Christopher Morley’s “Rubaiyat of Account Overdue”: in Context
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