Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Edward Fitzgerald. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Howard Wilford Bell, 1901.
Price: US$10.07 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: 1901. No Edition Remarks. 71 pages. No dust jacket. Purple cloth with decorations. Severe cracking to hinges causing boards to be loose. Pages slightly loose. Pages are lightly tanned throughout. Previous owner's inscription to front free endpaper. Boards have moderate shelf-wear with bumping to corners and rubbing to surfaces. Light tanning to spine and edges with crushing to spine ends. Wear marks overall.
Seller: World of Rare Books, Goring-by-Sea, SXW, United Kingdom
Price: US$13.63 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Ed., 2nd prt. 1901. Hard cover 8vo in blue cloth /ornate gilt dec. and titles, top edge gilt. Near Fine/No DJ (as issued?). Owner info front endpaper, a couple torn page edges, one page pencil-annotated, else About Fine and unmarked. 244pp inc. textual footnotes, Appendix, Comparative Stanzas, Bibliography. Pretty copy.
Seller: BASEMENT BOOKS, Albuquerque, NM, U.S.A.
Price: US$14.90 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: unpaged (0.25 Inch thick), Orig Grey Paperback, Small 8vo (4.9 x 6.9 Inches), every other page left blank "for the use of students who desire to make notes and comments." Occasional pencil mark else VG
Seller: Larry W Price Books, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$17.89 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Ex-library with the usual stamps, stickers, and markings. Good condition for age. Maroon boards with gilt lettering on the spine. The book originally had gilt edging on pages, but that has mostly worn off, except for the top of the book. Pages are tanned. Spine has "The Home Library" printed in gilt. The boards and spine are bumped. Pages 37 through 46 are chipped along the bottom edge. The binding is intact but cracked. Tissue protects the frontispiece portrait of Edward Fitzgerald. Biographical preface to Edward FitzGerald by Alfred Lord Tennyson. 288 p. Shelf: D-1.
Seller: Friends of the Library Bookstore, Eau Claire, WI, U.S.A.
Fitzgerald, Edward. More Letters of Edward Fitzgerald. Macmillan, London, 1901.
Price: US$22.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: London: Macmillan, 1901. 12mo. Cloth binding. Charming antique hand-numbered and hand-dated library bookplate (no pocket). Foxing to endpapers. Tape shadow/rubbing to corner of boards. Solidly bound, clean. Fitzgerald's most famous work was his very free adaptation of Omar's Rubaiayat. His letters, also noteworthy, were published posthumously. Very good.
Seller: Rose's Books IOBA, Harwich Port, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$23.06 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Only slight wear to green boards and spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Internally slight tanning to end papers; more so to half title and last page of ads; remaining contents, including tissue guarded frontis and title page, unaffected.
Seller: Hugh Hardinge Books, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Edward Fitzgerald. Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Howard Wilford Bell, 1901.
Price: US$25.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Hardbound, purple-cloth, no dust jacket. Foxing to end pages. Age toning to page edges. Minor wear & fading to boards, otherwise good.
Seller: Black Cat Books, Shelter Island, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$33.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: no date, looks.1900s, Limp brown gilt decorated suede covers, t.e.gilt, deckled fore-edge and lower edge, 54pp, b/w frontis of translator, marbled silk epp, brown ribbon marker. In cardboard box. General rubbing, tears & sides missing from box. Book has moderate rubbing to edges of suede covers inside has, tanning to page edges, inside front cover endpaper is split with pieces still remaining in the book, gift inscription to fr flyleaf, else square & tight. Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall
Seller: Grandmahawk's Eyrie, Mansfield Center, CT, U.S.A.
Price: US$35.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Title continued, "Comprising the Metrical Translations by Edward Fitzherald and E.H. Whinfield, and the prose version of Justin Huntly McCarthy". Introduction by Jessie Rittenhouse. Anexcellent pictorial cloth binding, blue/grey with elaborate gilt design and titl on the front and the unfaded spine. Top edge gilt. Some wear at the spine ends and corners. Inside, very clean and tightwith no stains or foxing or browning, and no prior owner marks.
Seller: Craftsbury Antiquarian Books, Craftsbury Common, VT, U.S.A.
Price: US$38.43 + shipping
Description: 8vo. pp [8], 71, [1]. Original publisher's mauve cloth, decorated and lettered gilt on spine and front cover. Some rubbing and tanning at spine with slight fading at spine area and top edges, otherwise very good minus with clean text.
Seller: Any Amount of Books, London, United Kingdom
Fitzgerald, Edward. More Letters of Edward Fitzgerald. Macmillan and Co., London, 1901.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 18.5 x 12.5 cm. 12mo. 295pp [5]. Rebound into full dark green pigskin, gilt spine lettering. Toning to spine. Previous owner's bookplate and small date stamp on front paste-down. There is scattered pencil underlining.
Seller: Midway Book Store (ABAA), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.
Price: US$57.45 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Leather. 4 1/2" X 5 1/2.". "Flowers of Parnassus-IX" written above title on half-title page. Illustrated. Pages are clean and unmarked. Covers show light edge wear with rubbing/light scuffing. Spine edge wear. Binding cracked but still intact.; 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! Ships same or next business day!
Seller: Redux Books, Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$66.17 + shipping
Description: London: Methuen 1901. 8vo. Orig. full vellum. (xii 284pp.). Title-page printed in red/black ink. Edition lim. to 60 numbered copies only on hand-made paper of which this is No. 32.
Seller: Berkelouw Rare Books, Berrima, NSW, Australia
Price: US$89.66 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First Edition Thus. Hardback. No Dust Jacket. 8vo. pp xl, 244. Original publisher's blue cloth, decorated and lettered gilt on spine and front cover. From theÊOmar Khayyam/ Edward Fitzgerald Êcollection of Peter Wills with his small circular blind stamp - ÒThe Fitzgerald Collection.Ó Portrait frontispiece. Neat inscription on the first blank page, inner hinge slightly weak, otherwise sound, very good.
Seller: Burwood Books, Wickham Market, United Kingdom
Price: US$96.06 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: 1901, limited edition of 500 on Dutch handmade paper. 20pp. Fair/None. red decorative cloth boards with some rubbing to edges/spine, fraying to spine ends, some soiling/damp marking. Contents fair with some browning, a little soiling, a little damp marking/staining, minor splitting to hinges front & back, minor creasing. Owner's name to ffep. Decorative endpapers. Laid in sepia-tone plates by Blanche McManus. Edward Fitzgerald's popular translations of the Astronomer-Poet of Persia. This is the rare limited edition version on handmade paper. Scarce in this edition.
Seller: C. Parritt, Derby, United Kingdom
Price: US$100.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: x,88 Publisher's red cloth, gilt titles on cover and spine, all faded. Rare. Bumped and rubbed. Hinges strong and tight. 12mo (7.5 x 5")
Seller: Round Table Books, LLC, Palatine, IL, U.S.A.
Price: US$125.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 9-1/2" x 6-1/4"; pp. [x] + 118; grey paper boards, cloth back with title. #191 of 210 copies, vividly hand-colored frontispiece and title page, deckle edge paper, 14 black/white illustrations. Intro by Michael Kerney Potter 250. Rubbing to corners, loss to cloth.
Seller: Little Sages Books, ABAA/ILAB, Longmont, CO, U.S.A.
Edward Fitzgerald ( Translation). The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Methuen and Co, 1901.
Price: US$192.13 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First thus, no dustwrapper. Green buckram boards with gilt lettering. Heavy spotting on inside of boards, FFEP and a little on the title. The same at rear otherwise very good. This the Batson and Ross edition, commentary and biographical information by them. Gilt ruling on boards, rough cut pages. One of only 60 copies of which 50 were for sale. This number 53.An extremely rare edition. No copy in the British Library. Octavo, 283 pages,800g.
Seller: Blacklock's Rare Books (est 1988), Egham, United Kingdom
Price: US$200.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 7-3/4" x 4-3/4"; pp. xii + 284 + [48], advertisements in green cloth boards, title on back, ruled gilt border to side. This #13 of 60 on handmade paper, large paper edition. Potter 142. Scuff/loss of color across top of side, small area of discoloration at bottom of title page. Laid in gift note describing purchase.
Seller: Little Sages Books, ABAA/ILAB, Longmont, CO, U.S.A.
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 22p of text, quarto with Persian borders on each page. Beautifully executed on what appears to be hand made paper with deckled edges. Bound in dark gray boards and brown leather spine. Boards are wearing at the corners, spine is heavily chipped, contents fine. One of 100 numbered copies, this copy #92.
Seller: Old New York Book Shop, ABAA, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.
Price: US$300.00 + shipping
Description: Batson and Ros Edition. Number 33 of 60 copies, on handmade paper, of which 50 are for sale. x, [ii], 283 pp. Printed by T. and A. Constable. 1 vols. 8vo. LARGE PAPER BATSON AND ROSS EDITION. Potter 142 Green cloth, uncut and unopened. Fine x, [ii], 283 pp. Printed by T. and A. Constable. 1 vols. 8vo Batson and Ros Edition. Number 33 of 60 copies, on handmade paper, of which 50 are for sale.
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$448.30 + shipping
Description: First Edition thus. Edition de luxe printed at the Ballantyne Press in an edition of 375 copies (350 for sale). With an introduction by F B Money-Coutts. Publisher's flexible parchment boards with gilt lettering to upper and spine along with a green device of interlaced leaves and vines. Spine slightly darkened but title lettering still easily legible. Remnants of old silk ties. 66 printed pages. With eight engraved plates by Herbert Cole (1867-1930) including the frontispiece, each with tissue-guard, and numerous engraved head and tailpieces and illuminated initials. Half-title with vignette illust. Six blank leaves at both front and back. Covers slightly soiled and bowed, with some light rubbing at head of the spine.
Seller: Worlds End Bookshop (ABA, PBFA, ILAB), LONDON, United Kingdom
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Description: 117pp, illustrations on Japan vellum in water color done by hand, extra set of illustrations in black and white on Japan vellum accompanying, octavo rebound in green cloth, gilt titles to spine. 210 copies of this edition were printed, but this is 1 of only 50cc possessing the extra set of illustrations. Signed by the publisher, this is Number 51 (from subset of copies in the edition numbered 11-60). nicely rebound in green cloth, tight binding, all but one illustration tissue guards present, light darkening to a few top page edges, clean throughout, Very Good
Seller: COLLINS BOOKS, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Omar Khayyam; Edward Fitzgerald. Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. John Lane, London, 1901.
Price: US$672.45 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: The desirable limited edition of the 1901 edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Illustrated by Fitzgerald H Cole This is a Limited Edition of 375 total copies, 350 of which are for sale. 'The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam' is the title Edward Fitzgerald gave to his original 1859 translation of a selection of Khayyam's poems. Khayyam's works have been widely translated across the globe. Fitzgerald's translations are fairly loose, he referred to his work on them as 'transmogrification'. Some consider that 'Rubaiyat' could be considered as Fitzgerald's own original poetry that are simply loosely based on Khayyam's quatrains. Omar Khayyam was a Persian mathematician and astronomer, born in the 2nd Century. He was famously known during his lifetime as a mathematician, and has only earned the reputation of a poet after his death. Of the poems attributed to him, some are doubtful in their authenticity, however he gained great popularity after Fitzgerald's translation was published. With a frontispiece and seven plates by Herbert Cole, also known for illustration John Lane's 1900 edition of 'Gulliver's Travels'. Prior owners ink inscription to the recto of the front endpaper, 'Piers Gascoigne 62.'. In full vellum binding. Externally, smart. Spotting and several handling marks to the boards. Ribbon ties are detached. Prior owner's ink inscription to the recto of the front endpaper, 'Piers Gascoigne 62.'. Internally firmly bound. Pages are bright with light scattered spots to the first and last few pages, otherwise generally clean. Very Good
Seller: Rooke Books PBFA, Bath, United Kingdom
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: This Edition de Luxe is limited to 375 copies for England and America, 350 of which are for sale". Prior owners inscription on inside back cover. White/cream colored cover with gilt lettering and green design and gilt lettering to spine, gilt top edge. Cover is soiled, fading to spine, front hinge starting to crack internally. Very Good condition with notes as described
Seller: Karl Books, Alpharetta, GA, U.S.A.
Price: US$795.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition thus (from the fourth edition translated by Edward Fitzgerald). Tall octavo. Frontispiece, elaborately hand colored title page and 14 full page water colored plates, with gold highlights by Gilbert James; together with the same plates in b/w all on Japan vellum. Original 1/2 white vellum over gray boards. Very good. No other signatures or bookplates. Number 56 of 60 copies with the hand colored plates. Signed by the publishers.
Seller: Houle Rare Books/Autographs/ABAA/PADA, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 28 un-numbered pages of text. Original paper-covered boards lettered in gilt. The original suede leather spine was expertly replaced with leather to mimic the original. The boards are somewhat soiled and discolored. Limited edition, number 35 of 100. Printed on American vellum; manufactured by L.L. Brown Paper Company. Pages are uncut and unopened except for a few pages which have started to separate naturally and neatly at the edge. Minimal soiling to the page edges. Each page is elaborately decorated with borders in a Persian style. Printed by Van Vechten & Ellis and published by them at The Philosopher Press which is at the Sign of the Green Pine Tree in Wausau Wisconsin. This copy was printed for Andrew L. Kreutzer. A few tiny page tears to the edges. First edition, first impression. Size: Quarto (4to)
Seller: Kurt Gippert Bookseller (ABAA), Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
(BINDINGS - MACDONALD). THE RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM. Methuen and Co, London, 1901.
Price: US$1300.00 + shipping
Description: 231 x 147 mm. (9 1/8 x 5 3/4"). x, [ii], 283, [1] pp.Translated by Edward FitzGerald. LOVELY LIGHT BROWN MOROCCO BY MACDONALD OF NEW YORK (stamp-signed in gilt on rear turn-in), covers with double gilt-ruled border and scalloped frame with teal morocco onlaid floral extensions and leaves, raised bands, gilt-ruled compartments with green morocco onlaid flowers and leaves, gilt lettering, turn-ins with three gilt rules and floral cornerpieces, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. A Large Paper Copy. Potter 142; Paas 3393 & 3394. âTraces of rubbing to joints and extremities, spine lightly toned (the teal onlays mellowed to light green), inconsequential isolated defects internally, but a fine copy in a lovely binding with only very trivial imperfections. This is a lovely limited edition Large Paper Copy of FitzGerald's translation of the Rubaiyat, with lengthy biographies and commentary, and attractively bound by a leading American craftsman. James MacDonald (1850-1920) emigrated from Scotland in 1873 to work for William Matthews at the Appleton bindery, then, in 1882, went into business with another former Matthews apprentice, William Launder. As Lawrence Thompson tells us (in "Hand Bookbinding in the United States since the Civil War"), "for the next decade the name of Launder and MacDonald stood for the best in American hand binding; and after the partnership was dissolved, each man . . . continued to produce bindings sturdy in structure, simple and symmetrical in design, tasteful and neat in all respects. They have enjoyed the well-earned patronage of American bibliophiles for over half a century.". No. 34 OF 60 COPIES (of which 50 were for sale).
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$3842.59 + shipping
Description: First Vale Press edition, one of 310 copies printed on Arnold handmade paper, in a fine contemporary art nouveau binding by James MacDonald of New York. The text was taken from Edward FitzGerald's edition of 1859 and embellished with attractive designs by Ricketts. The Vale Press was founded by the lifelong partners Charles Ricketts (1866-1931) and Charles Shannon (1863-1937), both successful artists whose early printing ventures included The Dial (1889-97). In 1894, the partnership and patronage of the wealthy barrister Llewellyn Hacon allowed them to realize their ambition of establishing the press, producing primarily English poetic works, "blending medieval, Renaissance, and contemporary imagery" (Grove Art Online) in a style influenced by the aesthetic movement and arts and crafts. The Scottish-born James Macdonald (1850-1920) moved to America in 1873 and was trained in New York by the leading American bookbinder William Matthews at the Appleton bindery. In 1882, Macdonald started his own business in partnership with another former apprentice of Matthews, William Launder. "For the next decade the name of Launder and Macdonald stood for the best in American hand binding. They have enjoyed the well-earned patronage of American bibliophiles for over a half century" (Thompson, p. 101). This binding is an exquisite example of MacDonald's renowned taste for symmetrical, tasteful, and neat designs. A further ten copies of this edition were issued on vellum. Franklin, p. 252; Potter 4; Ransom, Vale 32. Lawrence Sidney Thompson, Hand Bookbinding in the United States Since the Civil War, 1954. Octavo (212 x 145 mm). Contemporary red crushed morocco by James MacDonald of New York, spine lettered in gilt, gilt single-fillet frame to covers enclosing gilt floral design with red morocco onlays, board edges and turn-ins ruled in gilt, brown morocco doublures featuring gilt central strapwork design with red morocco onlays, cream silk endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. With original printed cover label preserved on one of two blue paper wrappers bound in front and back. With wood-engraved frontispiece, title page within wood-engraved vine leaf frame, similar initials; text printed in red and black. A touch of rubbing to spine ends and corners, a little foxing to margins of a couple of leaves, else clean, a better than very good copy presenting handsomely in the binding.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$4680.00 + shipping
Description: 314 x 250 mm. (12 3/8 x 9 7/8"). [14] French-fold leaves.Translated by Edward FitzGerald. Attractive three-quarter maroon morocco over marbled boards, raised bands, two compartments with gilt lettering, others with central gilt tool. Housed in a maroon cloth slipcase (slightly worn and faded). Each text page with an elaborate decorative border colored by hand, and AN ORIGINAL SIGNED WATERCOLOR ON VELLUM by Plein tipped-in before title. Title page with watercolor inscription: "Iluminated [sic] by / Charles M. Plein / Omaha Neb. / Oct 1915"; two glossy leaves with examples of the border decoration laid in. âFinal French-fold leaf cleanly torn along part of the fold at the top (not affecting contents on either side), free endpaper in front and back with just a hint of darkening at edges (apparently from binder's glue), but A FINE COPY--clean and bright throughout in a near-pristine binding. This is a unique copy of The Philosopher Press' Rubaiyat, enhanced with vibrantly hand-colored borders and a beautiful full-page watercolor illustration heightened with gold illumination. The latter features a man dressed in a turban and holding a scimitar above his head, enveloped in a mix of billowing cloth and smoke or clouds that seem to emanate from a decorative vase below. The scene is framed with a three-quarter border of grapes and vines on a burnished gilt ground, with a gold chalice poised prominently at the top of the composition, recalling motifs from the poetry of Omar Khayyam. Artist Charles M. Plein (1870-1920) worked as the photography colorist at the studio of famed Native American portraitist Frank A. Rinehart, and was also known for his illustrations, bronze sculpture, and costume and set design. The Philosopher Press was founded in 1897 by Philip and Helen Van Vechten, along with partner William Ellis. Helen (1868-1949) originally oversaw the bookkeeping and administrative side of the business, but found herself attracted to the book-making process. She took over the printing shop and, inspired by the Kelmscott Press, set about learning the craft. Although self-taught, she developed impressive skills, even solving a problem that had stumped other hand presses of the day: how to feed deckle-edged paper into a press so as to ensure an even register on both sides of the sheets. Newspapers around the country reported on the feat, marvelling that a woman in central Wisconsin was operating a fine press. No. 91 OF 100 COPIES PRINTED, A UNIQUE ILLUMINATED COPY.
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.