration for many designs, from rugs, to wall or floor mosaics, to windows.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-STl_LUAHrH8/U50OnaTvX0I/AAAAAAAADmc/OAEcQkMsDR4/s1600/RoseWindow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-STl_LUAHrH8/U50OnaTvX0I/AAAAAAAADmc/OAEcQkMsDR4/s1600/RoseWindow.jpg" height="298" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">A
common notion in spiritual art is the dissolution of matter into the spiritual.
In Western cathedrals, the great stained windows (called, incidentally, “rose
windows”) seek to dissolve the heavy masonry of the sacred enclosure by bathing
the walls in coloured light; in the Islamic world, a similar effect was attained,
but by means of patterning the walls in paint, cloth, or tiles.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3RXL6BzAH4/U50O1P33EkI/AAAAAAAADm8/SDP-7T27RD8/s1600/HeavenlyHierarchyDore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3RXL6BzAH4/U50O1P33EkI/AAAAAAAADm8/SDP-7T27RD8/s1600/HeavenlyHierarchyDore.jpg" height="320" width="288" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">As
the Islamics exulted over the perfection of the rose, so too did the
philosophers of the West. In Western thought from the earliest times, the world
was considered to be arranged in hierarchies, or tiers of rank, creating an
ordered universe. Plants and animals were listed from the “lowest” to the “highest”
in terms of certain qualities equating to notions of virtue. This simplistic
attempt at rationalising the universe remains with us: even today, we refer to the
Lion as the “king of beasts”, and the Eagle as the “king of birds”; so too, is
the Rose considered the “king of flowers”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">(Interestingly,
this notion of a Universe ranked into order is also a mainstay of Confucian
thought, the earliest state-sanctioned religion of China, pre-dating Western philosophy
by several millennia. It seems that no matter how separate from each other we
think we are, there are always fundamental ways in which we have common ground.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6GvZnZTXb2c/U50O7Y9PKiI/AAAAAAAADnE/CMvM83Ye3xA/s1600/RoseRoof2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6GvZnZTXb2c/U50O7Y9PKiI/AAAAAAAADnE/CMvM83Ye3xA/s1600/RoseRoof2.jpg" height="310" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">With
the symbolism of the rose firmly in mind, let’s turn to that word which
nowadays causes some headaches. That word is “blow”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In
the language of FitzGerald’s day, flowers “blew” all the time. It doesn’t mean
that they were tossed by the wind; rather it refers to them bursting open, or
blooming. There’s an extra sense to the word in this context, referring to a flower
as being just past the point of perfection; to be on its way out. From this
sense, we get other expressions, such as “blowzy”, meaning to be colourfully
dissipated, and of course “overblown” to mean decadently showy, or over-ripe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In
a sense, FitzGerald (possibly working from a notion only implied by Omar) seems
not to be talking about the Rose as a symbol of perfection, but rather as an “everyman”
cipher, referencing each individual’s potential rather than appearance. He
seems to be saying that every person comes into their own and leaves behind
something upon which future generations build. The “Treasure” of the Rose is
the seeds of the future, stored in the “Purse” of the flower’s rosehips. FitzGerald
devoted most of his life to the growing of flowers, so a botanical metaphor
wouldn’t have been much of a stretch for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mdb4fe4HvJw/UjQLDtik7aI/AAAAAAAADG8/6ItNQe3pyS4/s1600/Rose1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mdb4fe4HvJw/UjQLDtik7aI/AAAAAAAADG8/6ItNQe3pyS4/s1600/Rose1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Here
again is the idea that there is a finite amount of time for each of us, but
coupled with it is the notion that everyone has the potential to create the
future, to add something to the “Garden” of creation. That Bird of Time is
still relentlessly flapping onwards and time, it seems now, is not the only
thing that can be wasted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FlY1Jb3lAQQ/U50LsDPskoI/AAAAAAAADmA/-scZ3ydxe3Q/s1600/Dinkus7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FlY1Jb3lAQQ/U50LsDPskoI/AAAAAAAADmA/-scZ3ydxe3Q/s1600/Dinkus7.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Roses,
in fact, caused Omar quite a bit of trouble as it turned out, and we’ll get
into that further when we hit </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">ruba’i</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">
67; suffice it to say that he placed some value upon being buried by a rose
garden when he died. Religious hardliners hunted him most of his life for this obscure
reason (among others); nevertheless, roses </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">do</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">
bow over his grave in Iran today, and cuttings from those same rosebushes were
taken from Persia and planted over FitzGerald’s grave in England.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JPh1ri5E4JE/U50OroT88rI/AAAAAAAADms/JVRRL-FRny0/s1600/GravePlaque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JPh1ri5E4JE/U50OroT88rI/AAAAAAAADms/JVRRL-FRny0/s1600/GravePlaque.jpg" height="202" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It’s
a fitting symbol of unification and the fostering of peace if ever there was
one. Just like the poem itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-5581213530963411512014-06-07T19:01:00.001-07:002014-06-07T19:01:36.954-07:00Small Rubaiyats...<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pP9oSovfGMc/U5Lfb36kdQI/AAAAAAAADlQ/rEgo9EITW2o/s1600/Smallest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pP9oSovfGMc/U5Lfb36kdQI/AAAAAAAADlQ/rEgo9EITW2o/s1600/Smallest.jpg" height="320" width="243" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (no. 6 in the Sesame Booklets series), </span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">George
G. Harrap & Co., Covent Garden, London, nd.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Sextodecimo;
suede yapp covers, with decorated endpapers and gilt spine title, with gilt
upper board decoration; 69pp., top edges gilt, with a full-colour frontispiece.
Wear and sunning to the binding; some browning to the text block edges; minor
foxing to the preliminaries. Very good.</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One
thing which is a feature of collecting copies of the <i>Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam</i> is that many versions are quite small.
There are various reasons for this but the main one is that it became more
economical for publishers to produce small copies in the duodecimo (12mo) or
sextodecimo (16mo) format, as the amount of paper required to produce one
octavo volume could be stretched to create four, six, or even more. While the
poem was in its heyday and people often bought and exchanged copies which could
be carried in a pocket or purse, this just made good sense from a monetary
standpoint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
giving of copies of the <i>Rubaiyat</i> to
friends and lovers was a common occurrence, as we have already seen in the case
of Somerton Man. Some publishers even produced their versions with this notion
in mind, leading to various “Love and Friendship”, or “Fidelity” printings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3dnQ8cAnTvg/U5LfawazMfI/AAAAAAAADlI/sCo4tfI1UjQ/s1600/Zodiac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3dnQ8cAnTvg/U5LfawazMfI/AAAAAAAADlI/sCo4tfI1UjQ/s1600/Zodiac.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Rubáiyát
of Omar Khayyám, translated by Edward FitzGerald, </span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">(Zodiac
series), Chatto and Windus, London, 1940.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Octavo;
hardcover with decorated boards; 32pp. Front free endpaper removed; previous
owner’s inscription on half-title erased. Dustwrapper foxed and worn at the
spine panel extremities; now protected by non-adhesive plastic wrap.</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Too,
the small format meant that other poems, from other favourite poets such as
Tennyson, Longfellow, or Browning, could be produced in this size and the
collected verses could be marketed as a specific series of favourite poetry.
For the most part though, the process was an easy way of using up leftover
paper, and other material, from larger print jobs: a common feature is the use
of mis-matched illustrated endpapers which have little or no relevance to the
work which they bracket, or which are used to identify a volume as being part
of a series.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L0ggspr2rKQ/U5LfdiQC8tI/AAAAAAAADlY/resazlUi2Yc/s1600/RandomEndpapers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L0ggspr2rKQ/U5LfdiQC8tI/AAAAAAAADlY/resazlUi2Yc/s1600/RandomEndpapers.jpg" height="316" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">1 - <i>Rubáiyát
of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, translated into verse by Edward
FitzGerald, with Biography and Notes and Twelve Illustrations,</i> Gay &
Hancock Ltd., London, nd. (c.1912).</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Shell Dlg 2";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Duodecimo;
suede yapp covers, with illustrated endpapers, gilt spine title, and stamped
upper board title and decoration; 80pp., top edge gilt, with a black and white
frontispiece and 11 plates likewise. Previous owner’s ink inscription to the
verso of the frontis.; wear to the cover edges with some minor loss; mild
foxing confined mainly to the preliminaries; rear free endpaper has its lower
corner missing. Good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">2 -</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> <b><i>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Illustrated by
Charles Robinson,</i> Collins Clear-Type Press, London, nd.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Sextodecimo;
suede yapp covers, with illustrated endpapers and gilt spine title; unpaginated
(88pp.), with a tipped in full-colour frontispiece and title page and three
plates likewise. An initial blank page excised; foxing to preliminaries; minor
wear to the covers. Good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">3 - <i>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, </i>W.P. Nimmo, Hay & Mitchell,
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, nd.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Duodecimo;
suede yapp covers, with illustrated endpapers and gilt spine title; 80pp., all
edges gilt, with a decorated title page. Retailer’s bookplate on front
pastedown; light spotting to preliminaries. Very good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">4 – <i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: FitzGerald’s Translation with Notes;
illustrated by Alice Ross, </i>W.P. Nimmo, Hay & Mitchell, Edinburgh,
Scotland, UK, 1911.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Duodecimo;
suede yapp covers, with illustrated endpapers, gilt spine title, and stamped
upper board title and decoration; 62pp. [xxxipp. + 31pp.], top edge gilt, with
a full-colour frontispiece. Spine split; previous owner’s pencil inscription to
initial blank page; mild wear and sunning to the wrappers. Good.</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p1y--IRx6Lc/U5LfRiHpmuI/AAAAAAAADko/G5crjX94-X4/s1600/SuedeBindings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p1y--IRx6Lc/U5LfRiHpmuI/AAAAAAAADko/G5crjX94-X4/s1600/SuedeBindings.jpg" height="320" width="262" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Given
that these small format printings were intended to be carried about in pockets
or purses, it made sense to package them in sturdy bindings, such as suede or
leather. The yapp binding, one where the wrapper is not stitched but is allowed
to softly drape several millimetres beyond the edges of the text block, is
uniquely suited to the small format since it requires no fiddly manipulation
and is quick and cheap to produce. This does not mean that elaboration was not
employed and there are many examples of gilt titling and embossed and coloured
decoration. And of course, standard binding techniques were also employed:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ga8wRm-DRA/U5LfVCcLh-I/AAAAAAAADk4/WSQVcr9EawU/s1600/GiltTitles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ga8wRm-DRA/U5LfVCcLh-I/AAAAAAAADk4/WSQVcr9EawU/s1600/GiltTitles.jpg" height="265" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">1
- The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám; rendered into English Verse by Edward FitzGerald,</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">
The Richards Press Ltd., London, 1943.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Sextodecimo;
hardcover, with blind-stamped upper board design and gilt spine and upper board
titling, with a red ribbon – torn, but still present; 96pp. Minor offset to the
preliminaries; otherwise, very good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">2
- The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, translated into
English Verse by Edward FitzGerald (eighth edition), </span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Methuen
& Co. Ltd., Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 1920.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Sextodecimo;
hardcover, with gilt spine-titling; 96pp. Shaken; covers well-rubbed and worn;
spine split in many places; previous owner’s ink inscription to the front free
endpaper; minor offset to endpapers. Good.</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Another
factor which brought pressure to bear were the World Wars. Paper restrictions
meant that publishers needed to be canny about what they produced and how they
produced it. Smaller formats with soft covers – usually of cheap materials, sometimes
identical to those which comprised the text block – were an easy way of
maximising production whilst reducing costs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xabE-1MR6Ac/U5LfTY3UKbI/AAAAAAAADkw/i44oSFoexn4/s1600/CardCovers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xabE-1MR6Ac/U5LfTY3UKbI/AAAAAAAADkw/i44oSFoexn4/s1600/CardCovers.jpg" height="320" width="251" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Astronomer-Poet of Persia, translated into English by
Edward FitzGerald, </span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Gilmour’s Bookshops, Pty. Ltd., George
Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia, nd. (c. 1943).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Duodecimo;
paperback with staple-sewn printed yapp covers; 24pp. Previous owner’s ink
inscription to the inside front cover along with the retailer’s ink stamp;
minor foxing to preliminaries; Very good.</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A
feature of this mass-production – which may be unique to those editions
produced in the southern hemisphere – is the wholesale pirating of designs and
imagery from better-known versions of the work. Willy Pogany’s stylings, for
example, show up again and again in these cheap reproductions – especially the
font he created for his 1909 original version – and, despite the fact that it’s
George Harrap & Co. that instigate most of these, it’s not always clear
that the royalties, or credit, are being directed where they ought to be.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JTzB61smKSE/U5LfN1ErJwI/AAAAAAAADkg/lDT08jnvkJQ/s1600/PoganyClones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JTzB61smKSE/U5LfN1ErJwI/AAAAAAAADkg/lDT08jnvkJQ/s1600/PoganyClones.jpg" height="320" width="267" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">1 – <i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám; </i>George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., High
Holborn, London, 1957.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Duodecimo;
hardcover, full red morocco, with gilt spine titling on a black label with gilt
rules and decorations, a blind-stamped upper board, and marbled endpapers;
96pp., opened, top edge gilt, with a full-colour frontispiece and 8 plates
likewise, along with many duochrome decorations and designs. Retailer’s
bookplate to the front pastedown; previous owner’s ink inscription to the
half-title; minor bumping to the corners and some light scraping to the boards.
Very good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">2 – <i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám; </i>George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.,
Parker Street, Kingsway, London, nd.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Duodecimo;
hardcover, with upper board title and decoration; 96pp., with a full-colour,
tipped-in frontispiece and 3 plates likewise, along with many duochrome
decorations and designs. Slightly rolled; some softening to the spine
extremities; retailer’s ink stamps to the front pastedown; offset to the
endpapers; marginal notation in pencil throughout; mild scattered foxing
throughout. Good.</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">3 – <i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám; </i>George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., High
Holborn, London, 1940.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Duodecimo; hardcover, with
upper board titles and decorations; 96pp., <i>with
a full-colour, tipped-in frontispiece and 7 plates likewise, along with many
duochrome decorations and designs. Slight softening to the spine extremities
and mild corner-bumping; retailer’s bookplate to the front pastedown; previous
owners’ ink inscriptions to the front free endpaper; faint scattered foxing
throughout; some minor offset to the plates; text block edges lightly toned.
Good.</i><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><i><br /></i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">4 – <i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám; </i>The Leisure Age Publishing Co. Pty.
Ltd., Castlereagh Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1946.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Duodecimo;
hardcover, quarter-bound in printed card-stock boards with a cloth spine;
88pp., with a duochrome frontispiece and many red and black internal
decorations. Shaken; top corners bumped and spine sunned and softened; retailer’s
bookplate to the front pastedown; previous owner’s ink inscription to the front
free endpaper; some old tape stained and minor surface tears to the pastedowns;
text block edges toned and top edge dusted. Good.</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This
is not to say that there was a dearth of creativity abounding when it came to
decorating copies of the Rubaiyat; it’s just that, ever since the days of Elihu
Vedder, piracy has been part and parcel of the tale of this work. Despite
Pogany’s designs and images being poached or re-used many times over and over
(along with those of Gilbert James and René Bull) there were certainly many
other illustrators and designers out there trying to leave their mark upon
FitzGerald’s translation<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QCNnSrQDcCE/U5LfYc5kg7I/AAAAAAAADlA/gkw8UQvedZc/s1600/Pictorial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QCNnSrQDcCE/U5LfYc5kg7I/AAAAAAAADlA/gkw8UQvedZc/s1600/Pictorial.jpg" height="320" width="265" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">1 -<i> The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam; Engravings by George Buday A.R.E.</i>,
Frederick Muller Ltd., London, 1947.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Duodecimo;
hardcover, in decorated papered boards with an upper board title on a white
label and illustrated endpapers; 30pp., with many engraved illustrations.
Somewhat rolled; boards well-ribbed and spine heel chipped. Good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">2 - <i>The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia,</i> A.
& C. Black Ltd., London, 1930.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Octavo;
hardcover, with upper board titles and decorations; 80pp., with a monochrome
frontispiece and 11 plates likewise. Text block dished; softening to the spine
head; a dark stain to the bottom of the upper board; text block edges toned.
Very good<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">3 - <i>Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, A Calendar for the Year 1912, </i>Ernest
Nister, London/E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, NY, USA/Angus & Robertson
Ltd., Sydney, NSW, Australia; printed in Bavaria; 1912.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">No.
2940 of a limited series: duodecimo; hardcover, in papered boards with upper
board title and decorations, a illustrated endpapers; unpaginated [28pp.], each
page bordered in red and blue with gilt decorations. Previous owner’s ink
inscription to the verso of the front free endpaper; mild scattered foxing
mainly confined to the preliminaries; some heavy bumps to the board corners and
edges. Dustwrapper is heavily foxed and chipped, not affecting the titles; now
protected by non-adhesive plastic film. Very good.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Perusing
this list, one might come to think that the small <i>Rubaiyat</i> might have faded from view and become a thing of the past:
not so. These days the term “gift book” no longer identifies a quarto-sized
volume elaborately produced and decorated in time for Christmas; rather, it
refers to those palm-sized catchpenny volumes that litter the area surrounding
the cash registers at your local bookstore, with titles like <i>“50 hilarious Cricket Jokes!”</i> or <i>“Amazing Photos of Things that Cats do when
You’re not at Home!”</i>. Here too, can be found copies of FitzGerald and
Omar’s work, even with (despite the litigious times in which we live) some
unacknowledged and re-used artwork (this time by René Bull):<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5ctx9lt3xc/U5LfhhRsugI/AAAAAAAADlg/w27LuL38lv4/s1600/Modern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5ctx9lt3xc/U5LfhhRsugI/AAAAAAAADlg/w27LuL38lv4/s1600/Modern.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
Little Book of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> Vega/Chrysalis Books plc.,
London, 2002.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Sextodecimo;
hardcover with illustrated boards; 48pp., decorated, with many full-colour
illustrations throughout. Near fine.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I’m
often asked what the smallest volume in my collection is and it’s the one at
the top of this list, with the dimensions added. This is another early entry
into my collection, gifted to me by a friend of my mother who discovered what
my obsession was. It’s the smallest one I’ve seen to date, but there might be
even teensier ones out there somewhere: the quest continues!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iYivIY6hZIk/Ujgp_3VeZiI/AAAAAAAADK0/jpsflKu8uRk/s1600/Dinkus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iYivIY6hZIk/Ujgp_3VeZiI/AAAAAAAADK0/jpsflKu8uRk/s1600/Dinkus2.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-168635086377222972014-05-09T16:33:00.081-07:002022-11-22T20:41:26.006-08:00Somerton Man...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qZMzO0Gx4Fg/U2do5TJRceI/AAAAAAAADjM/WNVzuibYXsI/s1600/SomertonMan1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qZMzO0Gx4Fg/U2do5TJRceI/AAAAAAAADjM/WNVzuibYXsI/s1600/SomertonMan1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
reach of history and connexions around the <i>Rubaiyat
of Omar Khayyam</i> is wide-ranging and diverse. In this instalment, I’d like
to present an interesting event which seems a world away from the poem and its
issues but which has a very strong link to the text: the Strange Case of
Somerton Man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">This
bizarre incident took place in Somerton a suburb of Adelaide in South Australia
in November, 1948. A man was found dead on the beach there, fully dressed,
having expired whilst apparently taking in the scenery. Passersby had noticed
him earlier in the evening and had thought nothing of it, or had thought that
maybe he was drunk; when it was observed that he’d lain <i>in situ</i> throughout the night and hadn’t apparently moved,
examination determined him to be deceased. So much, so normal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TbPQatxTjaw/U2dozPgwtII/AAAAAAAADi0/PSowSUlK8d0/s1600/LocationLocation.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TbPQatxTjaw/U2dozPgwtII/AAAAAAAADi0/PSowSUlK8d0/s1600/LocationLocation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>X Marks the spot where Somerton Man was found</i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Somerton
Man (as he later became known) was in his early middle age. He was well-built, as
if used to labouring or some other form of manual occupation, and he seemed to
have been in good health. A striking feature was that he was extremely clean –
freshly shaved, hair newly cut and with signs of having bathed shortly before
his demise. Witnesses early the previous evening had said that they’d seen him
to be smoking; a cigarette had been found dropped from his lips on to his lapel
and this directed investigators to examine the man’s clothes. They too, were expensive
and freshly cleaned, but with all cleaner’s marks, manufacturer’s details and
owner’s labels neatly removed. It was also noted that he had no hat, a
circumstance which, in those days, was highly unusual. To all intents and
purposes, the man had bathed, put on his clean clothes and, hatless, walked
down to the sand, finding a nice position against the seawall where he lit up a
cigarette and then quietly died.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">No-one knew where he had been staying; it seemed that he had just dropped out
of the sky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ocfjJ0AYb2Y/U2do8Cof6jI/AAAAAAAADjU/_Nv9xnZlMxc/s1600/SomertonMan2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ocfjJ0AYb2Y/U2do8Cof6jI/AAAAAAAADjU/_Nv9xnZlMxc/s1600/SomertonMan2.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
police issued a photograph through the local media and took a full body cast of
the man to aid in identification. Thereafter, the autopsy continued apace. The
results were largely inconclusive: the man had eaten a decent meal up to four
hours before dying (although stress or other factors could have delayed or
accelerated digestion, so this time period is merely an educated guess)
consisting of a vegetable pastie. His stomach and duodenum were irritated and
coated with mucus, a sure sign of poison, but no conclusive agent was determined.
A tentative means of death by “heart failure” was listed, although this too is
a prevarication.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
local rumour-mill began to turn and many people decided that Somerton Man must
have been an American, due to the fact that his clothes were so expensive and
“high toned”. No absentee Yanks were revealed in the manhunt, however.
Regardless, his fingerprints were taken and sent both to the FBI and to
Scotland Yard: both agencies denied knowledge of the victim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Eventually,
the Adelaide police issued a directive for any hotels, railways, or other types
of accommodation to declare the presence of any unclaimed baggage items. This
turned up a suitcase which had been left at the nearby railway station on
November the 30<sup>th</sup>, and which had not been recovered by its owner. The
following items were discovered inside: a red-checked dressing-gown; red felt
slippers, size 7; a shirt; a yellow coat shirt (that is, a shirt with an
attached collar); a pair of light brown trousers with sand in the cuffs; four
pairs of underwear; pyjamas; four pairs of socks; two ties; six handkerchiefs;
a scarf; front and back collar studs; a shaving kit, with razor, strop and
shaving brush; a toothbrush and toothpaste; a tin of brown Kiwi-brand shoe
polish; a sewing repair kit; a button; a pair of scissors; a screwdriver; a cut
down table knife; a stencilling brush; three pencils; sixpence in change; a
cigarette lighter; eight large and one small envelopes; two airmail stickers;
an eraser. The sewing repair kit in the suitcase contained an American brand of
waxed thread which had been used to repair a small rip in Somerton Man’s coat
pocket. Things seemed to be progressing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Several
items of clothing in the suitcase had identifying labels still on them with a
name that could have been either “T. Kean”, or “T. Keane”. A bulletin was
issued for anyone with knowledge of a person of this name to come forward. It
turned out that a sailor named “T. Reade” was listed as missing, and excitement
grew; it waned once more when T Reade’s workmates viewed the body and declared
it to be not their man. Despite this setback, this series of events
consolidated a belief amongst the investigating officers that Somerton Man was
connected with the docks somehow: the stationery items in his case seemed to
indicate that he habitually labelled items intended for shipping despatch. His
apparent strength and good state of health helped underline this theory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">But,
how does any of this apply to the <i>Rubaiyat
of Omar Khayyam</i>? An initial search of the man’s clothing found a
scrunched-up pill of paper in his watch-fob pocket. When unrolled, it proved to
be a quarto-sized leaf torn from a book, with the words “Tamam Shud” printed
upon it. As anyone familiar with the Rubaiyat can tell you, these are the last
words of the poem as translated by FitzGerald, meaning “it is done”. Police
began searching libraries and book shops trying to find a copy of the book with
its last page torn out. Again, they publicised the development and again –
miraculously – they got a result.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">On
July the 22<sup>nd</sup> in 1949, a fellow by the name of Ronald Francis came
forward with the fact that he’d spotted a copy of the <i>Rubaiyat</i> in the glovebox of his (decidedly unpoetical) brother’s
car. Following up this lead, the police found the book: according to Mr Francis’
brother, it had been tossed onto the back seat of his car through the open
window after he’d left it parked on Moseley Street in Somerton, the road that
ran along the stretch of beach above where the dead man had been found. Unable
to account for its presence in his car, he’d thrown the book into the glovebox
and forgotten about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Now
things get interesting. On the rear pastedown of the book were two important
pieces of information: a telephone number; and a series of letters in rows
indicating that some working–out had taken place. Suddenly it appeared that the
book in question was the key to some type of code. Things suddenly seemed
sinister.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-grAU8ldLwis/U2do0fE6fsI/AAAAAAAADi8/KpcXEyjLT34/s1600/Codework.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-grAU8ldLwis/U2do0fE6fsI/AAAAAAAADi8/KpcXEyjLT34/s1600/Codework.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">On
the face of things, it seemed that Somerton Man and whoever he was known to,
had some kind of book code operating. These codes require that both parties in
the exchange have a copy of the same book; a three, or four-digit, sequence
indicates the page, line, word and, if necessary, the letter required to decode
the message. For example, if the paragraphs of this text were the code key to a
secret message and the first word needed was “Somerton”, it would be encoded as
“1.4.2” – first paragraph; fourth line; <span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">second</span> word. Seemingly, the code in use
was even more refined, signifying individual letters, and possibly with a
cloaking algorithm to throw-off pursuit. However it worked, it remains
undeciphered to this day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">These
types of codes usually require that the book in question is one that is
commonly found, usually a Bible or a dictionary of some kind. In this case, the
book in question is not that common – at least, not any longer. It was the
first printing of the poem by a New Zealand publishing company called Whitcombe
& Tombs produced – according to Garrard (the latest <i>Rubaiyat</i> bibliography) in “194X”. Many publishing house were (and
still are, but for different reasons lately) lacklustre in their efforts to
date their offerings. All we can say about this version was that it was
produced in the ‘40s sometime and reasonably before 1948. In later years, the
company produced cheap versions in a paperback duodecimo format, possibly using
variants of the page designs and artwork from the quarto original. I haven’t
seen a copy of the larger version, but I <i>do</i>
have a copy of the later small version:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L-u4DCnUYVY/U2dpHfEgX6I/AAAAAAAADjs/ii2iddI1lpQ/s1600/Whitcombe%2526Tombs1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L-u4DCnUYVY/U2dpHfEgX6I/AAAAAAAADjs/ii2iddI1lpQ/s1600/Whitcombe%2526Tombs1.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">FITZGERALD, Edward
(trans.), <i>Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám (Courage
and Friendship Booklet series)</i>, n.d. (c.1944), Whitcombe & Tombs
Ltd., Christchurch, New Zealand.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Small
folio; paperback, in illustrated gatefold yapp covers; 44pp.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Wrappers sunned; moderate
edgewear; retailer’s stamp on the verso of the front free endpaper. Very good.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BivCvAmTRbU/U2do9OrNUCI/AAAAAAAADjc/OY0w-zgrsz4/s1600/Whitcombe%2526Tombs2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BivCvAmTRbU/U2do9OrNUCI/AAAAAAAADjc/OY0w-zgrsz4/s1600/Whitcombe%2526Tombs2.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
discovery of the book and its possible use as a cipher key raised much
discussion. Although newly released to the market, Whitcombe & Tombs’
quarto gift book would have been somewhat hard to track down and certainly more
expensive than virtually any another easily-obtained work; given this, some
people felt that the book-code possibility was too long a bow to draw. However,
as we know, the question as to the rarity of the edition, and the ease by which
two agents could find a copy to encode their missives, is somewhat of a moot
point: as long as the two agents (if we can call them such) are using the same
FitzGerald </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">translation</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> to encode and
decode their messages, it doesn’t actually matter which published copy they used.
And, as we know, the poem was positively ubiquitous in the public consciousness
for the first half of last century.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">(Some
sources claim that the Whitcombe & Tombs edition found during the
investigation was the first edition of FitzGerald’s translation and ponder
endlessly as to 1) how Somerton Man could have obtained a copy of such a
priceless work, and 2) why, subsequently, the Adelaide police would have carelessly
disposed of such a valuable item after the case went cold. Of course, as we know,
Bernard Quaritch published the first edition of FitzGerald’s first translation
in 1859; the W&T New Zealand edition, was produced in the 1940s. I think we
can safely remove this layer of bibliophilic <i>frisson</i> from the story.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">The
unlisted telephone number, on the other hand, led police detectives to a nurse
and single mother, moved to Adelaide from Sydney, named Teresa Powell, or
Johnson. She lived at an address at Moseley Street in Glenelg, overlooking
Somerton Beach, but claimed that she was not at home on November 30<sup>th</sup>
1948. She did mention however, that her neighbour had seen an unidentified man approach
her door and try the bell, only to leave when there was no response. After
being shown the body cast of Somerton Man, Teresa appeared to go into a sudden
faint; after being revived however, she claimed not to have recognised the
deceased. Strange behaviour for someone shown a plaster cast of someone she
didn’t know, and especially for a nurse who, arguably, should be accustomed to
seeing the dead, even a facsimile of one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Teresa,
after being asked about her copy of the <i>Rubaiyat</i>,
said that she had had a copy, but that she gave it to someone named Alfred
Boxall whilst living in Sydney. Police discovered Alf Boxall working as a maintenance
mechanic for a bus company in Randwick; they also found the copy of
the <i>Rubaiyat</i> which Teresa had given
him, signed “Teresa Jestyn”, her maiden name: it was a 1924 Sydney edition, not from Whitcombe & Tombs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Teresa
had relocated from Sydney to Melbourne after falling pregnant. After giving
birth, she moved once more to Adelaide, where she went by the surname “Powell”.
She told police that she was about to get married to a man named Prestige
Johnson and feared that her connexion to the Somerton Man case might cause such
scandal as to squelch the wedding event. Accordingly, the police agreed to
minimise mention of her details in the Press and to refer to her only as “Miss Jestyn”
where mention was unavoidable. In this manner, Teresa slipped cleanly away from
involvement in the case: later investigators almost unanimously agreed that
Teresa certainly knew the identity of the mysterious body; however, if this was
true, she kept that secret right up until her death in 2007.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Meantime,
Somerton Man was buried at the taxpayer’s expense in a nearby cemetery and his
anonymous grave marker can still be found there today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l2u3lAXr5Eg/U2do1c4mfrI/AAAAAAAADjE/9CmYbNIPKbU/s1600/Headstone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l2u3lAXr5Eg/U2do1c4mfrI/AAAAAAAADjE/9CmYbNIPKbU/s1600/Headstone.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
case is still unresolved. Many theories abound as to who the mystery man was: some
believe that he was an American spy, working the docks for Communist
infiltrators or perhaps monitoring British atomic testing in South Australia.
Other believe that he had links to organised crime and was working some kind of
smuggling deal from the US. I have my own personal thoughts on the issue:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Firstly,
it’s likely, given the array of stationery items which he had in his suitcase,
that he <i>did</i> work on the docks in some
kind of Customs and Excise capacity, requiring him to make stencils and to mark
the boxes and crates, the despatch of which he supervised. It’s possible that he
was promoted up the line from a lower position and came from a background where
his education would have been rudimentary at best. I think that the letters in
the back of the book, quite apart from being a code, were simply his efforts at
visualising particular letters prior to having to cut them out of stiff card in
order to make stencils. He used the book because, being precious to him, he
carried it with him everywhere. I presume that his new job had taken him to the
US a few times and thus, the American thread in his sewing kit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Secondly,
the <i>Rubaiyat</i> which he carried was a
gift; I believe it was a gift to him from a woman for whom he had a passionate
regard. I think he went to Somerton that hot day, wearing his best gear, to confront
her, in some kind of a grand gesture: he arrived, stowed his bag in the railway
station nearby, found a bathhouse in which to spruce up, and then went to her
house, hoping against all odds that his lover would feel as much for him as he
did for her, that she would welcome him in and the rest of their lives would
start from there. I think that the woman in question was Teresa Jestyn/Powell,
soon to be Johnson, and that she deliberately left him hanging, arranging to
not be at home when he showed up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Rejected,
he tossed away the cherished book which she had given him - as she seemed to do
with all her boyfriends, a fairly common practise back then – by throwing it through
the back window of a nearby parked car. Then, feeling as low as he ever thought
he could possibly feel, he treated himself to a poisoned meal and then saw out
his last day with a cigarette and an ocean view. In his pocket, a form of
suicide note: a piece of paper with the pregnant words “it is over” printed upon it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">That’s
my reading of it and from my perspective as an unofficial <i>Rubaiyat</i> “expert”, it
works well, even down to the flash nightwear that this guy was packing. And it opens interesting speculation as to who was the father of Teresa's child...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lu9nCRGe5e0/U2dpMWXayKI/AAAAAAAADj0/qFBs-G7Ygpc/s1600/TamamShud.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lu9nCRGe5e0/U2dpMWXayKI/AAAAAAAADj0/qFBs-G7Ygpc/s1600/TamamShud.jpg" width="197" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
true story may well never be revealed. In the meantime, it still surfaces
occasionally to tantalise and to get conspiracy theorists cogitating. Kerry
Greenwood, writer of the Phryne Fisher detective novels, published her account
of the enigma in December 2012 (</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Tamam
Shud: The Somerton Man Mystery</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">), but she is by no means the only writer of
mysteries to have seen its allure. Stephen King stumbled across the story and was inspired to write </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The Colorado Kid</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">, a gumshoe novel which
uses the strange details of the dead body’s discovery to open a can of two-fisted
action; interestingly, the US’s SyFy channel used his book as the basis for its
supernatural TV show </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">“Haven”</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> (awful,
awful, awful) showing the long reach that a literary mystery can generate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aeSDg7q3hog/U2dpdg2eOSI/AAAAAAAADj8/iCqCw96ng9A/s1600/ColoradoKid.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aeSDg7q3hog/U2dpdg2eOSI/AAAAAAAADj8/iCqCw96ng9A/s1600/ColoradoKid.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">For
me it’s a sad tale of someone, a fellow </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Rubaiyat</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">
lover, who took the poem at its word and followed his heart, like so many
others have done before him and since. Sometimes though, seizing the day doesn’t
always provide us with the outcomes we wanted so badly, and I believe that
Somerton Man wanted his happy ending a little too much and was too much of a
romantic to soldier on without. Omar also tells us, remember, that there’s
nothing new under the sun and that these things too, shall pass; moderation and
acceptance in all things, perhaps, is the answer.</span></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7xcRBTuA4SU/U2do-AC5XZI/AAAAAAAADjk/EZ0V7JJOmIc/s1600/W%2526TCodicil.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7xcRBTuA4SU/U2do-AC5XZI/AAAAAAAADjk/EZ0V7JJOmIc/s1600/W%2526TCodicil.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Postscript:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As of late November 2022, genetic research has determined that the Somerton Man was a Victorian resident <i>in absentia</i> named Carl "Charlie" Webb. Forensic examination, using hairs removed from the plaster cast that was taken of the corpse, along with some sleuthing through genealogical databases, has arrived at this conclusion; however, a forensic police examination is also underway - following an exhumation of the body - and its findings have not yet been reached. The odds are pretty good, though, it has to be said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apparently, Charlie was a bit suicidal and had fled to South Australia leaving an abandoned and abused wife who divorced him a few months after his death. He was otherwise friendless and preoccupied with poetry - especially the darker, brooding kind - and so the <i>Rubaiyat </i>was obviously striking a chord within him. In the wake of all this, I've read an interesting essay showing that the 'code' in the back of his copy of the book might well have been a mnemonic device to remember favoured passages, but the presence of "Miss Jestyn's" 'phone number there as well is still an open question.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bibliographically, amongst collectors and fans, the quest to determine which of the Whitcombe & Tombs' editions of the poem it was that Webb was using, continues. The majority of the editions that these publishers produced were undated and so their vintage can only be determined using gift inscriptions within the books, associated newspaper advertisements and records of lodgments within public institutions (libraries, etc.). There are some pretty determined detectives on the case though, and no doubt a consensus will soon be reached!</span></div>
Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-77168281304885723322014-04-22T02:36:00.002-07:002014-04-22T02:36:58.364-07:00Cash...<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Vr41heKoU0/U1TsfI4lMwI/AAAAAAAADhc/UII-qmOuHLU/s1600/GravesOmar1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Vr41heKoU0/U1TsfI4lMwI/AAAAAAAADhc/UII-qmOuHLU/s1600/GravesOmar1.jpg" height="320" width="191" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">XII.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“How sweet is mortal
sovranty” – think some:<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Others – “How blest the
Paradise to come!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Ah, take the cash in hand
and waive the Rest;<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Oh,
the brave Music of a distant Drum!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DvR01L8737w/UfM91ezxm1I/AAAAAAAAC0I/CTcqoyXl22s/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DvR01L8737w/UfM91ezxm1I/AAAAAAAAC0I/CTcqoyXl22s/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Anyone
who’s followed this blog for any length of time (and I haven’t been posting
regularly, I know) will realise that I don’t have a lot of time for Robert
Graves. At this point, with the pertinent reference to taking cash in the verse
above, it seems an appropriate moment to discuss this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Graves did some wonderful things in his
career, there’s no denying: he gave us <i>I,
Claudius</i> and <i>Claudius the God</i> and
rendered the Greek Myths more or less comprehensible for generations of
readers. He was one of the very few poets of the Great War to make it out alive,
which is incredible enough; unfortunately, he seems to have developed some
hang-ups in his early life which forced him into a bad decision in later years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Graves was part of the generation of
writers in the post-War era which included characters like W.H. Auden,
Christopher Isherwood and Evelyn Waugh. Graves wrote and published alongside
them and was considered their peer, at least in literary terms. After his war
poetry, Graves dabbled in some other short works which were dramatically
homoerotic (this, in a country where homosexuality was still, at least
technically, illegal), unlike most of his other contemporaries who had taken
the lesson of Oscar Wilde to heart and kept <i>schtum</i>.
The reception of these works was cool, especially by the subject who inspired
them, and Graves went into hiatus for awhile thereafter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">He returned to publishing having married
and settled down and, presumably, having sorted out his sexual proclivities.
Thereafter, he seems to have taken a violently dismissive stance against all
homosexuals, a knee-jerk reaction which, on the face of it, seems to stem from
not having been allowed to join the “cool kids” club all those years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Graves was convinced that Omar Khayyam
was gay; he was <i>absolutely sure</i> that
Edward FitzGerald was, too. He violently opposed the publishing of FitzGerald’s
translation and called him all kinds of hateful and pejorative things whenever
the <i>Rubaiyat</i> came up in conversation.
Unfortunately for him, his violent insistence on being taken on faith in this
matter and his manic opposition to the poem on this basis, forced many people
to reject his stance and embrace the poem even more strongly. For most,
Graves’s antipathy was an <i>idée fixe</i>,
and his rantings seemed to indicate that there was a problem of a personal
nature involved, rather than an actual, critical issue with the writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But things were to get worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In 1967, a Persian student approached
Graves with what he claimed was an authentic translation into English of a
manuscript which pre-dated the <i>Calcutta
Ms.</i> which FitzGerald had used as the basis of his poem. This fellow, Ali
Shah, claimed that he and his brother (back in Persia) had discovered these
verses and were keen to publish them in the West, thus restoring the primacy of
Omar Khayyam by side-stepping the FitzGerald morass. Graves swooped in and
embraced the project. He talked up the Shahs’ version to various publishers and
soon there was a bidding war to see who would get to print it. Various
manuscript extracts began to circle about, and money started to change hands,
necessary – Ali Shah said – to keep his brother safe in his tumultuous home
country and to ensure the recovery of the quatrains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Robert Graves went ballistic: finally, he
said, that old shirt-lifter FitzGerald was going to get his; at last the old
pillow-biter was going to get what was coming to him! He lobbied hard to get
people to pony up the cash for the project and interviewed widely with anyone
who would offer his point of view the column inches he felt the matter deserved.
Then, the embarrassment:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Ali Shah, the original verses and, more
importantly, the money, vanished. Last seen heading back towards Persia, he and
his brother vapourised into the ether, and were never heard of again. Graves
was left holding the baby and the questions he was being targeted with were of
a particularly uncomfortable variety: why weren’t copies made? Why didn’t he
have the verses examined by an expert before crying “hallelujah!” from the
rooftops? Why did he take the Shah brothers so immediately at face value?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Of course, it was all because they were
telling him things that he wanted to hear. In time it was revealed that the
quatrains were mainly obscure and abstruse versions of the original <i>rubaiyat</i> found in the <i>Calcutta Ms.</i>, and not particularly
original at all. That they had been composed within the Twentieth Century was
also proven – on the basis of grammatical shifts and word usage – and the whole
matter looked very black for Mr. Graves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Initially, he went on the attack,
claiming that any attempt to re-translate them into English was far better than
clinging on to FitzGerald’s “homosexual” version; by way of demonstration, he
re-worked some of the quatrains himself, but with less than stellar results. In
the end, a volume of the translation <i>did</i>
appear, probably in a bid by the publisher to try and recoup something out of
the debacle, but the scandal had already queered the pitch (so to speak) and
sales were lacklustre. Graves moved to Mallorca and stayed there, grumbling,
until he died.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xynyTibFMa8/UjgqCYdefJI/AAAAAAAADLE/de06BPf1qN0/s1600/Dinkus4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xynyTibFMa8/UjgqCYdefJI/AAAAAAAADLE/de06BPf1qN0/s1600/Dinkus4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">As
I’ve tried to indicate in previous posts, the jury is still well-and-truly out
in regard to the sexual tendencies of both Edward FitzGerald and Omar Khayyam.
On balance, there might be something to Graves’ claims, but nothing definitive.
By stark contrast, there’s a whole lot that comes out of Graves’ own writing
which indicates that he might be protesting too much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In the final analysis, Graves’ claims are
inconsequential. Nothing he came out with holds water; nothing was relevant to
the literary work; and no attempt by him (or the Shahs) to ‘improve’ the poetry
came close to attaining that goal. It was a case of two fraudsters making off
with a fortune and one man’s inarticulate misdirected rage bringing about his
own destruction. As to the sexual orientation of the authors, does any of it
even matter?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Graves’ hang ups, nowadays, amount to
little more than the music of an increasingly distant drum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ghtd4i9mabA/U1TsbQpGzvI/AAAAAAAADhU/guPol0Mxh3g/s1600/GravesOmar2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ghtd4i9mabA/U1TsbQpGzvI/AAAAAAAADhU/guPol0Mxh3g/s1600/GravesOmar2.jpg" height="320" width="232" /></a></div>
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-51863253112066119312013-10-12T15:38:00.004-07:002022-03-07T17:27:44.050-08:00"Enow..."
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">XI.</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“Here with a Loaf of Bread
beneath the Bough,</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A Flask of Wine, a Book of
Verse – and Thou</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Beside me singing in the
Wilderness –</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And
Wilderness is Paradise enow”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ba5VzRiqNh8/UlnOFH-tbOI/AAAAAAAADUU/iIUT9PrBS1M/s1600/Garfield.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ba5VzRiqNh8/UlnOFH-tbOI/AAAAAAAADUU/iIUT9PrBS1M/s1600/Garfield.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It
might seem unusual for me to start one of these with a comic (especially a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Garfield</i> comic!) but it proves the point
that this is probably the best known verse of the entire <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i>. After all, if Jim Davis can throw it into a strip like
this and be confident that the reader will know the quote, and register it as
old-fashioned and corny, then its penetration into the social consciousness
must certainly be pretty high. After all, no-one wants to footnote their
newspaper cartoon strips.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
other clue to this verse’s defining popularity, is in the illustrations. If you
look back on the recent discussions of Bull, Pogány and Dulac, you’ll see that,
more often than not, the image chosen to promote their vision of the poem – as the
dustwrapper image or frontispiece - is the one derived from this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ruba’i</i>. If you do a Google image search
for Dulac, you’ll find a majority of the results are his “Loaf of Bread” plate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cj1A4a_UvU8/UlnOM971FCI/AAAAAAAADUk/dEU-xn_spDA/s1600/LoafOBread.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cj1A4a_UvU8/UlnOM971FCI/AAAAAAAADUk/dEU-xn_spDA/s1600/LoafOBread.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">FitzGerald
fiddled with this verse a fair bit and apparently was never 100% convinced by
it. Certainly that last word is a bit of a poser: reading it aloud always jars.
On the one hand it looks like he’s forcing the rhyme by spelling “enough” in a
way that makes it work with lines 1 and 2; on the other, it’s possible that he
might be trying to say “even now”, but trying to force it into one syllable and
to do away with the usual poetic contractions (which normally would make it
“e’en now”). Either way it doesn’t really fly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">He
modified it in the Second Edition, coming up with this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iYivIY6hZIk/Ujgp_3VeZiI/AAAAAAAADK0/jpsflKu8uRk/s1600/Dinkus2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iYivIY6hZIk/Ujgp_3VeZiI/AAAAAAAADK0/jpsflKu8uRk/s1600/Dinkus2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“A Book of Verses underneath
the Bough,</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of
Bread – and Thou</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Beside me singing in the
Wilderness –</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Oh,
Wilderness were Paradise enow!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Second & Fifth edition<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This
alters the delivery of the last line, but doesn’t help at all with the rhyme,
although the first two lines might be said to run a little more smoothly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Ever
since he first put pen to paper with regard to Omar, academic discussion has
centred around whether FitzGerald’s translation is at all accurate and whether
the sense he derived from the original manuscript is correct. Putting aside for
the moment the embarrassing debacle that Robert Graves got himself into over
this, the discussion has led to many attempts to re-visit the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Calcutta Manuscript</i> and start again from
scratch. In 1979, Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs released their effort,
published by Penguin, and their take on this verse is as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9eTzfB6p-Mg/UjgqBHl39kI/AAAAAAAADLA/I4d-mb6TRTo/s1600/Dinkus3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9eTzfB6p-Mg/UjgqBHl39kI/AAAAAAAADLA/I4d-mb6TRTo/s1600/Dinkus3.jpg" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“I need a jug of wine and a
book of poetry,</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Half a loaf for a bite to
eat,</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Then you and I, seated in a
deserted spot,</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Will
have more wealth than a Sultan’s realm.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Peter Avery & John
Heath-Stubbs<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It
has to be mentioned, that Avery and Heath-Stubbs were in no way attempting to
derive anything other than the rawest, most basic sense out of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rubaiyat</i>; they weren’t trying to win any
poetry prizes. Other than trying to retain a four-line scheme, they dismissed
the rest of the poetic format, concentrating only on converting the essential
meaning of the words into English. The result is certainly not as pretty as
FitzGerald’s, but it’s better than Graves’s effort, who considered himself a
better poet – in fact a better <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">person</i>
– than FitzGerald:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xynyTibFMa8/UjgqCYdefJI/AAAAAAAADLE/de06BPf1qN0/s1600/Dinkus4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xynyTibFMa8/UjgqCYdefJI/AAAAAAAADLE/de06BPf1qN0/s1600/Dinkus4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“A gourd of red wine and a
sheaf of poems –</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A bare subsistence, half a
loaf, not more –</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Supplied us two alone in
the wide desert:</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">What
Sultan could we envy on his throne?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Robert Graves<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Bleagh!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Graves
also used this verse as “proof positive” that FitzGerald was homosexual. He declared
that the ambiguous gender of the “Thou” referred-to, was a clear indicator that
FitzGerald was playing coy about his preferences. Other commentators note,
however, that the original <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rubaiyat</i> variously
refer to a mistress, a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">houri</i> (one of
the heavenly virgins that an Islamic afterlife is rumoured to be populated
with), a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">saki</i> (cup-bearer, or servant),
or a youth: in terms of poetic economy, it simply makes sense to conflate all
of these figures into one unspecific entity, and that’s exactly what FitzGerald
has done. At least that’s my opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Regardless
of the actual words used to translate the verse, the images are pretty
consistent. The notion of escaping into a wilderness environment, eating simply
and forgetting the demands of position and duty are hallmarks of Persian
literature, and common to most of Omar’s contemporary writers. The notion of
Arcadian paradise – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">et in Arcadia ego</i>
– is something that Western writers have been advocating since the Ancient
Greeks held sway. Personally, I think, despite which words are being used to
express the sentiment, it’s one that we all instinctively understand: there’s
no finer thing than a picnic in a pretty-ish little wilderness somewhere, with
someone whose company we enjoy. As a bonus, we each get to decide for ourselves
whose words we think express that notion the best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ElRv7lyhRl0/UlnOIA1YIBI/AAAAAAAADUc/jJox6p9aGEo/s1600/Verse11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="103" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ElRv7lyhRl0/UlnOIA1YIBI/AAAAAAAADUc/jJox6p9aGEo/s1600/Verse11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-89509953610972242252013-10-11T16:11:00.000-07:002013-10-11T16:11:01.559-07:00René Bull...
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--n3JjnMomq4/UliBylUiYsI/AAAAAAAADTc/tGDFjrypWhg/s1600/Bull2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--n3JjnMomq4/UliBylUiYsI/AAAAAAAADTc/tGDFjrypWhg/s1600/Bull2.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">FitzGerald, Edward,
(trans.), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám,
Rendered into English verse, Introduction and notes by Reynold Alleyne
Nicholson, Illustrations by René Bull</i>, Smithmark Publishers Inc., New York,
NY, USA, 1995.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kyU4tn0qaM/UliCHPr7SkI/AAAAAAAADTs/zeFI4hjnD4I/s1600/Bull3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kyU4tn0qaM/UliCHPr7SkI/AAAAAAAADTs/zeFI4hjnD4I/s1600/Bull3.jpg" height="320" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><em>Large 32mo; hardcover, with
gilt spine-titling and decorated endpapers; 144pp., with monochrome decorations
by Willy Pogány, and other illustrations and frontispiece by René Bull. Some
minor spotting to the top edge of the text block. Dustwrapper is mildly sunned
along the spine. Near fine<o:p></o:p></em></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">This
is my Holy Grail of collecting. For whatever reason, copies of this Gift Book
didn’t seem to make it to the antipodes, so René Bull’s 1913 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i> is pretty thin on the ground
down here. I have two copies - later re-prints by publishing houses - which
tell me what I’m after; the real thing however, remains elusive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0FYDKJM0pcs/UliBKe_j9cI/AAAAAAAADTM/g5TQZU_yy28/s1600/BullPortrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0FYDKJM0pcs/UliBKe_j9cI/AAAAAAAADTM/g5TQZU_yy28/s1600/BullPortrait.jpg" height="320" width="241" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">René
Bull (1872-1942) was of Irish/French descent, and was educated in Paris where
he studied to be an engineer; however, like Pogány and Dulac before him, he got
distracted from his original purpose and ended up training to be an artist. He
returned to Dublin and began to work as a magazine illustrator and cartoonist,
drawing many satirical pictures for local journals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">He
moved to London in 1892 and started work with the newspapers and magazines
there. His work led to an appointment as roving artist and photographer and he
was sent to various battlefields to record his impressions. He witnessed the
Tirah Campaign in India in 1898, visited the Sudan and saw the Battle of
Omdurman, and was present at the relief of Ladysmith during the Boer War in
1900, at which engagement he was wounded and repatriated to London. His travels
informed his Orientalist aesthetic and provided him with a wealth of imagery
upon which to draw in his future career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_F8TJAs8bFc/UliCfoTHuRI/AAAAAAAADUE/iGXd72LPiy4/s1600/GramercyBull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_F8TJAs8bFc/UliCfoTHuRI/AAAAAAAADUE/iGXd72LPiy4/s1600/GramercyBull.jpg" height="320" width="192" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">FitzGerald, Edward,
(trans.), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám,
Rendered into English verse, Illustrated by René Bull</i>, Gramercy
Books/Outlet Book Company Inc./Random House, Avenel, NJ, USA, 1992.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H8IjXyLQ9us/UliB7eScaMI/AAAAAAAADTk/69yvoAlCyVE/s1600/Bull6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H8IjXyLQ9us/UliB7eScaMI/AAAAAAAADTk/69yvoAlCyVE/s1600/Bull6.jpg" height="292" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Octavo; hardcover, quarter-bound in illustrated and
gilt decorated papered boards with a cloth spine, titled in gold, with
illustrated endpapers and a blue marker ribbon; 96pp., with many monochrome and
full-colour illustrations. Near fine.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">From
then on, Bull threw himself into his work as an illustrator. He never really
won free of magazine work and, despite some truly breathtaking imagery in his
gift books, was tied to the relative drudge work of illustrating children’s
annuals such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chums</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blackie’s</i>. While working for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sketch</i>, he often drew strange and
whimsical machines that were a precursor (and perhaps an inspiration for) Heath
Robinson’s later work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z55exC4o-fA/UliCRXiecMI/AAAAAAAADT0/qqhLFwVqrkM/s1600/Bull4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z55exC4o-fA/UliCRXiecMI/AAAAAAAADT0/qqhLFwVqrkM/s1600/Bull4.jpg" height="320" width="183" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">In
1914, he enlisted as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve; he
transferred to the Royal Air Force during World War One and was promoted to the
rank of major. In World War Two, he served as part of the Air Ministry in a
technical capacity before his death in 1942.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b998aAIWFPw/UliCbM2EKxI/AAAAAAAADT8/_bO2N9EFudk/s1600/Bull5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b998aAIWFPw/UliCbM2EKxI/AAAAAAAADT8/_bO2N9EFudk/s1600/Bull5.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Like
Gilbert James, Bull remains a bit of an enigma in the world of illustration. He
was never one of the “big guns” but his presence was palpable. Lost in the
world of periodicals and newspapers – where provenance and cataloguing seem to
be anathema – he has become simply another anonymous contributor to bygone
endeavours. If not for his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rubaiyat</i>
and some of his other beautiful books, he might have vanished forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DvR01L8737w/UfM91ezxm1I/AAAAAAAAC0I/CTcqoyXl22s/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DvR01L8737w/UfM91ezxm1I/AAAAAAAAC0I/CTcqoyXl22s/s1600/Dinkus1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Books Illustrated by René
Bull:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">La
Fontaine, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fables</i>, Nelson, 1905</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Saville, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fate’s Intruder: A Novel,</i> Heinemann,
1905</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Chandler
Harris, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Uncle Remus,</i> Nelson, 1906</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The Arabian Nights</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, Constable, 1912</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Johnson, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Russian Ballet</i>, 1913</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> Hodder, 1913</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Mérimée
(Translated by A. E. Johnson), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Carmen</i>,
Hutchinson, 1915</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Strang, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Old Man Of The Mountain</i>, Hodder,
1916</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Swift, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gulliver’s Travels</i>, 1928</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Fyleman, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Garland of Roses: Collected Poems</i>,
Methuen, 1928</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Andersen,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fairy Tales</i>, Clowes, c.1928</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Chandler Harris,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brer Rabbit Plays (Retold by Elizabeth
Fleming)</i>, Nelson, 1930</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">La
Fontaine, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fables: A Selection (Translated
by Shirley Edward)</i>, 1935</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Zoo Friends</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, Blackie, 1939</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Various, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Children’s Golden Treasure Book</i>, 1939<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Magazine
Contributions (where known):<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Weekly Freeman”, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">c.1890</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Illustrated Brits”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1892</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Black and White”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1892</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Chums”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1892</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Pall Mall Budget”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1893</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Illustrated London News”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1893</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“St. Paul’s”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1894</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Lika Joko”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1894</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“English Illustrated Magazine”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1894–96</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Black and White”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1896</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Pick-Me-Up: The New Budget”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1895</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“The Sketch”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">,
1895-1918</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“The Ludgate Monthly”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, c. 1896</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Chums”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, c.1900</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“London Opinion”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, c.1900</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“The Bystander”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">, 1904</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">“Punch”, 1906–07<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XASQNSJm9iY/UliBSwaU_eI/AAAAAAAADTU/y5-T367xwjc/s1600/Bull1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XASQNSJm9iY/UliBSwaU_eI/AAAAAAAADTU/y5-T367xwjc/s1600/Bull1.jpg" height="320" width="233" /></a></div>
Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155707482335715458.post-21332426323453210392013-10-11T02:01:00.001-07:002013-10-11T02:01:06.230-07:00Herbage...
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">X.</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“With me along some Strip
of Herbage strown</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">That just divides the
desert from the sown,</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Where name of Slave and
Sultan scarce is known,</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And
pity Sultan Mahmud* on his Throne.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-46q9MrcRHUc/Ule8G9qCF-I/AAAAAAAADSk/WEYKGSdMETY/s1600/Herbage1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-46q9MrcRHUc/Ule8G9qCF-I/AAAAAAAADSk/WEYKGSdMETY/s1600/Herbage1.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
this verse, Omar and FitzGerald play the egalitarian card. However, coming from
two wildly different cultures, places and times as they did, their individual
intentions regarding these lines were probably quite different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">What
this verse is telling us is that it’s good to be free from obligation and duty,
to drop the attitudes and behaviours that come from rank and position in
society and to simply relax and accept everyone for who they are, not what they
are. The location is specifically ambivalent – neither here nor there – a
liminal space removing the individual from all context. Ease and tranquillity
comes from the divesting of titles and the responsibility that accompanies
them. Having discovered this equanimity within the world we can then feel
sympathy for those who cling to such constructs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">From
Omar’s perspective, there are subtle political ramifications to this verse.
Remember that he lived in times riven by a theological divide between Sunni and
Shi’ite orthodoxy (as the French say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">plus
ça change, plus ça meme chose</i>) and both factions were wary of the Sufi
mysticism that threatened to offer a third option. We know that Omar spent much
of his life in fear of being charged with heresy and tried to fly beneath the
radar on religious issues, but also that he couldn’t help speaking out on
matters that he thought were important – and the Islamic schism was no less
devastating in his day than it is in modern times.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bb-pEIZp7vw/Ule8JQHCQBI/AAAAAAAADSs/ZBPyom6cGdo/s1600/Herbage2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bb-pEIZp7vw/Ule8JQHCQBI/AAAAAAAADSs/ZBPyom6cGdo/s1600/Herbage2.jpg" height="226" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
this in mind, the verse takes on a different character. Now it looks like a
meeting between the powerful and the oppressed on neutral soil, and the
beginnings of a mutual understanding that might possibly ensue as the result of
a discussion divested of baggage. Now it sounds like a US-hosted, Middle East
Peace Conference. Heavy stuff indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
last line is still a bit cryptic. Why should we pity Sultan Mahmud? Without
getting into who he was or whether he even existed, the answer is soon clear:
in Omar’s day, there was both a spiritual and a temporal ruler – the Caliph and
the Sultan. Given that the culture was a theocracy – rule by religious law –
it’s not hard to guess that the Caliph had an unequal hold over the Sultan,
especially in the case of a governmental impasse. So, the Sultan is to be
pitied because he is not free to rule on his own terms; he has to toe a
dogmatic religious line. In a sense - and it’s a long bow to draw but not too
much of a stretch - Omar seems to be indicating a plan of attack in negotiating
an end to hostilities: the Sultan, in that he is oppressed by religious
doctrine too, is your potential ally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">No
wonder Omar tried to keep things on the down-low.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In
FitzGerald’s case the lines are less incendiary, but they still take a swing at
his current orthodoxy. In this instance, the verse can be taken as blow against
the British class system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">We
have to remember, of course, that FitzGerald was very well off; he had no money
troubles or issues about having to work, or indeed any need to justify his
swanning about translating ancient texts, growing flowers and mucking about in
boats. From all accounts, he was a very easy-going chap, likable, witty and
self-effacing. Like Omar, he had strong religious convictions, but these were
of a nebulous and unstructured character – he didn’t know what he believed in,
but he sure knew what he wouldn’t condone in terms of faith. Mostly he objected
to the religious options that directly surrounded him: Anglican Christianity
(both high and low) and Catholicism. In his later years, he stopped attending
any form of religious observation, a decision which met with disapproval from
the local pastor. Calling upon FitzGerald to enquire the reason for his truancy
from church, he was told that the decision was not lightly taken and that it
was final. The pastor objected strongly and was shown the door with the
following words:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">"Sir,
you might have conceived that a man does not come to my years of life without
thinking much of these things. I believe I may say that I have reflected </span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">[upon]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> them fully as much as yourself. You need
not repeat this visit."<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Robert
Graves, amongst others, has made much of FitzGerald’s sexuality, his
ill-considered and soon-aborted marriage, his close relationship with Joseph
Fletcher. It’s possible to read these events as red flags indicating a certain
proclivity; however, I, for one, believe that people are much more complex than
a surface reading would indicate. I believe that FitzGerald was a much deeper
thinker than he is usually given credit for and that he was an intensely
private person. He wasn’t the type to shy away from injustice; he also wasn’t
the sort who would detonate bombs beneath the Houses of Parliament to provoke
societal change. He couldn’t change the accident of his birth but that didn’t
mean he needed to rub anyone’s nose in it or to martyr himself to assuage
anyone’s outrage or his own guilt. He did what he could and kept things quiet
and steady; he helped his family and friends, hard-working men of the land (or
sea), and his own staff (I don’t for a minute believe those pound-note
bookmarks were any kind of an accident).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
this verse, FitzGerald seems to be saying that people are more important than
their position in society, their occupation, or their title. Like Omar he
advocates a meeting outside the general run of life, on neutral soil, where a
one-to-one conversation can take place. He’s talking about getting to know one
another, devoid of society’s artificial constraints. If a Captain of Industry
could undertake to do this, he seems to be saying, then he would pity having to
return to his Throne. And we know that this is exactly what FitzGerald did in
his own life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">*Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna in Afghanistan (998-1030 AD) founded a mighty empire including Khorasan, Transoxiana, Cashmere, and a large part of northwestern India. His father having been a slave, Mahmud's ascent was spectacular indeed. Known as a literary luminary it has been suggested that he was rather a great kidnapper of poets and other men of letters!</span></div>
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Craig Stantonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533200901464579069noreply@blogger.com0