66
232. OMAR KHAYYAM. the Quatrains of omar kheyyam of nishapour. now first completely done into english verse from the persian, in accordance with the original forms, with a biographical and critical introduction by John payne. Printed for the Villon Society by Private Subscription and for Private Circulation Only. 1898.
£298
8vo., finely bound by bayntun in half red morocco, spine lettered in gilt with gilt serpent and chalice centre tools, top egde gilt. A fine copy.
no. 179 of an unspecified limited edition. John payne (1842-1916) english poet and translator, though much praised for his poetry by his contemporaries such as matthew Arnold and dante gabriel rossetti, is perhaps better known for his translations, including The Book of a Thousand Nights and one Night.
233. OMAR KHAYYAM Quatrains of omar khayyam in english prose by Justin huntly mccarthy. New York. Brentano’s. 1898. £98
8vo., original cloth with attractive Art nouveau design on boards, lettered in gilt on spine. A near fine copy.
first us edition of mccarthy’s translation.
234.OMAR KHAYYAM. rubaiyat of omar khayyam. T.N. Foulis. 1914.
£598
8vo., recently finely bound in full single gilt line panelled re morocco, spine with raised bands with gilt rules, lettered in gilt with gilt centre tools, all edges gilt, with 8 colour plates mounted at large from paintings by frank brangwyn and with brangwyn designs in silouette under the text, title page lettered in gold, initials printed in red, green, burgundy and blue. A fine copy.
An attractive edition of fitzgerald’s translation with brangwyn illustrations.
235. ORDER OF THE BATH. statutes of the most honourable order of the bath. 1725.
£1,995
4to., finely bound in contemporary full red morocco with four ties, boards with a wide gilt border made up of a backward-looking bird tool and floral sprays, spine gilt in compartments; pp. viii + 67, engraved illustration on page 16 shows, as text explains, the ensign of the order. spine and joints slightly worn, ties skilfully replaced, a little browning to title-page and a few other leaves, otherwise a very good copy with wide margins in an elaborate contemporary binding.
first edition. the order of the bath is late medieval in origin. it arose from the ritual washing (inspired by the washing of baptism), a symbol
of of a preparations
purification, which formed part
for conferment of knighthood.
the honour was not conferred until the candidates had prepared themselves by various rituals designed to purify the inner soul by fasting, vigils and prayer, and cleansing themselves by bathing.
the order was revived by george i in 1725 as a regular military order, to serve the purposes of the first prime minister, sir robert Walpole, who required an additional source for political rewards. the revived order consisted of the sovereign, a great master and 36 knights companions.
this copy belonged to lieutenant general the hon. charles howard with his bookplate. howard was invested into the order on may 2nd 1749. this copy of the statutes would have been specially bound for him for his investiture.
other examples of this backward-looking bird tool are recorded in maggs catalogue 1212 Bookbinding in the British Isles, in which a copy of baretti’s travels, 1770, is illustrated. they record other examples on a copy of Waller’s Poems 1711, and a strawberry hill Memoirs of Grammont 1772. these bindings all date from the 1770’s and so this is an early example of the use of the tool.
spiritual knight’s
the
233
234
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96