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"A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse and Thou, Beside me, singing in the Wilderness," is only one of the memorable verses from Edward FitzGerald's translations of poems by the 11th-century Persian sage Omar Khayyám. This magnificent version of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám reproduces the edition published by Hodder & Stoughton of London in 1909, in which the timeless poems are accompanied by full-color images by Golden Age illustrator Edmund Dulac. Critics and collectors have long debated which book represents the peak of Dulac's career, and many agree that his affinity for Persian art makes this gloriously illustrated volume a strong contender. AUTHOR: Omar Khayyám (10481131) was among the Middle Ages' most influential thinkers. Scholar, astronomer, mathematician, and poet, the Persian philosopher wrote one of the most important pre-modern treatises on algebra but is best remembered for his poetry.