The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1899): Amazon.co.uk: Edward Fitzgerald: Books

All five of FitzGerald's versions of his translation, (some say revision), of the quatrains of Omar Khayyam in a facsimile of an old edition.

It's excellent, informative yet restrained work. First there is a presentation of FitzGerald's relationship with his work and Old Omar, to whom he attributed the quatrains. Good, readable stuff. Then follow FitzGerald's own prefaces for the first or second editions and for the third. FitzGerald's prose is not the easiest to read, but the texts are a charming insight to his quite particular intellect.

The Rubaiyat themselves are presented in a form that is, again, not the easiest to read. This time it is not FitzGerald's fault, the poor fellow was dead and buried by then. The first and second editions are presented in full, which is fine, but, (in the author's sudden realisation that his work was going to stretch beyond the budget?), editions three, four and five are presented as one, with comments on some of the differences between those last three editions in the text and in foot-notes. "Clumsy" doesn't begin to describe it. Never mind, the first two editions, of which the second is my overall favourite anyway, are perfectably, serenely readable.

If you attempt to read FitzGerald's notes to the texts, all eleven pages in one sitting, your eyes will start to roll around in their sockets, so it's best to only read them as you go through the text. Surely no other notes have ever been more condensed in form nor more all-embracing in their references.

The chronological table which follows is quite touching. As soon as FitzGerald, who was not a recognised authority on Persian poetry, came up with his first edition other translators who were more admired rushed to produce their own money-spinning versions. I only read one other version, at school, so I've had fifty years to forget all the details, but I remember feeling that the magic had disappeared. Then FitzGerald's death came far too early, before he really had time to fully benefit from his work. The nice event is the posthumous publishing of "FitzGerald's" fifth edition, which was created from the previous editions and FitzGerald's own preparatory notes for another edition by one of the few academics who had accepted FitzGerald's arrival in their midst.

The book closes with a chart indicating which quatrains from the "combined presentation" of editions three, four and five go where. A certain cure for insomnia...

But the whole thing really works beautifully. A presentation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam that wasn't mildly eccentric would lose all the charm of FitzGerald's beautiful creation. A book to read as methodically or as haphazardly as you wish, to cuddle up with for a moment or two or for a day or two. It's well made for a paper-back, well printed on good paper. Excellent value for money.

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The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1899) (Paperback)

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