signed Hardcover
1968 · Garden City, New York
by Graves, Robert; Ali-Shah, Omar (Translators / Commentaries)
Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1968. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. One of 500 copies, octavo size, 96 pp., signed by both Robert Graves and Omar Ali-Shah. This edition of "The Rubaiyyat" by Persian mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) is translated by British poet Robert Graves (1898-1985) and Omar Ali-Shah (1922-2005), a writer and leading expert on Naqshbandi Sufism. Their translation deviates from that of Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883), who created the first and most famous translation of Khayyam's poetry, and both Graves and Ali-Shah are critical of Fitzgerald's translation and his (often erroneous) interpretation of the Farsi language. Although their translation was met with controversy, as it was supposedly based upon a twelfth-century manuscript that was never produced, Graves and Ali-Shah create a translation of Khayyam's poetry with more sensibility to how the poet may have intended it.
Graves was a poet and writer himself, best known for his historical novel "I, Claudius" and numerous collections of poetry, and brings a poet's discernment to these ancient set of quatrains.
___DESCRIPTION: Quarter black cloth with cream paper boards, gilt lettering on the spine, fore-edge rough cut, cream endpapers; octavo size (9.5" by 6.5"), pagination: [i-x] 1-86, one of 500 copies, this number 202, signed by Robert Graves and Omar Ali-Shah on the limitation page. In a slipcase covered in cream paper with a light salmon-coloured paper label with red and black ruled borders and title in red and black.
___CONDITION: A fine copy; the covers clean, the corners straight and unrubbed, the binding tight with solid hinges, and the interior is clean and bright; crisp and as new. The slipcase is near fine, strong and sturdy, clean, free of splits or tears to the seams; light overall soil and a hint of wear to one seam.
___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.
___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help. (Inventory #: 24102906)
Graves was a poet and writer himself, best known for his historical novel "I, Claudius" and numerous collections of poetry, and brings a poet's discernment to these ancient set of quatrains.
___DESCRIPTION: Quarter black cloth with cream paper boards, gilt lettering on the spine, fore-edge rough cut, cream endpapers; octavo size (9.5" by 6.5"), pagination: [i-x] 1-86, one of 500 copies, this number 202, signed by Robert Graves and Omar Ali-Shah on the limitation page. In a slipcase covered in cream paper with a light salmon-coloured paper label with red and black ruled borders and title in red and black.
___CONDITION: A fine copy; the covers clean, the corners straight and unrubbed, the binding tight with solid hinges, and the interior is clean and bright; crisp and as new. The slipcase is near fine, strong and sturdy, clean, free of splits or tears to the seams; light overall soil and a hint of wear to one seam.
___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.
___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help. (Inventory #: 24102906)