It is an astonishing fact that the Rubáiyát was a self-published book, with its translator, Edward FitzGerald, choosing to remain anonymous. It was also a financial flop, with the unsold copies remaindered to the penny box in one small bookstore. Were it not for Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Algernon Charles Swinburne happening by chance to see an advertisement for second-hand books, and being curious about one titled Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám the Astronomer-Poet of Persia, Translated into English Verse (no translator named), the entire batch was destined to be reborn as waste paper.This edition of the Rubáiyát, Edited and Prefaced by H.D. Greaves, is unique in that it contains all of the FitzGerald editions: the First, the Second, and the Fifth, as well as FitzGerald’s Variations in his Third and Fourth Editions. You will also find here FitzGerald’s Notes to the Second Edition, his Introduction to the Third Edition, his brilliant essay on Omar Khayyám, and a complete Glossary. This KDP/Amazon high quality paperback and its Kindle ebook companion contain no illustrations. As lovely—and as beloved—as those are, it may be wise to consider that Omar Khayyám’s immortal words ultimately need no artist’s palette. Our imagination and discernment are more than enough to give them life.