The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

There were five versions of Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat. The main ones are the 1st, 2nd and 5th. The others contain only minor variations. They vary in length from 75 (1st) to 110 verses (2nd)

Some think that Fitzgerald used the cover of Omar to challenge the religious orthodoxy of his time, especially in the verses about the potter's shop.
 
I have always wondered if any of the salvagers have items in their private collections. How would anyone ever know if this priceless book was found? It would be the ultimate Titanic collectable.
 
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
for a picture of what it supposedly looked like
ruby.jpg
 
Hrm, thanks for the link, Lee. Very gold, isn't it - quite lush. If you're interested, check out Mike T's site, www.titanicbooksite.com. He's got a page on Robert Shepherd's Lost on the Titanic, a book about the 'Great Omar'. The page includes a more colourful computer generated recreation of the 'bejewelled' etc front cover: Rob Shepherd.
 
Any theories as to where the jeweled copy of the Rubiat was being stored? In general cargo? The specie room? Was it with a courier on board? One friend believes it may have been entrusted to Ismay, and might be in that box seen in his wardrobe in 2001......


tarn Stephanos
 
The volume wasn't actually worth a great deal, Tarn, so special treatment was unlikely. It had been bought at auction in 1912 for about 400 pounds.
 
Somewhere in A Night To Remember it says which cabin and who had it. Sorry but I don't remember what it said. Hope this will help someone else remember.

Matt
 
Just weeks before the Titanic sailed the volume had been auctioned at Sotheby's. In a previous thread George Behe identified the buyer as Gabriel Weis. No doubt there are more details in 'Lost on the Titanic' by Robert Shepherd, which tells the story of the book. Shepherd is the current owner of the company which, as 'Sangorski & Sutcliffe' crafted the jewelled binding in 1911. While it was certainly their most extravagant effort to date, the binding was not (as even Walter Lord described it) 'priceless'. It was worth a few hundred pounds - less than the value of the baggage of even some 3rd Class passengers.
 
About fifteen years ago, I taped a documentary called "Treasures of the Titanic," which featured a segment on how the book was made and what it looked like. It had thousands of in-lays and on-lays and must have weighed as much as a concrete block. I don't think it will ever be recovered, but I've always wondered what, if anything, remains of it and where it is (or once was) in the wreck.

Regards,

James
 
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