DULAC, Edmund, illustrator; KHAYYAM, Omar; FITZGERALD, Edward

Quartine, Le

Bergamo: Istituto Italiano D'Arti Grafiche, 1913. Item #02221

A Scarce Italian Edition

[DULAC, Edmund, illustrator]. KHAYYÁM, Omar. Le Quartine. Riduzione Ritmica di Diego Angeli dalla Traduzione in Inglese di Edward Fitzgerald. Illustrazioni di Edmondo Dulac. Bergamo: Istituto Italiano D'Arti Grafiche, n.d. [c. 1913].

First reprint of the Italian trade edition of Dulac’s Rubáiyát. Quarto (10 7/8 x 8 1/4 inches; 277 x 208 mm).

Unpaginated. Illustrated with seventeen color plates, finely reproduced and tipped in on cream vellum-like paper, each within a gilt-framed light green decorative surround and protected by captioned tissue guards.

Publisher’s original dark green cloth, lavishly stamped in gilt with an elaborate peacock-feather frame - a binding variant not recorded by Hughey, who notes only a red binding for this issue. Neat contemporary ink ownership note to the half-title. A fine copy, clean and bright, with plates fresh and unfaded.

A handsome Italian manifestation of Dulac’s celebrated illustrations to the Rubáiyát, here filtered through a distinctive chain of transmission: FitzGerald’s English paraphrase, Angeli’s rhythmic Italian reduction, and Dulac’s luxuriant, symbolist imagery. The result is a book that speaks as much to early twentieth-century European aestheticism as to Khayyám’s quatrains themselves.

Printed by the Istituto Italiano d’Arti Grafiche - renowned for its high standards of color reproduction - this edition is prized for the quality of its plates and the elegance of its presentation. The unrecorded green peacock binding enhances its bibliographical interest, making it an especially appealing example for collectors of Dulac, the Rubáiyát in translation, and fine illustrated books of the period.

"A reprint edition (#21jj) was exactly like #21ii except that only 17 plates were included and it was issued in a dark red cloth binding."

Hughey 21jj.

Price: $450.00