Illustration for Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Elihu Vedder's pen-and-ink illustration accompanies stanzas 22–23 of Edward FitzGerald's English translation of the Persian poet Omar Khayyám. A draped female figure contemplates mortality beside an ornamental text block inscribed with verse on wine, time, and dust. Vedder's decorative borders and figurative style reflect late 19th-century aesthetic movements, while the calligraphic lettering integrates word and image—a design principle that would influence early comic art's visual language. This deluxe edition of the *Rubáiyát* exemplified how illustrated literature of the period explored narrative and composition through integrated text and sequential imagery.