[Black Sun Press] Group of 2 Proof Sheets for the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

(Paris: The Black Sun Press, 1930-31). Group of two uncut miniature proof sheets, printed on Japanese vellum; one sheet printed in red and in black on recto and verso (comprising quatrains XLI-LVI); the other printed in black only on recto only (comprising quatrains IX, XII, XIII, XVI, XVII, XX, XXI and XXIV); creased from when folded; very light wear and soiling. Each measuring 2 1/8 x 4 9/16 in. (54 x 116 mm). Minkoff A-26; Welsh 5386; OCLC 10644552

Two proof sheets for the The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, one of the rarest of all Black Sun Press publications. Of the 44 copies on Japanese vellum noted on the work's colophon, only a few are known to survive: two at the Lilly Library, one at Brown University, proof sheets at Southern Illinois University, and, according to Minkoff (who states that "no complete copy of this book has been seen"), Caresse Crosby's copy, which was "presented as an addition to the Queen's Doll House (London) sometime after 1930."

Harry Crosby was introduced to Edward Fitzgerald's English translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by his Boston friend, Tote Fearing. The work, "joined the Bible in Harry's literary pantheon, and continued among his touchstones through his life. Omar's epigrammatic quatrains--passionate and direct, expressive of the kind of pessimistic fatalism that young men use to justify their self-indulgence--seeped into Harry's fancy, and soon began to control his character...He used the Rubaiyat as he used the Bible, not for literary pleasure but for utility, as an instruction manual to fit conduct." (Wolff, Black Sun, pp. 30-33)

[Black Sun Press] Group of 2 Proof Sheets for the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam