The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is a collection of poetry translated into English and published in 1859, attributed to the Persian philosopher and poet Omar Khayyam. The quatrains were translated by the 19th-century English poet Edward Fitzgerald, who prepared four editions (the fifth edition was published posthumously). In the early years, the book was not a commercial success, but it was warmly received by Pre-Raphaelite artists. Over time, the collection's popularity grew, especially in the United States, when an American edition was published. Thematic clubs began to appear where rubaiyat in Fitzgerald's translations were read.
In 1903, American artist Adelaide Hanscom Leeson began working on illustrations for the next edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Hanscom studied painting since the 1890s at the University of California, creating still lifes in pastel, pencil, and watercolor. At the same time, she gradually mastered photography and became familiar with new printing techniques. Hanscom opened her own studio, where she accepted orders for portrait photography.
Hanscom’s illustrations for the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam were made by manipulating images: the artist used a combination of printing and painting, drawing on negatives. She invited famous cultural figures to serve as models for the project. The first edition with Hanscom’s photographs was published in 1905 and became a sensation: it was one of the first American books with nude photographs taken by a woman. That same year, the artist won a silver medal at the Liverpool Exhibition, and later Alfred Stieglitz accepted Hanscom into his Photo-Secession group, which considered photography as a fine art. At the same time, Hanscom continued to work on the project, creating images for new publications, which were in incredibly high demand.
Source:
photogravure.com
