Edward Fitzgerald publishes his translation of Omar Khayyám's poetry

The British poet Edward Fitzgerald published his translation of the poetry of the eleventh century Persian writer on this day under the title The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám of Naishapur.  Fitzgerald's publisher, Bernard Quarich, printed two hundred copies.  Sales were so poor at first that much of this first run, originally priced at five shillings, were sold on the stall outside his Quarich's Leicester Square shop for a little as a penny.  Subsequent fame was more significant and long-lasting.  (By John Osborne)