William George Stirling – a full write-up
The work of the artist William George Stirling was the subject of some extensive debate on this blog earlier in the year; see https://omarkhayyamrubaiyat.wordpress.com/2018/05/02/evidence-that-the-unknown-artist-of-the-lotus-edition-could-be-w-g-stirling/ and related posts. Bob Forrest who contributed much original research to the debate has now completed a full write up of his work on the artist and his contribution both to Rubaiyat illustration and in other areas. Bob summarises his findings as follows
My article provides a provisional account of the life and work of Stirling, who illustrated both the enigmatic, opium–related, Lotus Library Rubaiyat in 1918, and the rather more orthodox, wine–related, Malay Rubaiyat of A.W. Hamilton in 1932. The later book was published openly bearing his name, but the earlier one bore only his initials in monogrammed form, which, intentionally or otherwise, hid his identity for many years.
Bob’s report can be found via the following link:
http://www.bobforrestweb.co.uk/The_Rubaiyat/N_and_Q/W_G_Stirling/W_G_Stirling.htm
Bob is also preparing a print version of his report for publication as another in his series of privately circulated booklets on Rubaiyat artists. Our thanks to Bob for enlightening us all further on this interesting subject.
Omar Khayyam Rubaiyat 
Bob advises us that his write up on W G Stirling is now available as number 6 in his series of booklets on Rubaiyat Artists. The booklet has been produced for private distribution and library reference only. Copies have been given to the six copyright libraries in the UK and the various institutions involved in researching the booklet. If you can’t get to see this material at one of these libraries, the content is still available on Bob Forrest’s website – see the link above.