Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$417.06 + shipping
Description: Attractive full cloth binding elaborately stamped in gilt with a peacock motif. Spine title in gilt in a floral motif. Poetry, beautifully illustrated with 12 magnificent colour plates and illuminated letters by F. Sangorski & G. Sutcliffe. Unpaginated. 310 x 235 mm (12¼ x 9¼ inches). Text in English. Boards rubbed at corners, spine skillfully repaired, light foxing throughout. Overall in a very good condition.
Seller: Harrison-Hiett Rare Books, Richelieu, France
Price: US$850.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Bound in tan cloth with a lovely full gilt peacock design to the front board. A lovely, Near Fine example of the first trade edition. This edition reprints the famous Sangorski and Sutcliffe, illuminated edition, with both Sangorski and Sutcliffe signing on the limitation page. Complete with all 12 color plates. This edition is slightly smaller than the signed, limited edition and uses a thinner paper-stock. Some inoffensive foxing throughout. Fitzgerald attributed the original work to the famed astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyum, and this collection of quatrains rapidly became a favored text of the Pre-Raphaelites. "Like the Odyssey or the Vita Nuova [it] was once the most widely known and quoted work of Victorian poetry in the world," and its place in Western culture at the time was secured by Fitzgerald's "epigrammatic, sophisticated, often mordant verses [that] display Fitzgerald's adroitness in handling this stanza form" (Warner). Yet with rise of Modernism, the Rubaiyat fell out of style for a time, its lush and romantic orientalism considered out of step with the concerns of those who were living through a devastating World War. But the beautiful surviving copies in exceptional vellum, silk, and leather, alongside recently released critical editions, have helped draw attention back to the Rubaiyat's beauty and its role in inspiring so many monumental pieces of Victorian art and literature. Near Fine.
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Description: Signed limited first edition of this work reproduced in color from the manuscript written and illuminated by Francis Sangorski & George Sutcliffe, number 247 of 550 copies signed by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Folio, bound in publisher's full vellum, front panel elaborately stamped in gilt in a peacock motif, gilt titles and a floral motif to the spine, brown gilt morocco lettering label, pictorial endleaves. With twelve full-page illustrations inserted throughout. In very good condition. The Rubáiyát is one of the most popular poems of all time. A collection of quatrains composed in the eleventh century by Persian poet and philosopher Omar Khayyám, it was first published in English-language translation by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859. Since then, its melancholy tone and enigmatic philosophy of mourning the painful brevity of life while celebrating what pleasures we may find have made it an inspiration to countless people.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$2600.00 + shipping
Description: 343 x 258 mm. (13 1/2 x 10"). 2 p.l., 6 pp., [19] leaves, [1], 16, [1] pp., [11] leaves. Translated by Edward FitzGerald. With an introduction by A. C. Benson. Original vellum boards featuring a peacock within an elaborate gilt frame by Sangorski & Sutcliffe (with "Rd. No. 562943" in small letters at foot, indicating the firm's registered design), smooth spine with gilt decoration and maroon morocco label, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. In a later woodgrain slipcase. Numerous decorative initials designed by Alberto Sangorski printed in gold and colors, and 12 COLOR PLATES (including a particularly elaborate title and first page), with illustrations designed by E. Geddes. Printed in red and black. Potter 81; Paas 4120. âBinding with half a dozen small yellow stains, spine lightly soiled, label with a couple small scratches, plates with light speckled gray strip at leaf edges (from printing process?), otherwise quite pleasing--very fresh internally, printed on high quality paper, and in a solid, scarcely worn binding without any of the usual splaying that vellum invites. This is limited edition facsimile of an original manuscript illuminated and written out by Alberto Sangorski and illustrated by Ewan Geddes, based on FitzGerald's enduringly popular translation of Omar Khayyam. It is a very attractive and well-preserved facsimile of the fine work produced by Sangorski & Sutcliffe when the firm was at the top of their game. After studying under, and then working for, Douglas Cockerell, Francis Sangorski and George Sutcliffe founded their own bindery in 1901 and continued in a successful partnership until 1912. During that year, the firm suffered three major blows: their famously splendid jewelled binding, dubbed the "Great Omar," was lost on the Titanic; a few weeks after this accident, Francis himself drowned; and Francis' brother, Alberto, who had been a central figure in producing the firm's vellum illuminated manuscripts, went over to Riviere. Despite these losses, the firm grew and prospered, employing a staff of 80 by the mid-1920s and becoming perhaps the most successful English bindery of the 20th century. Though he was best known for his watercolor scenes of rural and winter landscapes, Scottish artist Ewan Geddes (1866-1935) abandons his usual restrained palette in this collaboration with Sangorski & Sutcliffe, employing instead a colorful array of paints that capture the warmth and sensuous lyricism of the text. No. 154 OF 550 COPIES printed on handmade paper and SIGNED BY SANGORSKI AND SUTCLIFFE on the limitations page.
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$2887.35 + shipping
Description: First deluxe edition. Number 80 of 550 copies, printed on handmade paper and signed by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Publisher's original full vellum with intricate gilt decoration to the upper board and spine, titles on an brown morocco label to the spine. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Colour decorated endpapers. Frontispiece and title page illuminated in full colour with ten further colour illuminations throughout the text. The calligraphic text is printed in red and black, decorative initials in red and gold. An excellent near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the vellum with a little natural patina and mild dustiness to the spine. The spine label with a couple of small chips to the right edge. The contents, with a small previous owner's bookplate to the front pastedown, and minor marks to the blank margins are otherwise clean throughout. A very attractive example of a beautiful production. Signed by Francis Sangorski and George Sutcliffe in black ink on the limitation page. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.
Seller: LUCIUS BOOKS (ABA, ILAB, PBFA), York, United Kingdom
Price: US$2950.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Bound in full vellum boards with lovely full gilt peacock design to the front board. Brown morocco spine label intact. A lovely, Near Fine example of this limited production, number 133 of 550 copies produced. This edition reprints the famous Sangorski and Sutcliffe, illuminated edition, with both Sangorski and Sutcliffe signing on the limitation page. Complete with all 12 color plates. Very slight bowing to the boards and a bit of foxing throughout. Fitzgerald attributed the original work to the famed astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyum, and this collection of quatrains rapidly became a favored text of the Pre-Raphaelites. "Like the Odyssey or the Vita Nuova [it] was once the most widely known and quoted work of Victorian poetry in the world," and its place in Western culture at the time was secured by Fitzgerald's "epigrammatic, sophisticated, often mordant verses [that] display Fitzgerald's adroitness in handling this stanza form" (Warner). Yet with rise of Modernism, the Rubaiyat fell out of style for a time, its lush and romantic orientalism considered out of step with the concerns of those who were living through a devastating World War. But the beautiful surviving copies in exceptional vellum, silk, and leather, alongside recently released critical editions, have helped draw attention back to the Rubaiyat's beauty and its role in inspiring so many monumental pieces of Victorian art and literature. Near Fine.
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$9880.00 + shipping
Description: 315 x 228 mm. (12 1/2 x 9"). 2 p.l., 6 pp., [19] leaves, [1], 16, [1] pp., [11] leaves.Translated by Edward FitzGerald. LOVELY GREEN MOROCCO, GILT, BY SANGORSKI & SUTCLIFFE (stamp-signed in gilt on front turn-in), centerpiece composed of gilt and inlaid red roses, stems radiating from a central blossom, framed with several plain rules and one dotted rule, elaborate gilt cornerpieces composed of a trio of gilt roses with long stems and swirling leaves, raised bands, compartments filled with gilt leaves or gilt lettering, gilt turn-ins with multiple decorative rules, top edge gilt, others trimmed on the rough. Housed in a slightly worn green cloth clamshell box lined with felt. Numerous decorative initials designed by Alberto Sangorski printed in gold and colors, and 12 COLOR PLATES (including a particularly elaborate title and first page), with illustrations designed by Ewan Geddes. Printed in red and black. Potter 81; See: Paas, p. 518. âFour of the plates with light gray marginal discoloration, apparently from the printing process (hints of this elsewhere, but much less of a problem than in other copies, where the darkening appears throughout), otherwise internally fine, and THE BINDING ESPECIALLY WELL PRESERVED, being lustrous and with virtually no signs of use. This is a beautifully bound facsimile of an original manuscript illuminated and written out by Alberto Sangorski and illustrated by Ewan Geddes, based on FitzGerald's enduringly popular translation of Omar Khayyam. A work that appealed strongly to Victorian sensibilities, the Rubaiyat, first printed anonymously in 1859, became immensely popular and went through a great many editions. The present work seems to belong to what Potter calls the "Sangorski and Sutcliffe Edition," of which there were 550 regular copies on paper and 25 copies on Japanese vellum. Ours is printed on Japanese vellum, but it differs slightly from Potter's description: it is without a limitations page, it omits the publisher's information on the title page, and, although specially bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, the binding does not (and never did) contain clasps. Still, the exceptionally attractive binding here adds greatly to the mystique of this copy, being an excellent example of the fine work produced by Sangorski & Sutcliffe when the firm was at the top of their game. After studying under, and then working for, Douglas Cockerell, Francis Sangorski and George Sutcliffe founded their own bindery in 1901 and continued in a successful partnership until 1912. During that year, the firm suffered three major blows: their famously splendid jewelled binding, dubbed the "Great Omar," was lost on the Titanic; a few weeks after this accident, Francis himself drowned; and Francis' brother, Alberto, who had been a central figure in producing the firm's vellum illuminated manuscripts, went over to Riviere. Despite these losses, the firm grew and prospered, employing a staff of 80 by the mid-1920s and becoming perhaps the most successful English bindery of the 20th century. Though he was best known for his watercolor scenes of rural and winter landscapes, Scottish artist Ewan Geddes (1866-1935) abandons his usual restrained palette in this collaboration with Sangorski & Sutcliffe, employing instead a colorful array of paints that capture the warmth and sensuous lyricism of the text. Apparently ONE OF 25 ON JAPANESE VELLUM (there were also 550 regular copies on paper).
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.