Alan Tabor, a 20th century illuminator
Alan Tabor, 1883-1957, was an artist and illuminator who was born in Bristol but lived most of his life in the Greater Manchester area. As well as studying oil and water colour painting, he trained as an illuminator and calligrapher, and, in 1908 at the age of 25, he set up his own studio, initially providing mainly illuminated addresses, certificates and Christmas cards, but later expanding into a flourishing business in illuminated poems and calendars.
Bob Forrest has been investigating Alan Tabor and his work, having become aware of two illuminations of verses from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam done by the artist. These are shown above and below. Sadly, Bob has only been able to track down one other distinctive image from the Rubaiyat produced by Tabor, though he probably created a number more, included those used for illuminated calendars which were popular in the early decades of the 20th century.
In a detailed article on his website (http://www.bobforrestweb.co.uk/The_Rubaiyat/N_and_Q/Alan_Tabor/Alan_Tabor.htm), Bob sets out his research on the subject, as well as giving much information about the varied work and life of the artist, and many images. Our thanks to Bob for again sharing his valuable research with us all. If any readers have more information on Alan Tabor and his Rubaiyat images, please comment below.
It is not often that the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam has figured in international diplomacy. But, in his latest research project, Bob Forrest has identified two editions of the poem, published in Mexico in 1938/39, that were part of an attempt to improve international relations between Mexico and the UK at the time.
The first of these Mexican editions was a translation of Edward FitzGerald’s fourth edition into Spanish by Eduardo Hay. It was published in Mexico in 1938 and contains four colour illustrations by the Mexican artist Roberto Montenegro. The second Mexican volume is, most unusually, a version in Welsh, with a translation of FitzGerald’s first edition by Thomas Ifor Rees, which, for reasons outlined below, was published in Mexico in 1939. It contained illustrations by R C Hesketh.
Bob has set out the results of his research into these two versions of the Rubaiyat in an article on his website, see http://www.bobforrestweb.co.uk/The_Rubaiyat/N_and_Q/Two_Mexican_Rubaiyats/Two_Mexican_Rubaiyats.htm. He discusses the content of the volumes in detail with excellent images of the illustrations from both. He also sets out how these editions were connected through a diplomatic initiative which helps to explain why the Welsh version came to be published in Mexico. It appears that Eduardo Hay, the translator of the Spanish version, was also for a time the Mexican foreign minister and a general in the Mexican army. Thomas Ifor Rees was a diplomat who was based in Mexico between 1938 and 1943, and in charge of British affairs in the country at a time of a serious rift between that country and the UK. Knowing that the Mexican foreign minister shared his interest in the Rubaiyat, he seems to have used this as a way of trying to ease the diplomatic situation, though Bob doubts whether this cultural initiative had a major effect.
Our thanks to Bob for enlightening us on a really unusual side story in Rubaiyat history. Both the Mexican volumes are rare and not easily found even in libraries, so it is great to have information about their contents and images available for consultation.
“Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” Illustrated by Amos Stack
A couple of years ago, we posted an article by Joe Howard on an unuusal presentation of Rubaiyat verses in the form of An Omarian Alphabet – see https://omarkhayyamrubaiyat.wordpress.com/2020/07/14/an-omarian-alphabet/. This book was created in 1935 by an American Clarke W Walton, and, in his earlier article, Joe promised us more information about other Rubaiyat works by this publisher. Joe has now tracked down a Walton edition of the verses illustrated by Amos Stack, and he tell us more about this copy below. Our thanks to Joe for giving us a further instalment of the Clarke Walton story.
The fifteen editions of the Rubaiyat1 published by the amateur printer and publisher Clarke W Walton were issued in very limited numbers and are not readily available either for purchase or, as far as I am aware, as on-line digital copies.
One of them, the “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” (Coumans 74), published in 1934, includes five illustrations by Amos Stack. The text is Fitzgerald’s fifth version with all 101 quatrains. This book is quarter bound, with brown boards (5.25 by 7.5 ins.) and the title on the front in black: there are 44 numbered pages. The five illustrations are shown below (Fig. 1.).
It appears to me that Amos has taken his inspiration for the male costumes from Edmund J Sullivan. The illustration for quatrain 1 (the frontispiece), includes a silhouette, which is quite different from the other four. These illustrations are straightforward interpretations of parts of the relevant quatrains. For example, the image for quatrain 1 combines the themes of awakening and sunrise, while that for quatrain 7, charming though it is, and while representing the quoted half line, brings to my mind a rather convivial “afternoon tea”, with no indications of the interpretations often associated with the remaining three and a half lines.
Internet searches did not yield information on an artist or illustrator with a name including both “Amos” and “Stack”. In many ways this is unsurprising. Clarke had extremely close ties with his community at Monroe, North Carolina. These included involving them in his publication and printing work. For example, Clark published (Coumans 255) “Illustrations for an Omar” containing photographs taken by Walter C Sprouse. Walter was well-known professional photographer and a resident of Monroe NC. Also, in my previous article1 I noted that the 24 quatrains of his “Omarian Alphabet” were imperfectly typeset by three individuals identified only by their initials. A magazine2, “The Bookmark” edited and published by Clarke, includes an article describing the “Omarian Alphabet”, Here it states, “The book is set and printed by schoolboys, each boy having printed his initials inconspicuously in small type on his pages.” One of these schoolboys was his son (Clarence Wilson Walton: CWW II). Clarke’s children and their friends regularly used his press to publish their own newspapers and notices.
Searches of the 1930 and 1940 census records yield two people in Monroe NC with names including “Amos” and “Stack”: one was an elderly judge, the other, much younger, a “cotton buyer”. In the local newspaper the cotton buyer is routinely referred to simply as “Amos Stack”, while the judge is referred to more formally. Since Clarke occupied a senior position in the local cotton mill, I suggest that this cotton buyer is the amateur Rubaiyat artist. Amos Milton Stack (1894-1981) moved to Monroe in 1922 and remained there until he died.
“About it and About”
The contents page of the Rubaiyat includes sections titled “About it and About” (p. 32-36) and “Index” (p. 37-44). Clarke was the author of both. In the first (dated September 22, 1934), he explains that he wanted to produce a Rubaiyat on his own press but that he was slow at setting type and was usually disappointed with his efforts to produce a creditable piece of printing. He therefore decided to have the work published under “another imprint”: the printer was “The Monroe Enquirer”, the town newspaper. Clarke then discusses the backgrounds and contents of the five Fitzgerald editions and provides useful information about how to identify each. While discussing the Fifth Version, Clarke states his opinion that Fitzgerald’s revisions are “…so few and minor, one may be led to believe that Fitzgerald considered it about as he wished to leave it. I am therefore using the Fifth Version in this present edition.”
Referring to the 8-page, double-column “Index” Clarke explains “I have endeavored to list some of the outstanding lines and passages, and all the capitalized words that appear in the body of sentences. The figures given in the index refer to quatrains.”
Clark completes this contribution with a list of 19 prior editions of the Rubaiyat.
A second publication
In the November 1934 edition2 of“The Bookmark”, Clarke gave notice, without explanation, of a one-off price increase, from the usual 5¢ to 40¢, for the December issue and explained that it would be available only to regular subscribers-not distributed through the Mailing Bureaus of the Amateur Press Association.
For this December3 issue, in addition to four pages of the regular contents, he inserted without changes the entire Rubaiyat containing Amos Stack’s illustrations. The lower part of Amos Stack’s illustration of quatrain 7 is on the front cover of the magazine (Fig. 1.). It appears that the book and magazine editions of this Rubaiyat were published within, at most, 2-3 months of one another.
References
- https://omarkhayyamrubaiyat.wordpress.com/2020/07/14/an-omarian-alphabet/
- The Bookmark, Pack III. No.7 April 1935, Edited and Published by Clarke W Walton.
- The Bookmark, Pack III. No.3 December 1934, Edited and Published by Clarke W Walton.
18th May 1048 is generally accepted as the birth date of Omar Khayyam, the famous Persian astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. The verses that inspired Edward FitzGerald to create his Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam have long been attributed to this historical Khayyam, though there is no very strong evidence to support this. Be that as it may, today is a good time to celebrate the existence of the Persian quatrains and the richness that their exploitation by many writers and artists has brought us over the years. We hope you with join us in raising a glass of something appropriate to toast the poetry of ‘Omar Khayyam’.
It is notable also that the Iranians choose to mark today as the National Day of Omar Khayyam. A Press Release this morning from the Mehr News Agency highlights the event, and provides an interesting write up of Omar Khayyam from the Iranian viewpoint, which is well worth reading. The post also contains some unusual images relating to Khayyam, some of which are new to us. They include the one shown above. The full Press Release can be accessed on https://en.mehrnews.com/news/186857/Iran-marks-National-Day-of-Omar-Khayyam
Now we are ten!
On 17th April 2012, we uploaded the first post on this OmarKhayyamRubaiyat blog. The post was headed Calling all lovers of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and in it we stated that “… we are aiming to use this blog to help everyone keep up to date with new happenings relating to the Rubaiyat – books, art works, exhibitions, lectures, research, and much more. The year 2009 was a seminal point for Rubaiyat lovers, with so many happenings that marked the two anniversaries in that year. But more has happened since. And it would be great if we could create on on-going Rubaiyat community to which everyone can communicate their knowledge and thoughts.”
Ten years on seems a good point at which to look back to see what we have and have not achieved against the background of these aims. We are still ‘in business’, which is perhaps something, and we now have some 200 regular followers of the blog. In recent years, there have been 30-50 posts annually, and between 4000 and 7000 visitors each year. So there is clearly still interest in Khayyam, FitzGerald and the Rubaiyat, and the blog has been something of a focus for this interest and for putting people in touch with others who share their preoccupations.
To speak for ourselves, we have definitely benefited from the existence of the blog and we greatly value the new contacts and friends that we have made worldwide among other lovers of the Rubaiyat. We have been amazed by the variety and the enthusiasm of people who have been in touch through the blog and the range of subjects on which they have been able to contribute material for posts. As webmasters, we are enormously grateful to all our contributors, whether regular or one-off, who have allowed us to published their material on the blog. Without all of you, the blog would almost certainly not exist today, and it would undoubtedly be much less interesting. Thank you so much for sharing your research and findings with all of us.
Through the work of our contributors, the blog has been able to add significantly to knowledge about a wide variety of Rubaiyat related subjects. These range from identifying previously unknown editions of FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat, and documenting the life and work of many Rubaiyat artists, to detailed discussions of the interpretation of particular verses and concepts in the poem, and much more. Through general calls for information, researchers have been able to share their data with others and to work co-operatively – how did we ever do this before the advent of the internet? It has also been possible to alert a much wider audience to interesting events such as readings of the Rubaiyat, films, exhibitions and performances of dance and music inspired by the verse.
Today we look forward to what the years ahead may bring. We hope that the blog will continue to provide a useful service to readers and researchers. Contributions on any Rubaiyat related subjects are always welcome and our aim will still be to widen the Rubaiyat loving community and to bring the great work of Khayyam, FitzGerald and others to an ever larger audience.
We have received an inquiry via Charles Mugleston about Victor Bridges and his links with Edward FitzGerald and Woodbridge in Suffolk, UK. A retired American professor is writing a book about Bridges and is planning to visit Woodbridge in the summer in search of further information. Apparently Bridges was, interalia, the author of a book entitled Edward Fitzgerald [sic] and other verses, published by Hodder and Stoughton in London in 1932.
We confess to never having heard of Victor Bridges before, but that invaluable source, Wikipedia, describes him as follows. ‘Victor Bridges (real name Victor George de Freyne, 14 March 1878 – 29 November 1972) was a prolific English author of detective and fantasy fiction, and also a playwright and occasional poet.’ Neither we nor Charles have a copy of his FitzGerald poems in our libraries, but we wonder whether other readers of the blog are better informed? We know from WorldCat that there are copies of the book in the British Library, Oxford University, and the national Libraries of Wales and Scotland. If you have a copy of the book, or know more about Victor Bridges and his association with FitzGerald and/or Woodbridge, do please share your knowledge, initially in the form of a comment below. This can then be passed on to Charles and the scholar who is researching Bridges. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
March 31st is an auspicious date for Rubaiyat lovers
On March 31st, two very important things happened. On this day in the year 1809, Edward FitzGerald was born, and on the same day in 1859, the first edition of his great work, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, was published. So today is a day on which all of us who value the Rubaiyat should pause and be thankful for the existence and work of a great literary figure from Suffolk in the east of England. Please join us in raising a glass to the memory of Edward FitzGerald and all he gave us those many years ago. In this present year of much confusion, the words of Khayyam, as interpreted by FitzGerald, are as usual very apposite (F1 Q30).
What, without asking, hither hurried whence?
And, without asking, whither hurried hence !
Another and another Cup to drown
The Memory of this Impertinence !
Greetings for Nowruz – and some Persian treasures
To all our readers we send greetings for Nowruz, the Persian New year which begins today. This brings with it a time of celebration when families and friends get together and mark the happy arrival of Spring with all its promise and hope. Sadly, for our friends in Ukraine and the surrounding areas, the present is very different and we are all concerned about what the next few months will bring. Let us strive to see that a sense of humanity prevails, so that Spring can come to all in that area as well.
Charles Mugleston has sent the blog a Nowruz gift in the form of a link to details of the treasures of the Loewi Collection of Persian Miniatures. Christies, the auctioneers, have this collection for sale on 31st March 2022. To quote from their write up:
‘The Paul Richard Loewi Collection, complemented by a group of works acquired by his daughter Erica in the 1960s and 1970s, showcases some of the greatest achievements in Persian painting. … At the heart of the collection are two illustrated folios from a magnificent royal copy of the Shahnama, or ‘Book of Kings’, which has been dated to the reign of the third Safavid king, Shah Ismail II (r.1576-77).’
The link to details of the collection is as follows
There is no sign of any work by Omar Khayyam in the collection. But we urge readers to have a look anyway. The paintings are magnificent examples of the richness and beauty that Persian art has given to us all. Even if the prices are beyond the budget of most of us, a few minute of study give a valuable reminder of positive human achievements to set against the turmoil and horrors of today’s world. Thank you, Charles, for this gift.
The influence of Edward FitzGerald’s ‘Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam’ on cultural life in the 19th and 20th centuries is shown not only by the many new editions, often illustrated, of the poem, but also by the publication of parodies of the verses on a wide variety of topical subjects. Joseph Howard has been investigating the content and background of one such parody. He has sent us the following interesting study of the circumstance and people involved. Our thanks to Joe for sharing his findings with us.
Christopher Morley wrote the “Rubaiyat of Account Overdue” in 1935: the complete version is given below. This poem was composed as a practical aid for debt collection, not as a general lament on unpaid bills. Following the 1929 financial crash, unpaid bills were a national problem in the USA and many schemes were developed to encourage payments. At the 1933 “Century of Progress Exhibition” in Chicago, for example, Western Union distributed a 5-fold flyer promoting the success of telegrams in instilling “delinquents with a sense of urgency” (Fig.1). My objective here is to provide an overview of the story behind this Rubaiyat parody and how it was used to collect debts.
Rubaiyat of Account Overdue
Awake! Depression with its long long blight
Has blown my business higher than a kite
And lo, the First Day of the Month has caught
Me bending, and this letter I indite.
Oh Bibliophile, if thou canst not aspire
To pay this overdue account entire
Then break it into little bits, and send
At least some portion, for my need is dire.
Think, in this battered caravanserai
Of books, I also have my bills to pay;
I sometimes fear that never dipped so red
The ink, as where there sits my C.P.A.
Then, my beloved, write the check that clears
That old outstanding purchase of last year’s—
Before my stock and fixtures and good will
Themselves are hurried to the auctioneers.
I know that cash is scarce as scarce can be,
Collections slow—you think you’re telling me?
But come in anyhow; let’s talk; besides,
I’ve got a Beerbohm First you ought to see!
Christopher Morley (1890-1957)
Christopher (Fig.2) is considered one of the foremost American “men of letters” of the 20th century. He published his first book of poetry while a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and went on to publish ca 100 books of poetry, novels, and essays. His career included stints as, a newspaper reporter and columnist, editor, publicist, and theatre producer. His “Three Hours for Lunch Club”, which met weekly at the Gotham Book Mart (GBM) in New York, was a forum for discussion of art and literature. It was this group, with Morley’s passion for Sherlock Holmes, that led to the formation of “The Baker Street Irregulars” in 1934. This non-profit organization currently has over 300 members worldwide. An extremely gregarious man, Morley is memorialized in the naming of the 98-acre “Christopher Morley Park” on Long Island. His studio “The Knothole” was relocated there. It contains a very early example of a dymaxion bathroom, designed for him in 1936 by his friend Buckminster Fuller, another patron of the GBM.
During one of his regular visits to the GBM, Christopher was concerned when he saw the owner (Frances Steloff) working through a stack of demand letters from her creditors. She explained she would have no problems paying her debts if only she could collect the debts owed to her. After talking with Frances about these demand letters, Christopher borrowed a few examples and departed.
Frances (Fanny) Steloff (1887-1989)
Frances (Fig.3), the daughter of poor Russian-Jewish immigrants, left formal education behind at age 12. Her first job (1907) was in a New York department store. In the early 1920s, with just $100 and 30 volumes, she opened “The Gotham Book Mart” (GBM) in the basement of a brownstone in New York’s theater district. A couple of years later she opened a larger store, installing a metal sign, “Wise Men Fish Here”, that was to become famous. The store specialized in art, theatre, and dance books, plus magazines dedicated to publishing the works of unknown and experimental writers.
The GBM prospered, a consequence of Frances’s: manic work schedule, devotion to books and the arts, book-hunting skills, relentless adherence to her mantra “I listen to my customers” and, no small amount of risk-taking. She broadened its scope to include new, out-of-print, and rare books while actively promoting and supporting unknown and established authors. This support included, purchasing significant numbers of copies of their newly published works, lending money to those in need, co-signing loans, and providing some of them a source of income by giving them jobs. Alan Ginsberg, LeRoy Jones and Tennessee Williams were amongst the many who worked as clerks, though Williams didn’t last long because “… he couldn’t get here on time in the morning and, also, he wasn’t very good at wrapping packages.” Later she published books by Modernists authors including Andre Gide and Wallace Stevens. Over time she further expanded the activities of the GBM: it became a literary salon; hosting meetings, poetry and author readings, art exhibitions, and, in the rear yard/garden, regular programs of lectures. Fixtures and fittings had wheels attached so that they could be moved quickly to provide open spaces.
Frances was a founding member of The Joyce Society, and its inaugural meeting and many others were held at the GBM. An active member of numerous committees and working parties relating to the arts, she also vigorously defended (including in court cases) and circulated books considered obscene (e.g., D. H. Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”, Henry Miller’s “Tropic of Cancer”).
The GBM established national and international reputations and became a social center for the New York literati and a focal point for literary modernism in the United States. The rich and the famous such as Arthur Miller, Dylan Thomas, Eugene O’Neill, W.H. Auden, Andy Warhol, Arthur Miller, Susan Sontag, George and Ira Gershwin frequented the GBM. Later, when the store was in difficulties, some 200 luminaries, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Katherine Hepburn, and Norman Mailer, wrote letters of support.
Frances’s reputation was such that her biography was published2 in 1965. Her contributions to literature and the arts were widely recognized with many public awards, including an honorary doctorate.
Christopher returned and presented Francis with his “Rubaiyat of Account Overdue”. She was delighted and “… decided to have it printed in two formats: a single page, to be sent with bills to all past due accounts, stating that a deluxe, autographed edition would be forthcoming on receipt of a check by return mail.” Frances turned to a close friend to design and print the poem.
Luther Emanuel Widen (1886-1963)
Luther Emanuel Widen was widely described as, “…an eccentric and a Bohemian.” In furtherance of his doctoral work in psychology, he committed minor criminal offenses in order to be sentenced to spend time in hospitals for the criminally insane where he would interview inmates/patients. He adopted the pseudonym Lew Ney, pronounced “Looney”, and after some weeks in an asylum for the criminally insane in Chicago, he simply walked out and abandoned his doctoral studies.
On relocating (1917) to Greenwich Village NY he played the role of literary hobo, later referred to those times as “his vagabonding days.” Lew Ney set up a printing shop (his Type Shop) at one end of a rat-infested loft with his bed at the other. In just a few years he became a much sought-after letterpress printer. He also published a variety of newspapers and at an impromptu meeting in 1927 inaugurated what he labelled the “First National Poetry Exhibition”. This consisted of a few poems, some cut from magazines, pinned to a whitewashed wall. When others began adding their poems, this “event” outgrew its venue and the exhibition moved to much larger premises. A reporter wrote “New York’s First National Poetry Exhibition has become a world series …more than 8000 poems have been submitted.”
Lew Ney acquired a rare typeface, Incunabula by Raffaello Bertieri, to print the 100 best poems from the First National Poetry Exhibition. This font and his design and printing abilities helped his Type Shop become the primary design and printing studio for poetry books of charm and distinction. Using the imprint “Parnassus” he went on to print many fine editions on a variety of subjects.
Utilizing the “Rubaiyat of Account Overdue”
Lew Ney designed and printed the two separate formats envisioned by Frances. The small single sheet was printed on one side and was enclosed with the payment request. The deluxe edition (Fig.5) of 350 copies consisted of single sheets of cream-coloured handmade paper folded twice and left uncut (final size 7 by 9.75 ins). These were all signed by Christopher. Before distributing them, Frances added the recipient’s name and signed and dated them.
Frances later recalled, “… these processes brought good results, but also a problem because prompt-paying customers began to believe that it was more rewarding to be delinquent.”
Legacy of Francis Steloff
Frances sold the GBM in 1967 but served as an active consultant there until her death. The GBM closed in 2006. Some 200,000 books and 150 linear feet of archive materials were donated to Penn Libraries. Frances’s practices of never returning unsold books or magazines to publishers, double-stacking shelves, and hoarding everything received from her wide range of contacts, ensured that there are many unusual and rare treasures in this collection.
Collections relating to the GBM and to Frances are held at several other institutions in the USA.
References
1. https://www.omarkhayyamnederland.com/parodies/index.php
2. Wise Men Fish Here, The story of Frances Steloff and the Gotham Book Mart, W. G. Rogers, Harcourt, Brace & World Inc. New York. 1965
Several years ago, Danton O’Day produced an interesting study of the artists who worked on the menus of the Omar Khayyam Club of London from its foundation in 1892 up to 1929. Details of this book were given in an earlier post https://omarkhayyamrubaiyat.wordpress.com/2017/07/25/artists-of-the-omar-khayyam-club-of-london/. Danton has now sent us information about a new ebook edition of this publication.
Artists of the Omar Khayyam Club of London from 1892-1929:
The eBook Edition
Danton H. O’Day
Read about a cartoonist, a spy, the man who developed camouflage and others who illustrated The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, one of the most popular poems in history. It also is one of the most illustrated collection of verses of all time. At the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries, Edward FitzGerald’s translation of Omar’s four-line verses was a world-wide phenomenon that reached cult status. Many clubs and organizations were formed to study and to celebrate the poetry, its poet and translator. This ebook documents the 28 menu artists of the Omar Khayyam Club of London from 1892-1929, a club that still exists. This is the first time all the artist’s pictures have been presented in ebook format. In addition to presenting all the artwork, the book reveals many discoveries about incorrect artist credits, an unidentified artist and errors in lists and timelines.
Available in multiple ebook formats
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940165782077
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Search?Query=9781005103088
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id1609682112
Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Artists-Omar-Khayyam-Club-London-ebook/dp/B09RW5RHPC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1B9WBB7D6WQIR&keywords=Artists+of+the+Omar+Khayyam+Club&qid=1645373006&s=books&sprefix=artists+of+the+omar+khayyam+club%2Cstripbooks%2C69&sr=1-1
Gardners: https://www.gardners.com/Search/KeywordAnonymous/eBook?Keyword=9781005103088
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/search?query=9781005103088&language=0
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1131474
Also Available in Print: AbeBooks, Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, and more
Omar Khayyam Rubaiyat 