The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Illustrated by Austin P. Torney. Translated by Edward FitzGerald.

It contains:

▪ A short video of Omar Khayyam’s love life in his tent-palace.
▪ A charming, magical story of Omar Khayyam’s Persian verses transmogrifying into Edward FitzGerald’s Victorian English.
▪ All 114 quatrains of the The Rubaiyat, with two quatrains on the left hand page and and illustration or two on the right hand page, with an indication of whether the quatrain appeared in all editions or only in a single edition, plus which edition it was taken from. The words around the illustrations on the right pages are, if in italics, FitzGerald’s significant alternate wordings; otherwise, if in plain text, they are Austin’s own loose interpretations or his coincidental verse. The 80+ illustrations, all in color, are a mixture of ancient and modern styles, ranging from Austin’s own nature compositions to his enhancement of engravings and drawings obtained from very old books. This publication celebrates the nearly two hundred years since Edward FitzGerald was born.
▪ Vivid colorizations of some of Edmund Sullivan’s Rubaiyat illustrations.
▪ A fantastical story of the find of the jewel encrusted Rubaiyat edition known as the ‘Great Omar’, the only remaining copy—that sunk with the Titanic.
▪ Miscellaneous musings on writing styles, the universe, and living and loving unconditionally, and more.
▪ A whimsical New Calendar story realigning the days, weeks, months, seasons, as well as one’s outlook toward living.
▪ Austin’s 30 quatrain poetic tribute to Omar Khayyam.


Through his Rubàiyàt I sense enchantment,
Essence distilled by the translator’s scent.
Recomposed from Khayyàm’s dust and spirit,
Potent elixirs escape interment!

Sad Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,
They all came, led by their tears and sorrow,
To mourn old Khayyàm: “Hail, cheer, and farewell!
You took from death All that life could borrow.”

— Austin Torney