Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Notes on Contributors
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction: FitzGerald's Rubáiyát: Popularity and Neglect
- Chapter 1 Edward FitzGerald, Omar Khayyám and the Tradition of Verse Translation into English
- Chapter 2 Much Ado about Nothing in the Rubáiyát
- Chapter 3 Common and Queer: Syntax and Sexuality in the Rubáiyát
- Chapter 4 A Victorian Poem: Edward FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
- Chapter 5 FitzGerald's Rubáiyát and Agnosticism
- Chapter 6 The Similar Lives and Different Destinies of Thomas Gray, Edward FitzGerald and A. E.Housman
- Chapter 7 The Second (1862 Pirate) Edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
- Chapter 8 Edward Heron-Allen: A Polymath's Approach to FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
- Chapter 9 ‘Under Omar's subtle spell’: American Reprint Publishers and the Omar Craze
- Chapter 10 The Imagined Elites of the Omar Khayyám Club
- Chapter 11 Le Gallienne's Paraphrase and the Limits of Translation
- Chapter 12 ‘Some for the Glories of the Sole’: The Rubáiyát and FitzGerald's Sceptical American Parodists
- Chapter 13 The Vogue of the English Rubáiyát and Dedicatory Poems in Honour of Khayyám and FitzGerald
- Chapter 14 The Illustration of FitzGerald's Rubáiyát and its Contribution to Enduring Popularity
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 8 - Edward Heron-Allen: A Polymath's Approach to FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Notes on Contributors
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction: FitzGerald's Rubáiyát: Popularity and Neglect
- Chapter 1 Edward FitzGerald, Omar Khayyám and the Tradition of Verse Translation into English
- Chapter 2 Much Ado about Nothing in the Rubáiyát
- Chapter 3 Common and Queer: Syntax and Sexuality in the Rubáiyát
- Chapter 4 A Victorian Poem: Edward FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
- Chapter 5 FitzGerald's Rubáiyát and Agnosticism
- Chapter 6 The Similar Lives and Different Destinies of Thomas Gray, Edward FitzGerald and A. E.Housman
- Chapter 7 The Second (1862 Pirate) Edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
- Chapter 8 Edward Heron-Allen: A Polymath's Approach to FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
- Chapter 9 ‘Under Omar's subtle spell’: American Reprint Publishers and the Omar Craze
- Chapter 10 The Imagined Elites of the Omar Khayyám Club
- Chapter 11 Le Gallienne's Paraphrase and the Limits of Translation
- Chapter 12 ‘Some for the Glories of the Sole’: The Rubáiyát and FitzGerald's Sceptical American Parodists
- Chapter 13 The Vogue of the English Rubáiyát and Dedicatory Poems in Honour of Khayyám and FitzGerald
- Chapter 14 The Illustration of FitzGerald's Rubáiyát and its Contribution to Enduring Popularity
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Edward Heron-Allen was a remarkable man but his name is rarely remembered today, except by the members of the modest society that commemorates him and his achievements. Born in 1861, he lived until 1943 and his last entry in Who's Who listed his interests as ‘Persian literature; Marine Zoology; Meteorology; Heraldry; Bibliography; Occasional Essays and Scientific Romances; Auricula and Asparagus Culture.’ To these he could justifiably have added violinmaking, palmistry, Egyptology, archaeology, local history and many other more passing interests. He was an inveterate collector of all manner of things (but especially books), a pioneer of the Boy Scout movement, and the senior partner in his father's thriving legal practice until he retired at the age of 50. His diversity of interests suggests at first sight that he was a dilettante, a dabbler in diverse disciplines, knowing very little about a lot. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Edward Heron-Allen was a true polymath, a multidisciplinary savant with a natural aptitude for languages. Wherever he decided to put his efforts, he succeeded in becoming a leader in the field; a couple of examples will serve to demonstrate his talents. He was articled to his father's law firm in London's Soho when he was 18, but soon found a more interesting diversion round the corner at the workshop of Georges Chanot, one of the last of the great classical violin-makers.
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- FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar KhayyámPopularity and Neglect, pp. 109 - 126Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2011