This deluxe, full color edition of the Rubaiyat contains the original and acclaimed illustrations by Edmund Dulac, plus the first and fifth editions of the text. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam attained fame when it was translated and introduced to a Western audience by the author and poet Edward Fitzgerald. Selected for their lyrical beauty, the poems within the Rubaiyat are attributed to the Persian mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyam. Writing in the eleventh century, Khayyam was revered as a master of the poetic form, and his works have since been much-quoted by artists and admirers. The collection received its name from the word ruba'i, which connotes a two-line stanza comprised of two parts. These quatrains are the way in which the entire collection is written. The first edition contains 75 quatrains, while the later, revised edition has 101. Additionally, the fifth edition appended a series of notes explaining the meaning behind various portions of the text.