I ! *JtJt>j!'»fS^li!ii \/* fmsmm g^#flr?ii^ifi '^ .^r /"% ^-"Wlv. -?■••»«»--; % # #'■"%. rWitSE^Sf^ '■:-i-- ,/ mm (p0£^^ OCDAR KH/^^AAcn CLUB APRIL ZA^Zl t %fiu/n'i eii^^/cis batfiS f*^^>n phma^ fta44.^^ t^ ffroA^n*^ a4rpi{a^^ From tfm SANstftPiT vTTT?! jrriqT laT^r UBI H C^fi4c ^d^ct^ R/t, iM^hn jh^4f/J Tl«a8HA8 -iM WO-f\ %^u^'tf e^^^oys batfiS f*i^^r>rt pHma/ voM^oA^ to ^raJitn'^ a4rvi{a^^ Wc /Vy 2J a^ire ififijc ^Covt/^ ^ nu^^ynA d. ^tifCfuA^ Men tii^ Vt^ c4ja^c£^ ac^iuunla^cA met^ i^^m /^ rvaJ, CM. m "^MihtijHriif^J PRESIDENT Eben Francis Thompson VICE PRESIDENT Prof. Charles Rockwell Lanman SECRETARY AND TREASURER ^ "^ Charles Dana Burrage MENU LOBSTER COCKTAIL CREAM OF FRESH MUSHROOMS ALMONDS OLIVES RADISHES PLANKED SHAD AND ROE SUPREME OF CHICKEN PERIGEUX FRESH ASPARAGUS NEW POTATOES SPRING VEGETABLE SALAD CHEESE CROQUETTES TOASTED CRACKERS FRUIT ICES FANCY CAKE COFFEE MEMBERS AND GUESTS PRESENT (A composite drawing by Albert W. Ellis from photographs of several o( the principal members of the Club.) FROM MENU OF 1918. TWENTY YEARS OF THE OMAR KHAYYAM CLUB OF AMERICA BRONZE MEDAL of the Omar Khayydm Club of America, on the 1 00th anniversary of the Birth of Edward FitzGerald, March 31. 1909. ^ TWENTY YEARS OF THE Omar Khayyam Club of America 1921 ', ,' :'.;','•»,'*? >' Privately Printed by the ROSEMARY PRESS Copyrighted, 1921 By the Rosemary Press TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication '1 Foreword 2 Proem 3 List of Officers 3 The Omar Khayyam Qub (history) 7 Poem, Lincoln 26 By William Bacon Scofield Poem, to Omar Khayyam 28 By Nathan Haskell Dole The Cardinal 32 Poem, Omar Khayyam 34 By George Roe Omar the Sybsu-ite 38 By Stephen C. Houghton Poem, Supplication in Time of War 53 By Henry Harmon Chamberlin An Interesting Letter 56 Poem, The Price 66 By Henry Harmon Chamberlin 445022 How Fortunate 68 Omar as a Mathematician 70 By Dr. William Edward Story On a Piece of Vellum 83 The Message of Omar Khayyam 9 1 By Charles Dana Burrage Members and Guests 1 03 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Club Vase Orange cover paper insert Composite of Club White paper insert Club Medal Frontispiece Club Seal Title page and Colophon Painting by Fred A. Demmler 4 Eben Francis Thompson, President 6 Clay Placque by Fred Allen 8 Translations by Eben Francis Thompson 1 1 Translations by Club Members 14 Saenz-Pena, Roe and Houghton Club Menus by Dorothy S. Hughes 16 Club Menus from Albert W. Ellis 18 Reverse Ellis Menus 20 Some Club Editions 22 The Late Ross Turner, Vice-President 25 Nathan Haskell Dole, Past President 27 Illuminated Editions 31 Illuminated Edition by Sangorski 33 Fac-Simile Page of Manuscript 37 Rubaiyat in color — Goes Illuminated Edition by E. F. Faulkner 40 Some Club Menus from Henry Harmon Chamberlin 44 Illuminated Quatrain 49 Prof. Charles Rockwell Lanman, Vice-President 52 Club Menu 1914 55 Fac-Simile Letter, Barton to Crabbe 61-63 Seven FitzGerald Autographs 64 Some Club Menus 65 Club Menus by Dorothy S. Hughes 67 Dr. William Edward Story 69 Illuminated Quatrain 73 Some Persian Manuscripts 76 FitzGerald's Cottage at Boulge 79 Rose Leaves from the Grave of Omar Khayyam 79 Rosemary Press Editions 82 The Ouseley Commission 86-88 Charles Dana Burrage, Secretary and Treasurer 90 Some Rare Editions of Omar 95 Club Menu, 1920 99 From an Ancient Persian Painting 1 02 Dedicated to EBEN FRANCIS THOMPSON founder of The Omar Kha3^am Club of America, its Secretary for twenty years and now its President, lawyer, wit, prince of good fellows, Shakespearean scholar, art lover, poet, author, and first translator from the original Persian of the complete quatrains of Omar Kha3ryam — "Though creeds some two and seventy there be. The first of creeds, I hold, is love of thee." FOREWORD This book of the Omar Khayyam Club is an attempt to give some account of the Club and to gather a few of the contributions of some of its members at Club meetings into one book. The Club is an association of men, mostly pro- fessional, who believe in good fellowship and who are in- terested in the Orient in one way or another and more particularly in that "King of the Wise," the Astronomer, Philosopher and Poet, Omar Khayyam. All the books and articles illustrated in this volume are owned by members of the Omar Khayyam Club of Amer- ica and have been exhibited at Club meetings. The editor ventures to hope that the book will prove of some interest to the members and their friends for whom alone it is intended. CHARLES DANA BURRAGE. Boston, Massachusetts, 1920. PROEM To the Gentle Reader Reserve your censure; do not criticize This book; 'twas only meant for friendly eyes. And if you are an Adept you must know The difference between the Outward Show And Inward Essence of all things mundane Is clear, and knowing it you can explain. This Life Knot holds inseparably entwined Both Joy and Sorrow, Good and Bad combined. And this our nature needs both work and play Best to fulfill its mission day by day; And so we seize this hour to take our fling And for serene old Omar, Wisdom's King, We twine this chaplet, and the while we raise To modest Fitz his well won meed of praise. So, Gentle Reader, do not criticize These tributes, only meant for friendly eyes. FROM CLUB MENU OF 1920. Painting by Fred A. Demmler. (Died in service in France, 1918.) LIST OF OFFICERS President NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, 1900-1917 CHARLES DANA BURRAGE. 1917-1919 EBEN FRANCIS THOMPSON. 1919— Vice-President ROSS TURNER, 1900 to his death 1915 CHARLES ROCKWELL LANMAN, 1920— Secretary EBEN FRANCIS THOMPSON, 1900-1920 CHARLES DANA BURRAGE, 1920— Treasurer EBEN FRANCIS THOMPSON, 1900-1903 CHARLES DANA BURRAGE, 1903— EBEN FRANCIS THOMPSON. President. THE OMAR KHAYYAM CLUB The genesis of the Omar Khayyam Club has been attributed to an observation of Sir Richard Burton when dining one evening at Lord Coleridge's, that the meetings of the learned Oriental Societies had too much of pedantry and too little of the social quality. This was in 1887 before the existence of any Omar Khayyam Club either in London or elsewhere. How- beit this idea was the germ from which the Omar Kha5ryam Club sprang, the source of the suggestion made by Eben Francis Thompson to Nathan Haskell Dole, that a Club be formed of admirers of the Astro- nomer-Poet on the basis of good fellowship as well as Oriental learning, with good fellowship as the predomi- nant feature. It seemed odd that Thompson should be the one to make this Persian suggestion to Dole, for more than twenty years before, the latter had been the former's Greek instructor. In the meantime the two friends had turned to Oriental studies in general and 1 CLAY PLACQUE BY FRED ALLEN. 9 Omar Khayyam in particular. It was not long after this tiffin talk that the American Club was on its pros- perous way with a membership not large but distinctly representative of those interested, in varying degrees and from widely different angles, in the customs, art and literature of the Orient in general and in the works and personality of Omsfr Khayyam in particular. The first session of the Club was held at Young's, Boston, on Saturday, March 31,1 900, the ninety-first anniversary of the birth of Eldward FitzGerald, among those present besides Dole and Thompson, being Ar- thur Foote, musician; Arthur Macy, poet; Alfred C- Potter of the Harvard Library, Sylvester Baxter, Ross Turner, Dr. William E. Story, mathematician, and Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The Festival of Saint Edward as it has been called, celebrating the anniversaries of FitzGerald's birth, be- ing to a certain extent a fixed feast, all of the choicest Omarian spirits were unable to foregather; nor could a Club with a membership scattered far and wide, bring to its table at any one time all its members. From 10 the Persian vase in the table's center with its one rose of Kashmir to the various items of the menu from chilo to Shirazi wine and Persian rose leaves the ses- sion was decidedly Omarian. It is singular too, that at this meeting the mystic number of Nine persons were present just as at the first dinner of the London Club the same number participated. Dole exhibited the manuscript of the Greek version which had been made by Professor Crawley of Bradfield College, Berk- shire, England and also displayed a copy of the first American edition. Laurence C. Woodworth of Govemeur, New York sent an edition of Tennyson's poem to FitzGerald, privately printed by the Brothers of the Book com- memorating FitzGerald's ninety-first birthday and is- sued only to members of the Club on the day of its inception. Story produced a copy of Omar's algebra and others displayed many an Oriental treasure for the delectation of their fellows. Colonel Higginson was delightfully reminiscent and discoursed upon other Omarians past and present, dwelling wistfully on n Rose Garden. Rubdiydt with Persian Text. Complete Translation of Quatrains of Omar Khayydm. Translations by Eben Francis Thompson. 12 "some we loved the loveliest and the best that from his vintage rolling Time has prest, who had drunk their cup a round or two before and one by one, crept silent- ly to rest." Thompson read some brief extracts from the manuscript of his then incomplete complete trans- lation upon which he had then been working for twen- ty years, and generally every one contributed to the symposium, which made the event one of unmixed delight. The officers chosen at the first meeting were : Presi- dent, Nathan Haskell Dole ; Vice-President, Ross Tur- ner; Secretary and Treasurer, Eben Francis Thomp- son, but later Charles Dana Burrage, an enthusiastic Omarian and Oriental scholar and collector, was in- duced to take the office of Treasurer, which he still holds, thanks to his remarkable efficiency and gener- ous initiative in the matter of caring for the spiritual and physical needs of his fellow members. At this first session the menu was printed in purple and each card had a different quotation from Omar. At the second session, in 1901, the custom of having guests was inaugurated and one or more guests 13 have graced the feast since that time. Arthur Macy, an original member who was present at our earlier meetings and who was one of the most companion- able of men, soon passed from us and we recall his memorial lines suggested by the death of a friend, en- titled In Remembrance. "Sit closer, friends, around the board! Death grants us but a little time. Now let the cheering cup be poured, And welcome song and jest and rhyme. Elnjoy the gifts that fortune sends, Sit closer, friends! And in that realm is there no joy Of comrades and the jocund sense? Can Death so utterly destroy — For gladness grant no recompense? And can it be that laughter ends With absent friends? 14 m trn/nm ^^ i ^^^-^ rubAiyat, FRANCISCO BF.LTPAN 16. PRtNCIPE. 16. -MADBID TRANSLATION OF OMAR INTO SPANISH. SPANISH TRANSLATION SECOND EDITION. By Carlos Muzzio Saenz-Pena By Carlos Muzzio Saenz-Pena ORIGINAL TRANSLATION OF OMAR. IN THE PATH OF THE PERSIAN. By George Roe (Four editions) By Stephen C. Houghton ' 15 Dear Omar, should you chance to meet Our Brother Somewhere in the Gloom, Pray give to Him a Message sweet, From Brothers in the Tavern Room. He will not ask Who 'tis that sends. For we were friends. Again a parting sail we see ; Another boat has left the shore. A kinder soul on board has she Than ever left the land before. And as her outward course she bends, Sit closer, friends!" It must not be thought that, because we have ob- served FitzGerald's birthday by a meeting and lunch- eon on each March 3 1 , or the most convenient Satur- day nearest to or following that date, the Club has met on no other occasions. There have been many minor festivals when some visiting Brother has ap- proached Boston from time to time, scattered through the years, as well as meetings in other places. n s a. ^ - 17 There is a popular idea that Omar was a sot and materialist which is very far from the truth. So there are some excellent people who have harbored the fancy that most Omarians are intemperate in alcoholic bev- erages. As a matter of fact all the members of the Club are temperate in everything excepting in books and it may be in Bohea or Orange Pekoe, while a considerable proportion of them are wholly abstinent, so that the Prohibition amendment will have no deter- rent effect on their meetings. The members are well represented in the way of bibliography. Mr. Dole's multivariorum and other editions and poems come first in point of scope; his editions of Greek and Latin versions are exceedingly well done, his de luxe edition of the former being one of the handsomest books ever issued in this country. Mr. Charles Dana Burrage's "Message of Omar Khayyam** is an exceedingly well written consideration of the sub- ject. Mr. George Roe's version is that of a Persian scholar and poet; it paraphrases closely the original Persian and is finely poetical. ,' ^'-:'?9> individual Club Menus, 1916. Designed and presented by Albert W. Ellis 19 Mr. Thompson in his complete translation of the quatrains of Omar has apparently covered the field for no new quatrains have been discovered in the four- teen years since it was issued, while his edition of FitzGerald's Rubaiyat has gone farther than any other since it gives the Persian text in both Nastalik and Ro- man letter with a line for line literal translation. His "Rose Garden" apparently has demonstrated how far wrong the popular idea of Omar has been. Professor Story, one of our original members, in his essay upon Omar as a Mathematician, issued by the Club in 1919, has produced briefly a masterly and authoritative work upon the subject. Mr. G>es, Mr- Turner, Mr. Burrage and some other members have issued special editions or aided in the publication of books relating to the subject. One of the club members, Qurlos Muzzio Saenz- Pena, living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, came to Bos- ton to study. On his return, in the enthusiasm of his youth, he translated the Rubaiyat of Omar Khay- yam into Spanish. This was the first Spanish transla-, 29. 21 tion of Omar in South America. This has now passed into a large second edition at Madrid. He has also published several other translations from Persian originals. Another member, Stephen C. Houghton, of San Jose, California, has won high praise for his philosoph- ical poem, "In the Path of the Persian." Among many things due to the inspiration of the Club was the publication by Charles Hardy Meigs, a member, of the famous miniature Omar, the introduc- tion to which was written by Mr. Dole. This book at the present writing is the smallest ever printed. The edition was limited to fifty-seven copies and today it is much sought, bringing a very large price for so small a book. In 1 909 the Club celebrated the Centenary of Ed- ward FitzGerald's birth as well as the fiftieth year of the FitzGerald princeps by a Festival held at the Al- gonquin Club on March 3 1 . On this occasion they issued an exact facsimile of the first edition upon Japan paper printed at the University Press and limited 22 SOME CLUB EDITIONS OF THE RUBAIYAT Rosemary Rosemary Press Press Carolon Press 23 to fifty copies numbered and signed by the Club offi- cers. The Club also issued a bronze medallion portrait of FitzGerald. There was also issued a limited edition of a poem, written about 1 840 by Ann G. Storrow, an aunt of Colonel Higginson, describing a ball at Cam- bridge in 1 840, which poem had been read by him at the Club session in 1908. This was issued by the Club as an especial compliment to its best loved and oldest member, Colonel Higginson. There were present at this Centenary celebration the following members emd guests: Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Charles Dana Burrage, Nathan Haskell Dole, Edward P. Hatch, A. V. W. Jackson, William Dana. Orcutt, Walter Oilman Page, Dr. Josiah H Brown, William F. Russell, Williaun W. Johnson, Ar- thur Sherburne Hardy, William Bacon Scofield, Charles F. Libby, T. B. Mosher, Louis N. Wilson, Eben Francis Thompson, A. C. Potter, Arthur E. Childs and W. H. Kenney. The exercises were worthily con- ducted, the poems and speeches being brilliant and timely. Mr. Burrage exhibited a great variety of 24 editions the first, second, third and fourth FitzGerald ; the famous Quilter edition, the Madras, the miniature, the first American, the GroHer Club, the Ross Turner, manuscript editions of Sangorski and others, original letters of FitzGerald and many other interesting items. One of our members. Professor A. V. W. Jackson, has made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Omar at Nish- apur. Another, Mr. Thompson, has twice, in 1910 and 1912, placed the wreath of the Omar Khayyam Club on the grave of Edward FitzGerald in Boulge Church- yard. 25 THE LATE ROSS TURNER. Vice-President 1900-1915. 26 LINCOLN By William Bacon Scofield Somehow I think that in the near Beyond He sits and broods o'er all this human strife And that new furrows line his kindly face, Full sad enough from his own wezuy life, While the great heart, that throbbed for others* care. Still thrills in pity for us, even there. Read at the session of April 5, 1919. 27 NATHAN HASKELL DOLE President, 1900-1917 28 TO OMAR KHAYYAM (Written for the Omar Khayyam Club of America under the Stress of Prohibition) By Nathan Haskell Dole The Prophet interdicted ruby Wine — Which, made by God Himself, must be divine — You stood on God's side, Omar, good for you I And sang the Praise of Persia's fruitful Vine. Men trample down the purple Grapes, whose Juice Flows in a fragrant Stream from out the sluice; Then God comes down and breathes upon the Vat, And lol the red Wine meant for joyous Use. God's Spirit permeates the ruby Bowl As in the Body lives the glowing Soul; It thrills, it fills, it kills the ghastly Ills That over hapless Men in Billows roll. When Gloom or Disappointment settles down And stormy Skies disturb with horrid Frown, 29 One brimming Cup will put the Clouds to Flight And all one's Sorrows in Oblivion drown. One brimming Cup will make the sad Heart gay. Will turn the Winter's Cold to warmth of May, Will change a bitter Foe to faithful Friend, Will make the recreant Muse the Will obey! So, Omar, Haunter of the festive Shrine, And Watcher of the Stars which nightly shine, ^ What think you of this sober Western World, That joins Mohammed in forbidding Wine? Do you look down with Pity in your Eyes To see the cheering Draught you wont to prize Made contraband by stern fanatic Laws Which turn the Truths of God to Devil's Lies! Good Wine, we know, is promised us in Heaven, And tho the Loaf of Bread may have no leaven. We will join you there and share your jocund Fare, Where'er you are — in Number One or Seven! Ah well! We 've had full many a joyous Feast, With you as our high Pattern and High Priest; With Moderation which we all observe — We of the West and you. Star of the Elast. And though we have to hold an empty Glass, 30 *T is filled with finest Spirit: — let it pass. We drink your Health — Imagination reigns — Down with the Dolts whose Ignorance is crass! Mayhap our Burrage, with his Skill empirical ,, Will reperform the Cana-marriage Miracle, And (by a magic Word) change cold Water To red red Wine to make our Praises lyrical! Hail to you, Omar, friendliest of the Sages, Your Message cheers us, ringing through the Ages: — Our Eben Francis has translated it In golden Verses crowning creamy Pages. ....,, 3f * i^ ^.vo.^^Tthe suK whcl^catter'D into flight THE STARS BEFORE HIM (TOM THE HELD OF NIGHT, ^DRIVES NIGHT ALONG WITH THEM FROM HEAVN, AND STRIKES THE SULTAN'S TURRET WITH A SHAFT OF UGHT. i^ ILLUMINATED EDITIONS OF THE RUBAIYAT. 1. By Sangorski. 3. By Ross Turner. 2. By H. H. R. Thompson. 4. By Dorothy S. Hughes. 32 THE CARDINAL On his high throne a cardinal sat, Cogitating on this and on that; "Omar Khayyam," quoth he, Has nothing on me For I have my own Rubyhat. "Not FitzGerald nor Thompson," he said "Nor Dole, Whinfield nor Roe are ahead; As surely as they I am truly O. K., For my Rubyhat is much Red!" (Burst of ordnance heard without the palace walls.) r r c z > H m O z !S r r c 03 m 7i H O CO > Z o o :» CO 7^ 34 OMAR KHAYYAM Though in Thy Service Pearls I ne'er shall thread. Nor cleanse the Dust my countless Sins have spread. By this one Grace I hope for Mercy still. Ne'er called I Two the One Great Fountain Head. Translated from a copy of the first stanza of the Ouseley MS. I Friend Omar, thy voice is still singing, Altho* thou art with us no more, Thy numbers in melody ringing Aloud on our Western shore. 11 In the highways of Worcester 1 hear thee, And down by the Southern seas, In the glorious prairies of Texas Thy music is flung to the breeze. 35 III And here in the City of Boston, Where Freedom her glory hath shed, Where Knowledge and Wisdom are cherished, We gather to honor the dead. IV And tho' for a while we're divided. We, too, shcdl return to the sod Where all living things are united To dwell in the bosom of God. V Where anger and enmity perish, Where sorrow forever is o'er, Where sickness eind pain cannot follow And grief can pursue us no more. VI Where Khuda in love doth enfold us And taketh our souls to his breast. Where blessed Nirvana doth hold us At peace in the Kingdom of Rest. 36 VII And there shall our spirits awaken, When all are absorbed in the Whole, And the Maya of Self is forgotten And Union with God is the GosJ. George Roe, San Antonio, Tex2is. ttlxdt ^ -fjr Fac-Simile Page *<& Manuscript Rubaiyat ttli0i$Pi^ Page ri"xi4" From the Library of FRANK L. GOES tit ttl^iiitlg .- Engrossed and illuminated in waterproof India ink and gold by Isabelle A. Barrett of New York City. 1914. aoA*! 3jimi8-oa'*I TAYIAflU^ T1IJI38U;1aM ^O \o VTBidiJ aril moi'? 8303 .J :aviAii3 vSiratttt:si attb ftla^ft toitlji liift lenn^lianti^bStootb ^▼>r> y^(M^ W "J"- 4J^ 38 OMAR THE SYBARITE By Stephen C. Houghton Omar Khayyam was undoubtedly eminent as astro- nomer and mathematician; but were he a Galileo or a Herschel, an Archimedes or a Newton, it goes with- out saying that his hold on the popular mind today would be restricted. Omar the philosopher gives us nothing new, nothing which had not before his era been thrashed out by the ancient Greeks ; and of Omar the poet we of so diflFerent speech may only fairly judge by his vogue among his own people, which, it would appear, was not and is not on a par with that of other Persian poets of his age, and others before and after his day. What, then, is the charm of his Rubaiyat, which has taken so firm a hold upon modem minds and hearts, and particularly, chiefly through the notable work of his kindred spirit Edward FitzGerald, so entrances the English-speaking world in our day? To my mind, it 39 is the exquisite sybaritism which permeates his stan- zas, appealing to the general consciousness, since in all elevated and refined natures the sybaritic spirit is existent — nay, dominant. Indeed, the pursuit of pleasure is universal with the human race, the goal of all ambitions and hopes, the end of all effort. Pleasure is Lord, omnipotent its sway; All men their hearts on its low altar lay. Saint, sage, drudge, gleaner, roister, sybarite. Each seeks its solace, in his chosen way. Pleasurable emotion, present or future, is the uni- versal aim, and each of us strives, in his chosen way, to reach the common goal ; and since no man can fore- see his status in the Beyond, in the days of life remain- ing to him, or even tomorrow, it is obviously the part of wisdom to make the most of the opportunities of today. Life knows no unborn hiture, no dead past. For growth and gain, for work and feast 8Uid fast. For all the uses of Etemi^, Today is thine. Elmploy it as thy last. 40 UR. u ■o flight If j "^^AKE't FortheSui The Stars before him from the Field of Night, Drives Night along with them from Heav'n and strikes The SultAn's Turret with a Shaft of Light. n If ILLUMINATED BY E. F. FAULKNER 41 The underlying sentiment here has been strikingly expressed by Kalidasa, the greatest of the Sanscrit poets. K Listen to the invocation of the Dawn: Look to this day. In its brief course I Lie all the realities, all the verities, of life: f The bliss of growth. The glory of action. The splendor of beauty. For yesterday is but a dresun, And tomorrow is only a vision. But this day, well lived. Makes every yesterday a dream of pleasure, And every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, then, to this day. This is the invocation of the Dawn. Now, what is pleeisure, and how is it to be attained? Verily, it is not gross in its nature, and verily, verily, its enjoyment lies not in excesses. Pleasure is sweet, and sweet its memories. To drain Joy's chalice to the nauseous lees. To quaff delights that end in lasting griefs. These are not pleasures, but debaucheries. 42 Epicurus, the soundest of all philosophers, who, ac- cording to Lucretius, in wit surpassed all men as far As doth the midday sun the midnight star,, has more rationally and clearly than any other pointed the way to the attainment of pleasure. Epicurus was so essentially a sybarite that the term Epicurean is an accepted synonym for sybaritic. His philosophy rec- ognized pleasurable emotion as the highest good at- tainable by man, but held that, while the cravings of natural physical appetites must be given consideration, pleasures of the mind, to be secured by study and con- templation and congenial intercourse, are the sum- mum bonum. King Solomon, wise in everything excepting a pes- simistic mental attitude, undertook a systematic and exhaustive investigation of the problems of life, an investigation which he esteemed to be the highest office of wisdom, as this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. To the unknowable, to questions relating to man's origin, 43 characteristics, conditions and destiny, he gave but cursory attention. Whence are we haled to this demesne of woe? How may the spirit learn to know or grow? Whither may dumb Death's trackless footsteps tend? Why are we come, why do we stay, why go? Whence, how, why, whither: never saint nor sage By prayer or rare research from age to age Hath solved one mystery, or gained one clue; Nor shall the futile quest my hour engage. Since throughout the ages the appeals of saintly men to Heaven and the investigations of science have failed to secure a glimmer of light on these great mys- teries, the sage dismisses the subject in few words. I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest to them, and that they might see, that they themselves are beasts. For that which befall- eth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing be- falleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other. Yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preemi- nence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who 44 OF aMCKtca aumtn-c-POTTeR •Tfi2Q- ^ai^.oii nWc«3ain« a«ft fruits Green TutH* Soup Om.T It P»om S.I J.II4 K lom ate* *T«pp*«« li* p. a 1. IVr^paaDur ivion 15 sone GTv il s .-^ ^i^^^g f^^^iawanvieiuiTswui^i^ ^^^me Kir IWGlones 01 Ihis World; arj^ore _'u-.K for iheP-n:,pW5pard3x5e to ame; H^ 'At tVieCash. an3 lei ttie Ct«<3u go Mor heed W Tu.molt oi a disfanr"]^ Drjm'. ' ''ieWc9iJijHc>pe min sei ttwtrtafe upon T!v„53.na-(jrr{ DTospTi; atnj snon, U ■-- Onoi uDon mtDtseT^'s Aisrar-jce i-^ •" - - . ^«. hour arluio-is cione. ^^- YheniyTieLipoj^r'his pooi eirH^nVrn Ikan'c] iheSecreV rf inyliifeti brn: BTn\k.'-fcr once oeao ijouiKversKSi leWn- The TOwwr - fl^cvasoti TCT J . . p SKoll lute ii barn t, , rior all youT fears u<; Some Individual Painted Menus, Worcester, June 5, 1920. Presented by Henry Harmon Chamberlin. 45 knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own work; for that is his por- tion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? With a view, then, of determining what is that good for the sons of men which they should do under Hea- ven all the days of their life, Solomon inaugurated a course of personal practical experimentation. He gave himself over to jollity, to wine, to carnal delights of every nature. He withheld not his heart from any joy ; and to all his experiences he applied the test of wis- dom. He drew on the experiences of others so largely that he declared he had seen all the works that are done under the sun. He built up and maint£dned a magnifi- cent establishment, with all the adjuncts of luxury, splendor, productiveness Eind usefulness that the imag- ination could suggest. As a result of all this inquiry and experimentation, the royal pessimist decides that all is vanity — emptiness — and vexation of spirit; and 46 in his wisdom he reaches the conclusion that there is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor; and that this is so ordained of God. Accepting, as well we may, the judgment of the wise King of Israel, the rational course of procedure open to man lies in the cultivation of the sybaritic spirit, and the devotion of his energies to such labors as shall afford the greatest degree of individual satis- faction. The pleasures of the table are rightly given precedence, not only as supplying the needs of the body, but as also as affording opportunity for needful relaxation from labor, and the direction of the atten- tion to the amenities which contribute so potentially to mental and spiritual as well as physical health and advantage. To those who would make the most and best of life, therefore, the family dining room should be a temple dedicated to the guardian angel of domestic joys, an academy for the development of education and char- acter. The household, in cottage or palace, in which 47 the daily reunion at the dining table is marked with good cheer and decorous cheerfulness, where elders are intelligent and sagacious, and children are encour- aged to freely express their views and relate their ex- periences to sympathetic and tolerant ears, is a college, the educational course of which is followed to the accompaniment of a round of wholesome pleasures, and its graduates, besides cementing bonds of en- nobling affection, should have acquired an endowment of right-mindedness, considerateness, good breeding and poise, fitting them for mingling on even terms with the world's best. Whether the repast be simple or elaborate, its viands should be carefully selected and apportioned to the gratification of normal appetites, since the condition of the digestive apparatus is a mat- ter of prime importance ; and the direction of the mind into pleasant channels is quite as essential to perfect digestion as wholesome foods. How frugal soever the refection, it should be an occasion of cheerful and intimate intercourse, a sybaritic feast. The sybarite is not necessarily he who feasts elaborately, but he who feasts well. Whether two or more be seated at the frugal table of an Epicurus or £in assemblage be atten- dant at the royal feast of a Lucullus, it is the com- mingling of genial and congenial souls which distin- guishes the sybaritic character of the entertainment. The table of the ideal sybarite, Epicurus, was itself ideal, although of exceeding simplicity as to viands, the food consisting chiefly of porridge and barley bread, the drink being water or wine, of which latter a half-pint was considered a sufficiency for each par- ticipant ; and the conversation was directed to pleasant themes, the immediate and the ultimate purpose here, as throughout the Master's teachings, being the attain- ment of pleasure of body and mind, with mental pleas- ures ever uppermost. Excepting Jesus and the Bud- dah, no teacher has ever exercised so healthful or so potent an influence for right-living as Epicurus the Sybarite, and his doctrines and methods appeal to the instincts of all normal minds. He who ignores the obvious truths here adverted to, he who lightly esteems the benefits of the possession 49 50 of the sybaritic spirit, is grievously in error, and want- ing in a perception of his own highest interests, and of the unquestionable fact that by self-perfection and through his contributions to the happiness of others his own welfare and happiness are best secured; and that only by keeping primarily in view service to others may one make his soul enjoy good in his labor. Love thyself first. If thy stern soul applaud Thy every act and thought, if prize nor rod Nor love nor hate thy constant will can swerve, Thou hast attained the stature of a god. Serve thyself last. Thy every thought and deed Fraught with the burden of another's need. His weal, his happiness, shall win for thee A world of wealth, beyond the grasp of greed. Man's keenest and most satisfying pleasures are de- rived from his work, from congenial active and pro- gressive labors. But unremitting labor is preju- dicial to health and enjoyment, and is not productive of the most effective results. Rest and change are neces- ary to the highest development of efficiency; and in the daily periods of relaxation nothing so conduces to the preservation of the capacity for work as the pleas- 51 ures of the table, blest with wholesome foods, whole- some companionship and wholesome intercourse, in which business, as business, has no part. The present-day vogue of FitzGerald's Omar, then, may justly be attributed to the fact that he has caught and in pleasing fashion brought home to the many the true spirit of Epicurean sybaritism. Nowhere have the beautifully and succinctly expressed sentiments of the grand old Persian permeated more deeply than into the hearts and minds of the select congenial congerie composing the Omar Kha3ryam Club of America. No- where is he more beloved and honored ; and we may well and fittingly voice our appreciation of the ancient sage and the greatest of his modem interpreters, with enthusiastic accord. Blest be thy manes, English FitzGerald, philosopher and poet, who hath infused into the most admirable and the most admired stanzas of the literature of our time the exquisite spirit of Omar! Revered be thy memory, Persian Omar, philosopher, poet, astrono- mer, mathematician; and all hail to thee, Omar, genial, gentle sybarite! 52 PROFESSOR CHARLES ROCKWELL LANMAN. Vice-President. 53 SUPPLICATION IN TIME OF WAR By Henry Harmon Chamberlin Read at the session of April 3, 1920 We who have loitered in the paths of ease, Waken us all, O Lord, to the World's need I Even as men, of Thee who took no heed. On some far isle, begirt with slumbrous seas. Long years we dreamed. For this, our sons must bleed. Because we loitered in the paths of ease. Fondly we dreamed of Earth's eternal peace. To our dull ears, the whisperings of War Came like a fierce old legend, faint and far. We dreamed of wealth and comfort, to release Our souls from Fate, and Valor's guiding star; Because we loitered in the paths of ease. We dreamed that Time would change and Strife would ceaise. And fair, soft words beguile a tyrant's hate. 54 Thy thunderbolt awoke us, not too late To fight for Freedom and Thy Word. For these Our sires had fought and made our nation great; But we have loitered in the paths of ease. Kindle our souls, that zeal for Thee increstse. So, that, in words of flame, our souls may see Thy truth and we may win Thy victory! Oh I make us worthier of a nobler peace. Whereby our children, brave and wise and free. No more shall loiter in the paths of ease. 55 QMK KHl&fm CLUB orianERicTi pftyfJ 56 AN INTERESTING LETTER One day in the year 1 845 Edward FitzGerald was visiting in Woodbridge, his lifelong friend, Bernard Barton, the Quaker poet, whose daughter Lucy some eleven years later, seven years after the death of Bar- ton became FitzGerald's wife. The two friends learned that another common and intimate friend, Rev. George Crabbe (1785-1857) of Bredfield (two miles from Woodbridge) had been in town on busi- ness, and in a spirit of mischief agreed to call him to account for not calling on them, by sending him a letter, of which a photogravure f ac-simile accompanies this. It may be recalled that FitzGerald edited and published in his later years Crabbe's "Tales of the Hair* and "Readings in Crabbe" written by the recipi- ent's father. Rev. George Crabbe (1754-1832) a fa- mous poet, loved by both Barton and FitzGerald, with a love that embraced also the grandson, Rev. George Crabbe (1819-1884). This grandson was 57 one of the executors of FitzGerald, and it was in his house that FitzGerald died in 1 883. The whimsical character of Barton's indictment is well worthy of notice, but when to this is added the quaint protest of FitzGerald, containing seven of his signatures on a single sheet, the epistle becomes practically unique in literature. 58 The letter — Barton to Crabbe Woodbridge, October 2, 1845. My dear friend: Now was I not quite right in setting thee down for a very proud man? Thy resolute and dignified silence con- firms it — ^it is in fact allowing judgment to go by default. In my former charge against thee on this score I preferred an indictment on only one count — I must now add another. One of my fellow townsmen said to me the other day, "1 suppose Mr. Crabbe often calls on you, as I not infrequently see him in Woodbridge?" I knew I had received no such calls but did not choose to tell my neighbor so, lest he should think I had lost caste with the clergy and gentry around — so I replied in a sort of worried confusion "Of course, of course!" — ^but my heart rather smote me for the response, as being unquakerly for by my faith it smack* d more of vanity than of veracity. I don't tell another such a fib, even to save thy character for courtesy, or mine for respectability. But Quaker as I am I do not wish to be set down by my neighbors as cut off from all benefit of clergy, so the temptation to a slight deviation from truth was irresistable. 59 Well, now thou art indicted on two separate & sev- eral counts of being chargeable with pride — and, making no attempt at disguise or denial, I must conclude the accu- sation is admitted as true! the penance I adjudge is a Note from thee every day or two, and a call once a week — if this be not promptly performed I shall have to serve thee down for a dinner, so pray come down handsomely without tap of time — for the longer some sort of "amende honorable" is delayed the heavier will be its infliction. After all I am not sure thou hast not as good a right to be a Proud Man, as any one on the list of my acquaintance — Art thou not thy Father's Son? and is not that something to be proud of? Thou seest 1 am willing to make all reasonable allowances — and even invent the best possible excuse I can for this sin which so easily besets us all. We all of us have, in turn, a touch of that same. Let him that is utterly void of this sin, cast the first stone — it will not be cast by me, I can promise thee — for I honestly plead guilty to the charge — I am very proud of my Portrait of Evelyn! not the less so for thy railing at it; perhaps all the prouder, because I pity thee for not having a better taste, and when a Man can think of a valued & respected Friend with pity, pride grows upon him, apace — then have I not just printed 60 a Book & dedicated it to the Queen, and has not her Majesty, as I am told, graciously accepted the same — May I not be a little proud on that score — and heis not my Marquis just sent me a Note lauding said Book, and especi- ally the Verses on Crabbe's Cottage, therein? Go to! if thou wilt, be a proud Man — I will try if I can't too — and we will have a regular contest to see which of the twain can be the proudest. Thine with proud humility, B. B. Mr. E. FitzGerald presents his Compt's to Mr. Crabbe, & begs to inform him that he, (Mr. Edward Fitz-Gerald) is now^ at Woodbridge, & will be glad to know when he (Mr. Crabbe) can answer to the charge brought by Mr. Barton against him (Mr. Crabbe.) He (Mr. FitzGerald) thinks that he (Mr. Crabbe) is quite amenable to the charge so stated by him (Mr. Barton). He (Mr. FitzGerald) now writes in his (Mr. Barton's) house, where he (Mr. Fitz- Gerald) proposes to spend the night; a thing which he (Mr. FitzGerald) never did in his (Mr. Crabbe's) house, & he (Mr. FitzGerald) does not know if he (Mr. Ditto) ever shall. /^ .^^.^ C£.M r;^^c^^ ,^^^.#-/ ^^^^^ /t.*;^:?^ ^ Ay ^^/ ^/^2^^^niJ O 4^^r?^ (^i^/i<>^^^^. ^ ^ ■*^-'P~~-> t<^^^!^-^ /«^^?5*'^ lJt^^:^i^f^& '^^. >t^ y^' ^^^^ .^^^^^^ .^^^^^A-^ ^^^^-y^ /^rt^/^i;^ ^4.^^^-^^-^/ r-^-^-*-^^ /^C^^W y?n^.rZ ^^yi^ /t^/^^^^^^Cr^, ^7- /C^ /W^^n^^c^^ /^ F '-^ ^^/^ ^^^^ /%^v z^/^-^^^y^ ^*^^ ^^v^ ^ ^-f^T^ xX .. Ami . ■ ' 65 SOME CLUB MENUS. 66 THE PRICE By Henry Harmon Chamberlin Read at the session of March 31, 1917 Not only mourn the brave who died at mom, Who struck their blow and perished in their pride. But mourn those other lives who also died, Vain hopes of generations yet unborn. Nor mourn the stricken children bayonet torn, Shell driven o'er the blazing countryside ; But mourn Man's twilight and his eventide. And Brotherhood betrayed, and Faith forsworn. Yea, chiefly mourn the most heartrending cost. Two thousand years* slow progress spent and lost, This goodly oak cut down as by a sword. Brother of Death, Sin's crowned and armed birth. How long shall this new Anarch reign on earth, Unsmitten of Thy thunderbolt, O Lord? 67 c cf- tf^- ^;<^ -^•i^ - ■^ cr O '> 5;-R ^ ir- ?^s 66 HOW FORTUNATE (Now that we have Prohibition) "Are you fond of Khayyam?" "If you please Sauteme with me better agrees." "You astonish me so," said the host, "Don't you know That Kha3ryam's not a wine? It's a CHEESE 1" 69 DR. WILLIAM EDWARD STORY. 70 OMAR AS A MATHEMATICIAN By Dr. William Edward Story, Professor of Mathematics at Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Read at the session of April 6, 1918. It seems to be commonly assumed that Omar was by profession an astronomer and that with him pure mathematics was only a side issue. But it should be observed that all the earlier philosophers were, as the name "philosopher" implies, lovers of learning of all kinds; such a lover of learning Omar, indeed, seems to have been. The true philosopher takes the greatest pleasure in those forms of intellectual activity, — ^with- in the field in which his natural talents and education fit him to work, of course, — that present the greatest difficulties. But the numbers of those to whom the results of these activities are intelligible are, in gen- eral, inversely proportional to the difficulties of ob- taining them. Thus it comes about that many of the 71 old philosophers are best known by those of their works in which they themselves did not take the great- est interest. Thales, the first of the Greek philoso- phers, the first of the "seven wise men" of Greece, was also the first Greek mathematician. Aristotle was a physicist, but he was also the first to enunciate the principle of continuity by the introduction of the idea of an "infinitesimal," which idea was developed by Cavalieri, Kepler, and others, and led, finally, in the hands of Leibnitz and Newton, to the invention of the infinitesimal calculus. Plato was a zealous pro- moter of mathematics among the Greeks. Archi- medes, although a physicist, was called by his imme- diate successors the "great mathematician." Kepler was a mathematician as well as an astronomer. Fi- nally, Descartes, Leibnitz and Newton were pre-emi- nently mathematicians; in fact, from a certain point of view, I should be inclined to consider Descartes the greatest mathematician that ever lived. I have said nothing of those who are known only as mathematicians and, I may sJmost say, are known 72 only to mathematicians. My object has been to lay the foundation for my opinion that Omar was prob- ably above all a pure mathematician. The distinction that is commonly made between pure and applied mathematics is somewhat inconsistent. Applied ma- thematics is not a branch of learning. It is mathema- tics as applied to practical purposes. The only con- ceivable reason for distinguishing it from so-called pure mathematics is that the concepts to which the application is made are more or less necessarily asso- ciated with other concepts to which mathematics is not applicable. There is but one mathematics, namely, pure mathematics, which, however, has many forms. Most forms or branches of mathematics have practical applications. Gauss, called by his contempories "princeps mathematicorum," himself an astronomer by profession, praised the theory of numbers as having one great advantage over all other branches of mathe- matics in that it had no conceivable application to practical purposes. 73 _ l^oluler palajce ffiat to hea\feii tokened , __ , it^^^re forehedd bou)ed lo tliiie5lioldBuig;3l^ ^ iillill <.:nhVA rlnx/p tti jnt^ nvi it< l-intHomoiifi% J 5cU\) d do\)e tKat on il3 baltienieixB a- fK i|iliLi5'flc<),kx),kDor' Iphere are tKetiiiou)? QUATRAIN FROM "THE ROSE GARDEN OF OMAR KHAYYAM." Translated from the Persian by Eben Francis Thompson. Illuminated by H. H. R. Thompson. 74 The only mathematical work of Omar with which we are acquainted is his "algebra.** Algebra is the "soul" of modem mathematics; in its original form it is that branch of mathematics that deals with un- known numbers. The name algebra is derived from "al gibr w'al mukhabala" the title of every Saracen work on the subject since the time of Abu Jafar Mu- hammed ibn Musa al Khwarizmi (circa A.D. 825), who was long supposed to have invented the subject. But we now know that Al Khwarizmi's work is simply a translation of the "Greek" of Diophantos of Alex- andria (circa A.D. 275). Omar was one of a long series of Saracen algebraists who followed more or less closely in the track of Diophantos and Al Kwarizmi. Woepcke, in his French translation of Omar's algebra, finds in it traces of the influence of Diophantos, but, he says, "these are found also in Muhammed ibn Mou- sa, and there exists no historical datum that proves that at the time of this algebraist Diophantos was known to the Arabs." But we know better now. 75 In algebra as the science of unknown numbers, it is necessary to have some method of designating the unknown in any particular question, as well as its positive and negative powers. Diophantos used sym- bols to represent these, but his symbols are simply abbreviations of the names by which he called the cor- responding numbers and in the text stand for these names rather than for the numbers. The Saracen mathematicians, including Omar, adopted translations of Diophantos's names and got along without symbols. Thus Omar gives a certain equation as "a cube and squares are equal to roots and a number," i.e. x^ + ax^ = bx + c. He calls the successive positive powers of the unknown "root" or "side," "square," "cube," "square-square," "square-cube," "cube-cube," etc. and the successive negative powers (reciprocals of the posi- tive powers) "part of root," "part of square," etc., as Diophantos did. But all Omar's demonstrations are given in geometrical form, which was the standard form among the Greeks; in fact, the very names we have mentioned are borrowed from geometry. More- 76 SOME PERSIAN MANUSCRIPTS. The Rubdiydt of Omar Khayydm. 77 over, Omar solves his equations by means of the inter- sections of conic sections; that is, he solves a typical form of the equation under consideration in this way and then modifies the solution to suit the particular equation. He is very systematic throughout, prefac- ing each section by such lemmas as he will have to use. Omar's greatest original contribution to algebra is the complete classiification of the cubic equation, a classification that he recognizes as applicable to equa- tions of every degree. He believed that cubic equa- tions could not be solved by calculation, but that one must be satisfied with the construction of solutions by intersecting conies. In the discussion of the several classes he sometimes overlooks particulzir cases. Thus, he fails to see that an equation of the form x^ + bx = ax^ + c may have three positive real roots. Again, he lost many roots by using only one branch of an hyperbola in his construction. And he was not very exact in the investigation of the numerical values that the several coefficients must have in order that the equation of one or other type should give real inter- 78 sections of the conies. He considered biquadratic equations to be unsolvable by geometric constructions. But these faults are of little consequence in compari- son with the remarkably great advance Omar made in algebra by treating equations of degree higher than the second, and by having classified them. He was the only mathematician of any nation before 1,100 who distinguished trinomial cubic equations from tet- ranomial, forming two groups of the former according as the term of the 2nd or 1 st degree was wanting, and two groups of the latter according as the sum of 3 terms was equal to one term or the sum of 2 terms equal to the sum of two others. Apparently, also, he considered the binomial theo- rem for positive integral exponents. He says: "I have taught how to find the sides of the square-square, of the square-cube, of the cube-cube, etc. to any extent, which no one had previously done." This theorem he used, apparently, for the purpose of extracting roots after the manner of the Hindus. Omar incidentally solved the geometrical problem ; to construct an equi- 79 FiuGerald's Cottage at Boulge. (From an original water color by Edward FilzGerald.) Rose leaves from the grave o( Omar Khayydm. Brought from Persia by Prof. A. V. W. Jackson. 80 lateral trapezoid whose base and sides are of the same given length and whose area is given, — ^a problem that he reduced to the solution of the equation x* + bx = ax^ + c. In the year 1 079 Omar corrected the calendar. He grouped the yecirs in cycles of 33 years each, giving each common year 365 days and making every fourth year a leap-year of 366 days throughout each cycle; that is, each cycle of 33 years contained 8 leap-years and there was an interval of 5 years from the begin- ning of the last leap-year of any cycle to the beginning of the first leap-year of the next cycle. This makes the average length of Omar's solar year 365'* 5^ 49™ 5^.45, which is less by 6.55 seconds than the average length of the Gregorian year. According to the best modem calculations, the Gregorian average year is too long by 25.557 seconds and Omar's average year is too long by only 1 9.007 seconds. That is, one leap- year ought to be omitted from Omar's calendar every 4545 years, whereas the Gregorian calendeur ought to omit one leap-year every 338 1 years. This means that 61 Omar's calendar was one-third more accurate than the calendar we use today. However, all people that use the solar year would probably find it more con- venient to omit three leap-years out of 400 years than to group the years in cycles of 33. All things considered, 1 am inclined to think that Omar Khayyam was the most original and, therefore, the greatest of the Saracen mathematicians. .^2 ROSEMARY PRESS MINIATURE EDIT IONS OF THE RUBAIYAT. At top : Club edition in red morocco with jewel (lapis lazuli). Left middle : Club edition in white vellum. Left bottom : "American Oriental Society" edition. (Dedicated to Prof. Charles R. Lanman of Harvard and Prof. A. V. W. Jackson of Columbia); with jewel (jade). Right middle: "Class of 78" University of California edition; with jewel (garnet). Right bottom: "University of California Club of New England" edition. Blue and gold. 83 ON A PIECE OF VELLUM Only a square bit of vellum, a dressed skin of a goat that over a hundred years ago may have looked down from the heights over the Vale of Kashmir, that ex- quisitely beautiful summer retreat of Akbar the Great, greatest ruler, wisest statesman, bravest soldier of all the Mogul Emperors of India. Only a bit of finished vellum, illuminated with scrolls and borders surround- ing a message in delicate Script, yet but for this bit of skin and the century-old writing on it, in all probability Edward FitzGerald would never have known of the Rubaiyat of Omcir Khayyam, would never have trans- lated them into a masterpiece of English; Elihu Ved- der would never have drawn his marvelous illustra- tions, a masterpiece of design ; John Hay would never have given the world a masterpiece of English prose in his address before the Omar Khayyam Club of Lon- don, nor would the world have yet known aught of Omai or of the countless translations into other Ian- 84 guages and their delightful illustrations by so many famous artists that it now possesses. For this vellum manuscript contains the Commis- sion given in 1810 by King George III to Sir Gore Ouseley as Ambassador to Persia. It was through Sir Gore's scholarly research and generosity that knowl- edge of Omar reached the English World. Sir Gore was an accomplished Persian scholar, and his brother, William, wrote several books describing their travels and researches in Persia. Sir Gore collected a large number of Persian manuscripts, particularly of ancient Persian poetry, many of the rolls being illuminated by Persian artists. This unique and most valuable col- lection was presented by Sir Gore on his return to Eng- land to his alma mater, Oxford, and became a part of the Bodleian Library. In 1 846 he published a book of Persian Poetry containing a translation of six quat- rains of Omar. Here years after, Prof. Eldward Byles Cowell, rummaging among the fascinating rolls of the Ouseley Collection, was attracted by the unusual splendor of the illumination on a manuscript, leading 85 him to wonder what author had been so highly valued. This contained the Rubaiyat of Omar. He translated some of the quatrains and, struck by their unusual merit, called FitzGerald's attention to them. Cowell himself soon went to Calcutta where he ran across a somewhat different manuscript of Omar which he re- viewed in the Calcutta Review of March, 1858. FitzGerald published his first edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in 1859. Today this bit of vellum, so interesting for the train of circumstances that followed it, reposes side by side, here in Boston, with a rare copy of the Calcutta Re- view of March, 1858, Ouseley's Persian Literature, FitzGerald's 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Editions, Vedder*s de luxe drawings. Hay's address, Eldward Heron Allen's book containing a facsimile of the Bodleian Manuscript, a rare copy of the Calcutta Manuscript of Prof. Cowell's and, in addition, hundreds of less im- portant editions. Illustrations of the Commission and its full text will be found within. J ( I A', i i^'' H X H PI 2C »< 10 ?S l^ ^§ O TO g H 5" O >Z 5 Z 2H S'S e> n H O 3r- (- <♦ -< ^ I^ o n ^ O TO s ?■ o Z 87 Text of Commission from King George III to Sir Gore Ouseley as Ambassador to Persia, 1810. Sir, My Cousin. I have received Your Royal Highness's kind Letter from Tabriz on the subject of Captain Paisley's arrival at Abushhest, and the possible injury both States might sustain from the supercession of Sir Harford Jones by an Envoy from the Governor General of India. I de- rive great satisfaction from this demonstration of Your Royal Highness's Friendship and Regard for My Wel- fare. — Mirza Abul Hassan has no doubt long since in- formed Your Royal Highness how truly I lament the un- fortunate circumstances which have occurred with respect to Our Royal Mission to the Court of Taehran. These Events have originated in error and misapprehension : I have employed every effort to prevent the recurrence of such Misfortunes. Accordingly I have appointed an Ambassa- dor Elxtraordinary and Plenipotentiary directly from My- self to the King of Persia. My Ambassador will be re- sponsible to this Government for his conduct and altho' di- rected to co-operate with the Executive Government of India so far as His own Judgment and His instructions from My Ministers will warrant he will not however be in any manner under the control of the Indian Government. — I 86 Commission of Sir Gore Ouseley as Ambassador from Great Biitain to Persia, 1810. 89 have selected for the situation of Ambsissador at the Court of Taehran My Trusty and well beloved Sir Gore Ouseley, Baronet, a Gentleman whose Knowledge of your Language, Customs and Manners peculiarly qualify Him for that ap- pointment and whose Conduct and Character entitle Him to general respect and consideration. — Having the fullest confidence in My Ambassador's Judgement and Discretion, I trust that the first Intelligence I shall have the pleasure of receiving from Your Royal Highness after the arrival of My Ambassador at Persia, will apprise Me of the renewal of that Harmony which I hope will subsist for Ever be- tween the States of Persia and Great Britain. — I pray God to take Your Royal Highness into His best Care and Pro- tection. I am with every Sentiment of Affection and Esteem, Sir, My Cousin Your Good Cousin George R. At My Royal Castle at Windsor 11 th July 1810 90 CHARLES DANA BURRAGE. Secretary and Treasurer. 9! THE MESSAGE OF OMAR KHAYYAM By Charles Dana Burrage Read at the session of April 1 , 1911 When on an autumn afternoon, some thirty years ago, lying in luxurious ease on a California hillside, sheltered by a live oak from the heat of the Occidental sun swinging low above the Golden Gate, I first heeird read aloud selections from the second edition of Fitz- Gerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Kha3ryam, that a college mate had just brought from London, on his return from his summer vacation, it seemed to me a vista of entrancing beauties opened in a hitherto unknown paradise of Oriental literature. On only two other occasions in my life have I felt such thrills of intellectual pleaisure as then. Once was when Canon Charles Kingsley talked to us college boys of California, he uncouth and awkward, but the words of "English undefiled," of pure Anglo-Saxon origin, that he selected for our benefit, not one being 92 of Latin or other foreign derivation, so charmed and delighted us that we forgot everything but the exqui- site pleasure in the music of his language. The other time to which I refer is a similar address on English Literature given by Prof. Edward Rowland Sill, which was also all in words of Anglo-Saxon origin, and the delicate harmonies of that divine message still linger in my soul. On that day I gave my life's devotion unreservedly to Omar and FitzGerald, and from that time to this have daily placed fresh flowers of tribute on their altar in my heart. Years afterward I met and learned to esteem, and regard, with more than ordinary affection, the mem- bers of this little Club who meet once each year to drink a toast to Edward FitzGerald. Today we unite again in our loving, grateful cere- mony, in memory of one who made this old world better by the creation of new beauties, "One who touched his haxp, unseen." Michael Kerney. 93 We have all heard criticisms, bom of ill-nature and ignorance, of Omar as an infidel — the exponent of a philosophy founded on selfishness ; on supreme regard for the pleasures of the body in love and wine; on contempt for the denial of a hereafter beyond this life ; of exaltation for the mass at the expense of the indi- vidual. As one of these has said lately: "It cannot be denied that the poem is a great work of art, but it is perhaps the most evil work of art that the world has ever seen." As the great sober sense of the world has ever said: "Evil to him who evil thinks." As, to the liber- tine, every woman has in his mind some moment of supreme weakness; to the politician, every man his price, so this kind of verdict has many times been ren- dered as to the Bible, distorting and misreading the record of man's own depravity to justify the condem- nation. We who know and love Omar and his soul- interpreter, FitzGerald, know that no one can read the quatrains and extract evil from them ; rather that they recur to the lips involuntarily in time of great 94 tribulation, even as the glorious resounding periods of the Ejiglish version of the Scriptures came to the strong men of the olden times in the stress of dreadful persecution. One valued friend has inscribed upon the memorial to a beloved wife, untimely separated from the enjoy- ment of life's greatest blessings, these lines from his own translation. "Though creeds some two and seventy there be. The best of creeds, I hold, is love of thee." * What purer and more tender tribute could ever lie in the heart of man or break forth from him sorrowing and mourning? What more appealing cry to the savage, uncon- quered, defiant soul of man, the mortal image of the Almighty, than the following quatrain, a brave utter- ance, breathing the essence of life's long and courag- eous endurance? "So when the Angel of the darker Drink, At last shall find you by the river-brink. And, oflFering his Cup, invite your Soul Forth to your lips to quaff — ^you shall not shrink." *Eben Francis Thompson in his Complete Translation of all the Quatrains attributed to Omar Khaysram. 95 S! c _ O OD PI a. « a. o •n S, St' (t N 9 Q 2 3 a. e 5' 00 &' 00 e yi 3 w w 3 S » o s 8" a- ^^ 7 CD CT> 5" 00 00 P OD f^ 00 rn yj O 3 -i o- s: g i-i 00 "V) o 7. 0* > 3 H 96 And when the passing years bring vacant places to our board and such great, genial, loving and loved souls as Hudson and Macy and Goulding pass away from us to solve the mystery that lies beyond the veil of the Infinite, do we not breathe again and again in their memory 'Tor some we loved, the loveliest and the best That from his Vintage rolling Time hath prest. Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before. And one by one crept silently to rest." Because we, too, like Omar, dare to ask of the un- replying Sphinx questions of eternity that every man sometimes in his life puts to his own soul in trembling doubt, we are not infidels. And as we in the hour of sleepless night, in the shadow of impending doom, secretly put the question "What, without asking, hither hurried Whence? And, without asking. Whither hurried hence?" that Omar, calmly and serenely meditating by his rose bushes in the desert, openly asked of the stars above him so long ago, do we not feel his kinship with all mankind ; the seer who read the secrets of the heavens ; 97 the prophet who voiced the agonized questionings of the centuries; the poet who put into words of liquid and enthralling music the heartbeats of men when they loved and dreeimed and suffered. Now, after these many years we renew with a deep- er, stronger, greater love, the vows we made when we were young, to keep green among the sons of men, in so far as it might be permitted us, the memories of Omar, the wise teacher; of FitzGerald, who under- stood. Not alone because of the beauties of the quatrains in their English dress do we love them, though in their limpid clearness they are like radiant jewels of great price, and though "Vedder's thought JFul Muse has graced the verse With added jewels from the Artist's Mine," not alone because they speak great truths, though in their simplest form they often express whole systems of philosophies condensed into a single sentence, and one line may be an unwritten book; nor yet alone because "these pearls of thought in Persian gulfs were 96 bred" and are of the Elast and strange and therefore new, although in every word they bring vividly before us the burning sands of the desert that at night are so near to the stars of heaven, that free and untrammeled Hfe so close to nature and to Nature's God. Nor is our love because it is a "cult" to read them, a fad, a matter of the passing hour, a fashion to change as the North Wind veers to the South, even though it has lasted forty years; nor again is it because of a matter of editions collected from the ends of the earth in all languages and numberless, though it is true that this poem of Omar has passed into more editions, in more of the tongues of men, and that more copies have issued from the printing press and been sold for a price, than of any other book, save only the Bible, recorded in the annals of history. Nor, further, is it because Omar was a great scientist and profound stu- dent of mathematics as well as poet, though many declare him the greatest of astronomers, as he devised a calendar so accurate that it required but one day's correction in three thousand years, more accurate than 99 100 the one we are using today; and in addition be it remembered, that it was Omar who first reduced to an exact and written science the principles of Algebra, thus for all time establishing his claim as among the greatest of mathematicians. Nor again is it alone be- cause FitzGerald by his transcendent genius translated so well and so beautifully, into a new language, the poem of one who had lived in other times under an alien sky, though it is undoubtedly the most marvelous translation ever made, as it speaks the very thoughts of the ancient poet, in English form and idiom, a wonderful thing to be done even by one who wrote in Euphranor the best description of a boat race in litera- ture, and in his Agamemnon reached heights of classic triumph beyond the great world's realization even to this later day. Not for any of these reasons alone do we love these wonderful quatrains but for all, and in addition to all these, because Omar breathes the very essence of hu- man life and its daily ever recurrent problems, "Each thought a ruby in a ring of gold." 101 because he asks of the stars he loved the eternal ques- tions man has vainly asked, since from the dark re- cesses of his primeval cave he looked fearfully out into the unknown night ; he was the "Tender interpreter, most sadly wise Of earth's dumb, inarticulated cries." Without preaching religion Omar expresses sublimely' and in such clear-cut and vibrant phrases that the ears of men cannot mistake, the protest against hide-bound, obsolete, and narrow creeds, and all undue restraint on thought and conscience, that has ever stirred mankind to those great revolutions that alone have advanced civilization and the cause of ultimate truth; he preaches always courage, hope, contentment, self-re- liance, to make the most of the present in, through, and by LOVE, the great and abiding love of home, of country, of God, that represents today the highest type of civilization, the ultimate goal of the perfect man. 102 2!gjl«OiCSC»7 103 MEMBERS AND GUESTS F. F. D. ALBERY GEORGE FREDERICK ANDREWS SYLVESTER BAXTER WALTER FREDERIC BROOKS JOSIAH HENRY BROWN CHANDLER BULLOCK CHARLES DANA BURRAGE CHARLES DANA BURRAGE, JR. ROBERT HEYWOOD BURRAGE S. H. BUTCHER DOUGLAS CAIRNS ALBRO E. CHASE HENRY HARMON CHAMBERLIN JOSEPH EDGAR CHAMBERLIN ARTHUR E. CHILDS CARROLL BRENT CHILTON FRANK LORING GOES JOHN HENRY GOES •EDWARD H. CLEMENT EDWIN SANFORD CRANDON •EDWARD LIVINGSTON DAVIS NATHAN HASKELL DOLE •RICHARD HENRY WINSLOW DWIGHT ALBERT WASHINGTON ELLIS •ROBERT B. FAIRBAIRN 104 JOHN C. FLYNN WALTER ARCHER FOSTER ARTHUR FOOTE THOMAS HOVEY GAGE JEROME ROWLEY GEORGE HARRY WILLIAMS GODDARD •FRANK PALMER GOULDING BURTON PAYNE GRAY CHARLES TAPPAN GRINNELL ♦EDWARD PALMER HATCH EDWARD HERON-ALLEN ARTHUR SHERBURNE HARDY •THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON STEPHEN C. HOUGHTON •JOHN E. HUDSON ABRAHAM VALENTINE WILLIAMS JACKSON WILLIAM WALKER JOHNSON WILLIAM HOWLAND KENNEY ALBERT JOHN KUSSNER •ANDREW LANG CHARLES ROCKWELL LANMAN •CHARLES F. LIBBY •ARTHUR MACY •JOSEPH RUSSEL MARBLE •CHARLES HARDY MEIGS •M. H. MORGAN THOMAS BIRD MOSHER 105 WILLIAM DANA ORCUTT WALTER GILMAN PAGE WILLIAM E. PLUMMER ALFRED C. POTTER •BERNARD ALFRED QUARITCH MONTGOMERY REED GEORGE ROE JOSEPH C. ROWELL •WILLIAM F. RUSSELL CARLOS MUZZIO SAENZ-PENA H. M. SCHROETER WILLIAM BACON SCOFIELD WILLIAM D. SEWALL HARRY WORCESTER SMITH •H. MORSE STEPHENS WILLIAM EDWARD STORY EBEN FRANCIS THOMPSON HAROLD H. R. THOMPSON •ROSS TURNER ELIHU VEDDER LEONARD CHARLES VAN NOPPEN CHARLES WILLIAM WALLACE LOUIS N. WILSON GEORGE PARKER WINSHIP GEORGE EDWARD WOODBERRY LAURENCE C. WOODWORTH •Dead The Rosemary Press Edition. 1921. 50 copies, bound in blue paper, signed by the club officers, for the use of the members of the Omar Khayyam Club of America. Numbered 1 to 50. 225 copies, numbered IR to 22 5 R, reserved for the Rosemary Press, of which one hundred and twenty-five copies are for distribution to libraries. This is number 4fM. fl^>^^\ %>.# %4- ;;^^g> ^' ^■i7f2:m f//j^0\i' *jm ■ m ^% #'