Rubaiyat

by Linda
(USA)

"Rubaiyat" is the title that's stamped in gold on the cover of the book. Also stamped in gold in the lower right corner is what looks like a grapevine. The cover is a very dark blue, almost black, leather, the leather worn at the edges (only) front and back to expose some sort of padding material.

Except for small areas on the front lower right corner and the back upper left corner the leather is intact. The spine, which has the one-word title stamped in gold, appears unbroken (?) but is worn and has cracked partway, top and bottom, away from the covers. The pages are gilt and both gilt and pages are in excellent (?) condition, almost as if it's not been opened often, which makes the worn condition of the cover more puzzling. A likeness, probably an etching, of Edward Fitzgerald appears on the second page after the cover (don't know the proper name for that page). Beneath the portrait is Fitzgerald's signature underlined. I can see no pixels in the signature but they might just not be as visible as those in the portrait and I am not suggesting he actually signed it (especially as the volume has the biographical information written by Michael Kersey ("M.K."!)). Or if it's actually written in ink obviously someone else has done it. Publisher is Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.

There's no publishing date but someone--maybe a left-handed person--has written their own name on the obverse (?) of that same page and "1910," so I'm assuming it was published before that date. It also contains the letter to Cowell and other items and the text of Salaman and Absal. The book has 288 numbered pages. I'm curious.

Thank you very much.