The Rubaiyat of S.C. Vincent Jarvis
<< In 1911 the London based firm of H. R. Allenson Ltd published a pocket edition of The Rubaiyat illustrated by S.C. Vincent Jarvis. It used FitzGerald’s second edition and contained a frontispiece and 27 in–text illustrations in black and white. It is Potter #132. >>
The above is a quotation from the start of Bob Forrest’s latest investigation into little known artists who illustrated copies or verses from Edward FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. In selecting S C Vincent Jarvis, Bob has identified someone about whom most of us knew almost nothing. In his usual manner, Bob has managed to dig out much useful information. In particular, he has established the dates of the artist as 1883-1967 and the fact that, despite the misleading public name of Vincent Jarvis, this artist was actually a woman, whose full name was Sarah Constance Vincent Jarvis.
The full write up on Vincent Jarvis is on Bob’s web site, and is accessible via the following link http://www.bobforrestweb.co.uk/The_Rubaiyat/N_and_Q/S_C_Vincent_Jarvis/S_C_Vincent_Jarvis.htm . In it, Bob tells us much more about the artist’s childhood and family life, her eventual marriage to a Frenchman and move with him to France. There is a full set of the images that Vincent Jarvis created for the Rubaiyat, together with Bob’s helpful commentary on them. And Bob has added further information both on the artistic career and other artwork of the artist and the background of the publisher H R Allenson, who turns out to have been very much a specialist in religious and spiritual books.
Altogether Bob’s work reveals an interesting picture of an artist’s life in the early 20th century, as well as bringing to our attention an attractive but little known copy of the Rubaiyat. Our thanks to Bob for sharing his findings.
Finding the Holy Grail of Omaresque Oil Painting
Artist and poet Austin Torney has said several times that he has produced his final version of work on the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam – see for example our post https://omarkhayyamrubaiyat.wordpress.com/2021/05/04/a-further-post-from-austin-torney/. However he has now turned to a new avenue of work on the subject, stimulated it seems by the availability of AI enhanced software which is becoming increasingly available. Here is some of Austin’s comment on his new venture.
I imagined that I could just think of some words and conjure up an original and matching oil painting out of nowhere. The illustrations would have swirls and flowing clothes, somewhat like those employed by Mahmoud Farshchian, but with a new and distinctive style without everything flowing into everything, yet still with good continuity.
I would thus magically illustrate both couplets of FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat quatrains since the two couplets often describe a different scene.
The excellent oil paintings would have to freely flow to me in a few seconds, with no strings attached, as original, they never having belonged to anyone else, as never before existing.
Just a wish? Just a story?
No, I have the oil paintings, although I can’t paint at all!
How is this possible? How did it happen?
To cut short a longer story, Austin has been exploring the AI art services to produce a new style of Rubaiyat illustrations which he is combining with some of FitzGerald’s verse and some of his own Rubaiyat inspired verses and text. The services he mentions are Night Cafe, Wombo Dreams and Topaz Labs, and the results are being produced as a book and videos. Currently they can be accessed through the links below. Our illustration shows the unusual nature of the art work, some of which is quite disturbing and disorienting. See what you think.
PDF -The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Oil-Painted: With Commentary and Omarian Echoes: Intro and quatrains 1-41:
Video: Intro and Quatrains 1-20:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k__aqBMw6KI
Video: Intro and Quatrains 21-41:
Edward Byles Cowell was the man who introduced Edward FitzGerald first to the idea of studying the Persian language and literature and then to the manuscript of the verses of Omar Khayyam which Cowell had found in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. In a sense he can be seen as the original begetter of what became Edward FitzGerald famous poem, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
Cowell was born and brought up in Ipswich, Suffolk and, after some time studying in Oxford, he went on to work in India and then returned to the UK, eventually becoming Professor of Sanskrit in Cambridge. One of our regular contributors, Charles Mugleston, has recently published a short appreciation of Cowell in the Newsletter of the Ipswich Society, stressing both his links with the town of Ipswich and his wide ranging scholarhip. He quotes one comment on Cowell which states that he was ‘one of the greatest minds that East Anglia has produced’. This interesting article can be accessed via the following link http://www.ipswichsociety.org.uk/newsletter/newsletter-july-2022-issue-230/eminent-ipswichians-e-byles-cowell
Bob Forrest continues to publish additions to his excellent series of Rubaiyat Artists booklets. These pull together his research on particular artists who have illustrated the Rubaiyat and the editions of their work. For more information on the first nineteen booklets in the series, follow the link at the end of this post.*
During the past year, Bob has produced another four booklets in this series, bringing the total available to twenty three. The booklets have been distributed privately only, but copies have been given to the main legal deposit libraries and some other libraries in the UK and can be consulted through them. The new booklets available are as follows.
No.20 Blanche McManus (1864/5-1935)
No.21 Marie Préaud Webb (1879-1964)
No.22 Willy Pogany (1882-1955) and the Rubaiyat of 1942
No.23 Alan Tabor (1883-1957) and his illuminated Rubaiyat prints
All the booklets are very well produced, with many illustrations in colour as well as black and white. They can be accessed via the following UK libraries:
- the British Library,
- the National Library of Scotland,
- the National Library of Wales,
- the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford,
- the University Library, Cambridge,
- the Library of Trinity College, Dublin,
- the National Art Library, London,
- the Library of the Royal Academy of Arts, London,
- John Rylands Library, Manchester.
If you can’t get to see this material at one of these libraries, the content is also available on Bob Forrest’s website http://www.bobforrestweb.co.uk/The_Rubaiyat/N_and_Q/ .
* For our posts on booklets 1-19, see https://omarkhayyamrubaiyat.wordpress.com/2021/10/29/additions-to-the-booklets-on-rubaiyat-artists/ and links from that post to earlier notes.
Some while back we posted a couple of items about the work of artist Lois Pawson on the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The most recent of these can be found on https://omarkhayyamrubaiyat.wordpress.com/2022/01/14/new-illustrations-for-fitzgeralds-rubaiyat/. Lois has now sent us a further update on her work. We wish her all the best with her various projects. We are sorry that we are not closer to Brighton, in Sussex, UK, and so able to attend some of the events.
Illustrator Lois Pawson has focused her MA Illustration degree project about the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and has created an illustrated book, a headscarf-hijab inspired by Persian silk tent panels, and framed original artwork. The illustrations set out to capture what remains of Omar Khayyam’s world in modern day Iran and surviving ancient Persian artefacts. Her project research included over 40 virtual guided tours of Iran and ‘method illustration’ experimenting with traditional Persian arts and crafts – including pottery, weaving, miniature painting and dance. The project is currently on display at the University of Brighton galleries at the MA Summer Show until 16th July.
- MA Summer Show: free entry Summer Shows (brighton.ac.uk)
- Lois’ project and book are also available to view online Lois Pawson – University of Brighton Exhibitions
In addition Lois is running three Rubaiyat related projects this summer; a creative workshop, an instagram-based poetry project, and a university-based display case of illustrated Rubaiyat books.
‘Read Write & Draw Rubaiyat Poems’ is a creative workshop taking place on Tuesday 12th July from 1pm to 4pm at University of Brighton, Grand Parade, Brighton – the event is free to attend, materials provided, and is suitable for adults with all levels of creative skill or experience. The workshop will include reading and illustrating selected quatrains – including the Book of Pots and verses with flora and fauna – and using a quatrain structure to create modern-day rubaiyat poems.
- To register and book at place at the workshop: Eventbrite http://rubaiyat.eventbrite.co.uk
@versebeneaththebough is a newly launched instagram-based project encouraging people to read and engage with poetry outdoors with friends and to share ‘poetry picnic pics’ on instagram. This project is inspired by 11th quatrain of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ‘Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough, A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse – and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness -And Wilderness is Paradise enow.
- To follow and join-in on Instagram: @versebeneaththebough #versebeneaththebough
Design Matters is a student-led exhibition involving MA and PhD students concerning aspects of design relating to diverse topics. As part of this project Lois Pawson is displaying a selection of 20th century illustrated Rubaiyat books from the University of Brighton collection with commentary on the responsibility of artists relating to cultural appropriation and orientalism. The ground-floor vitrine display cases will be at St Peter’s House Library at University of Brighton from 17th August to 14th October, with visitor access to the public 9am to 5pm weekdays.
- St Peter’s House Library is at 16-18 Richmond Pl, Brighton BN2 9NA library@brighton.ac.uk
Lois Pawson contact details are as follows: Website loispawson.wordpress.com; Instagram @loispawson
Danton O’Day has sent us the following details of his latest book on the artists who first illustrated Edward FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. He writes as follows.
The book is a complete catalog of early artists of Edward FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and it offers a cornucopia of visual delights and discoveries. Hundreds of pictures by over 200 artists: photographs, oil paintings, watercolours, etchings, woodcuts, line drawings, calligraphy provide unique insight into the poetry and add beauty to one of the world’s most popular collections of verse. Many new artists are revealed with dozens of women artists identified. New revelations and discoveries plus new dates established for many artists make this not only a visually impressive book but also a unique and valuable document of this early history.
The following are some points of interest for Rubaiyat enthusiasts.
-Evidence Tearle 1910 was either inspired by or copied Sangorski 1906
-Ambrose Potter was also an artist
-Proper name of “Ad Marcel” revealed
-T.R.R. Ryder is not a true rubaiyat artist
-Gilbert James first pictures colourized by not one but two different artists
-Insights into numerous questionable publication dates
-Detailed information on Rubaiyat calendars
-See how Cade’s classic photo of FitzGerald is mis-credited.
Details of the book and its availablility.
First Artists of the Rubaiyat, A Complete Illustrated Guide by Danton H. O’Day
Softcover, 8”x10”, 213pp, ISBN 979-8-21-032614-0
Available from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/First-Artists-Rubaiyat-Complete-Illustrated/dp/B0B37RKS9F/ref=sr_1_4?qid=1656251424&refinements=p_27%3ADanton+H.+O%27Day&s=books&sr=1-4
And from Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/first-artists-of-the-rubaiyat-a-complete-illustrated-guide-danton-h-oday/1141623426
Readers may be interested to know that Dan is also Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto in Canada, with a specialism in Cell and Developmental Biology. He recently published a guide to Alzheimer’s, details of which are as follows.
Alzheimer’s Explained, An Illustrated Guide by Danton H. O’Day, PhD
eBook: ISBN 9781005973100 (Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, AppleBooks);
Print: Softcover ISBN 9788210013699; Hardcover ISBN 9788210013705 (from AbeBooks & other online stores).
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
Omar Khayyam Rubaiyat 