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Primary sourceBook1898

The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam: Facsimile of the Bodleian Manuscript

Omar Khayyam · 1898

A 1898 photographic facsimile of an early manuscript copy of Khayyam's quatrains held in the Bodleian Library, with a transcript into modern Persian characters.

A facsimile of an early manuscript of Khayyam's own quatrains, letting students see his poetry in its original form.

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The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam: Facsimile of the Bodleian ManuscriptPDF · 386 pages
The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam: facsimile of the Bodleian manuscript, 1898.

About this source

What it is

This book is a photographic facsimile — an exact photographic copy — of a manuscript of the Ruba'iyat (quatrains) held in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. It was published in 1898, with the manuscript's text also transcribed into modern Persian characters and translated into English with notes by Edward Heron-Allen.

Why it matters

The Bodleian manuscript is one of the oldest known copies of the quatrains attributed to Omar Khayyam. This facsimile let scholars and readers study the original handwriting without traveling to Oxford, and it was closely tied to Edward FitzGerald, whose English translation made Khayyam famous in the English-speaking world.

Look closer

  • Why might scholars value a photographic copy of a manuscript as much as the original?
  • What can the handwriting and layout of a manuscript tell us that a printed text cannot?
  • Why do you think the transcript into modern Persian characters was included alongside the facsimile?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Omar Khayyam on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Front cover of a green cloth book titled Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, with gold lettering, a gold floral emblem, black decorative arch border, and publisher Houghton, Osgood & Co. at the bottom.Book

Secondary source

Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

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The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (First Edition)

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