The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
March 31, 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Edward FitzGerald's birth, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam into English verse. The Rubaiyat is a collection of poems written in verses of four lines, quatrains. The word rubaiyat is derived from the Arabic root verb raba'a, meaning "to quadruple."
To commemorate these events, the Special Collections Department has on display some of the illustrated editions of this famous book.