That most remarkable poem of the Orient, the “RubÁiyÁt”[J] of Omar KhayyÁm, has recently had the rare fortune of receiving from translator, artist and publisher an almost perfect treatment. Its translation places it among English classic poems, its illustration and make-up among American classic art books. This poem, very imperfectly known among us, is the work of a Persian astronomer and poet, Omar KhayyÁm, or Omar the Tent-Maker, a native of NaishapÚr, in Khorassan. He was born in the latter half of the eleventh century, and became a favorite of the rulers of the realm. His life was, so goes the chronicle, “busied in winning knowledge of every kind, and especially in astronomy, wherein he attained to a very high preeminence. Under the Sultanate of Malik Shah, he came to Merv and obtained great praise for his proficiency in science, and the Sultan showered favors upon him.” Omar was an honest thinker; he refused the hollow mysticism of the times, and framed a system which approaches Epicureanism. His views of life, his fruitless search for Providence, his sad conclusion,

together with his final refuge in the wine cup, with the command

are the subjects of his “RubÁiyÁt,” or quatrains. In the original these verses have no connection. The translator, Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, selected those which seemed to him most suitable, and arranged them into a sort of eclogue. This translation met with a hearty reception. Mr. Fitzgerald had been fortunate enough to make Omar KhayyÁm much more lucid and entertaining than Omar had made himself. An interpretation of the poem was undertaken in May 1883, by Elihu Vedder. The interest in the elegant volume just issued by Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., centers, of course, about these illustrations. There is not a line of the poem but what takes a new and powerful meaning under his treatment. Indeed, it seems as if in many cases the verses were but a key-note, the drawing the completed strain. The artist seems to have been inspired by the same sense of mystery, sadness, and final devotion to pleasure which influenced the author. His idea of Omar’s philosophy is most beautifully represented in the picture called “Omar’s Emblem.” In it life is represented by a whirling stream, upon which the mortal, under the form of a rose, has floated in. Along the stream the leaves are scattered here and there, while crushed and half petalless the rose floats into oblivion. This whirl of life surrounds what we may suppose to be the emblem which incessantly confronted Omar’s mind—a human skull; upon this is perched a singing nightingale—a sign of the music which in spite of the mockery of existence the poet always heard, and in which he found the sole relief for living. The pictures include a wealth of suggestion which only diligent and sympathetic study discloses. They show surprising fancy and versatility, while at the same time the finish of each is most perfect.

Among the handsome books of the year must be classed Cassell’s new edition of “Atala,”[K] Chauteaubriand’s charming romance of Indian life and love. Though the story is far from filling our modern ideas of a novel, it is one of those rare, pure love tales which never loses its hold upon us. It will always keep its place with “Undine” and “Paul and Virginia.” The present edition contains illustrations by Gustave DorÉ, which, though inferior in some respects to later works by him, are still very beautiful pictures. Only a few of the illustrations of the “Atala” show that weird power and strong imagination for which DorÉ is so famous, but what we miss there is quite made up by the interest we feel in his conceptions of American scenery, of which he knew nothing except from description. These conceptions, if sometimes very incorrect, are still full of exuberant fancy. The binding and letter-press of the volume are superior, making a most charming gift book.

The “Prose Writings of William Cullen Bryant,”[L] edited by Parke Godwin will meet with a cordial welcome from all readers of good literature. They appear in two volumes, and properly belong to a set called “The Life and Works of William Cullen Bryant,” forming the fifth and sixth volumes of the set. It was the thought of the editor at first to publish entire the orations, addresses, and various letters of Mr. Bryant, but careful consideration led him to think that this would extend the work beyond desirable limits; so it was confined to a few selections from the various departments in which the author displayed his power. Volume V of the set, or I of the “Prose Writings,” contains several “Literary Essays,” “Narratives,” and “Commemorative Discourses” on Cooper, Irving, Halleck, and Verplanck. Volume II contains “Sketches of Travel,” “Occasional Addresses,” comprising those on Shakspere, Scott, Burns, Goethe, Schiller, and many others; and “Editorial Comments and Criticisms.” The selections are all timely and well adapted to catch the reader’s fancy and interest. There can scarcely fail to come to one, however, who is the possessor of these books, a feeling of regret that the editor did not follow his original intention and give more of the writings of the author. The wish to have at hand the complete works of the great American, and to have them in as attractive a form as that in which Mr. Godwin has arranged them is strong enough to far outweigh his unjustifiable fear of making too voluminous a collection.

[J] RubÁiyÁt of Omar KhayyÁm, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia. Rendered into English verse by Edward Fitzgerald, with an accompaniment of drawings by Elihu Vedder. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1884. Price, $25.