Exhibits Schedule
Spring 2008
(Please note: Dates are subject to change.)
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
Honnold/Mudd Library, (Honnold Wing) 2nd Floor
January 25–May 19, 2008
Who hasn't heard the lines, "A book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, A Loaf of Bread, and Thou" quoted, often wrongly? Persian astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyám (1048-1131) was renowned in his own country and time for his scientific achievements, but he is chiefly known to English-speaking readers through the translation of a collection of his roba'iyat ("quatrains") in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859), by the English writer Edward FitzGerald. FitzGerald's editions of The Rubáiyát were wildly popular in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and have remained in print ever since. Indeed, FitzGerald's translation of Oman Khayyam's quatrains, now considered a literary classic, is largely responsible for coloring European ideas about Persian poetry. On view with original editions of FitzGerald are other translations, finely printed editions, illustrated editions, and parodies of The Rubáiyát.
The books on view are from the Philip Corrin Collection, Honnold Special Collections, and the John I. Perkins Collection, Denison Library.
For more information on the exhibit, contact Special Collections at (909) 607-3977 (campus ext. 73977) or email spcoll@libraries.claremont.edu.