Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia.

OMAR KHAYYáM. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS I.E. MARK TWAIN],.

$15,000.00

Item Number: 123424

Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1878.

First American edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám from the library of Samuel Clemens. Octavo, original decorated cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel. From the library of Samuel Clemens with his ownership signature and presentation inscription to the front free endpaper, “SL Clemens Hartford 1878” and “Transferred to Miss Henry G. Brooks with the kindest regards of S.L. Clemens May 1884.” With scribbles and hash-marks in pencil to blank margins, presumably in Twain’s hand, similar to the annotated ninth edition at the Mark Twain Archive, Elmira College. In very good condition with loss to the upper portion of the title page, small newspaper clippings laid in. Rare and desirable.

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. With the top portion of the title page lacking.