In our book, The Art of Omar Khayyam (2007), we suggested that ‘the extensive publication of illustrated editions of the Rubáiyát may also have contributed to its continuing popularity’. We also proposed that ‘the prime explanation for the continuous publication of illustrated editions seems most likely to be the commercial instincts of publishers… Opportunities were also created by the developing interest that people in the West had in the Orient. At the same time… technical improvements in colour printing were encouraging publishers to make greater use of illustrations.’

In this paper, we look again at these conclusions, with the aim of shedding some further light on how it is that Edward FitzGerald's short poem became one of the most widely illustrated books of all time. We consider the social and economic framework within which publication of FitzGerald's Rubáiyát reached its zenith and the critical role played by technical change in this important period. We examine in more detail the role of certain key actors, notably individual publishers and their illustrators, in the process of Rubáiyát publishing. And, by looking at the longer term evolution of Rubáiyát publishing through the twentieth century, we try to reach a clearer view of the importance of illustration to the enduring popularity of the poem.