Only the first black-and-white images of "Omar the Great" existed, but digital color images were created in 2001
In April 1912, one of the most lavishly decorated books ever seen in the world was shipped from London to New York. Exactly 110 years ago, the jeweled Omar-Qayam's Ruba was carried on the Titanic and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic.
In the late 1930s, a substitute was completed at great expense, but during the Blitzkrieg, the British capital was ravaged and it was soon burned down by German bombers.
This extravagant display of the poetry of the all-rounder Kayam soon drowned in a seaside resort in Britain.
Does anyone dare to commission a third part, "The Great Omar"?
"The higher the price, the happier you are"
In 1911, Francis Sangersky completed the binding work he had worked in Holborn's studio for two years.
It is stunningly magnificent.
Sangerski was troubled by every detail, and at one point he borrowed a human skull so that he could accurately depict it in his artistic vision. He even bribed a keeper at London Zoo to feed a live mouse to a snake so he could capture this horrific image from first-hand experience.
The Daily Mirror considered the finished work to be "the most outstanding bound specimen ever made". Others simply describe it as "book-wise."
It's been labeled with a huge price tag.
Bookbinder Sangorski and his business partner, George Sutcliffe, have been highly regarded for their elaborate jewelry covers.
"Real jewelry binding is like Faberge eggs," explains Rob Shepard, managing director of Shepherds, Sangorski & Sutcliffe, a 21st-century replica of the company the two founded in the Edwardian era.
"Their level is difficult to replicate today because they have lost some skills over the years. At that time, the craftsmanship was very skilled. They are very talented craftsmen. ”
The two met at night school in 1897, where they were educated as the best apprentices in a series of craftsmen who traced their lineage back to William Morris of the Arts and Crafts Movement, including the eccentric TJ Cobden-Sanderson, a man who ended his career by throwing his own font block off Hammersmith Bridge and into the River Thames so that no one could imitate him.
Sangorski and Sutcliffe's work stood out, and they won the prestigious Binding Commission, including King Edward VII.
Francis Sangerski (front) and George Satcliffe (center) founded their binding company in October 1901
In 1907, Sangerski met John Stonehouse, the manager of the Soseland Bookstore, which was founded in 1761 and is still open today. Sangerski told him he dreamed of writing a book that originated in the 12th century.
While Sangorski has previously bound some versions of Omar Khayyyám's famous work Rubáiyát, the master craftsman says this time he wants to create a piece featuring three peacocks, which he will be surrounded by "never-before-seen" jewelry.
After much persuasion, Stonehouse agreed to commission the production. He decided not to tell boss Henry Cecil, fearing Cecil would oppose the project.
Stonehouse developed a set of guidelines.
"Do it, do it well; there are no limits. Put what you like into the bindings and charge for the price you like — the higher the price, the happier I'll be — as long as people understand that what you do and what you charge for it will prove to be the result, and the book will be the greatest modern binding in the world when it's done.
"That's the only indication."
"The best binding design ever"
Sangerski spent several months conceiving the book's design, including the snake and skull inside the cover
The book consists of six different panels: the cover and back cover, the interior of two panels — known as double-sided — and two title pages decorated with peacocks, plants, skulls, and Persian motifs symbolizing life and death.
For these two plates, hundreds of pieces of colored goat skins need to be prepared and cut, a large amount of jewelry must be placed inside their respective clasps, and it takes weeks to apply complex gold tools on all surfaces.
"This is the most extraordinary work," Mr. Shepard said. "This is its time; a prosperous scene of England in the days of Edward VII before the outbreak of war."
Stonehouse had a similar impression, describing it as "the best and most outstanding binding sample designed or produced in any period or country."
Oumar Khayyam's Lubaiart
- The philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, and poet lived in what is now Iran from 1048 to 1131. His achievements included the creation of the most accurate solar calendar of his time, but long after his death, he became more famous for writing quatrains
- Saeed Tarajoy, an expert on Persian literature at the University of St. Andrew, explains: "These utterances reflect a skeptical side of Iranian identity that many people do not know is as positive and profound as spiritual."
- Dr Tarajoy said the poems covered themes such as nihilism, the transience and randomness of existence, as well as "an understanding of uncontrollable suffering" and "drinking and forgetting all the crazy things in life."
- In the mid-19th century, the literary scholar Edward Fitzgerald translated an article by Omar Hayyam into English. Rubaiyat ended in failure at first, but was discovered by chance by two Irish scholars who helped the work win widespread acclaim
- Translation experts Sandra Mason and Bill Martin consider it to be "one of the most famous personal poems in the world"
"A catastrophe seems to follow"
Henry Cecil has now realized this incredible creation and the extraordinary effort behind it, with Southland Publishing House selling the book for £1,000 – the equivalent of £120,000 today.
"It's three times more expensive than anything in Southland's inventory. I think it's too expensive for the UK market," said Chris Sanders, general manager of the bookstore.
The problem is not just the price. Some are not at all dazzled by edwardian luxury.
"I think Omar may have seen that I mean no doubt some people, tacky. Benjamin Maggs, a bookseller at London's history bookshop Maggs Bros Ltd., said: "It's a very upstart style, and the old-fashioned aristocracy may be very embarrassed about it."
Contemporaries of this view were Sir John Fortscu, the librarian of King Edward VII at Windsor Castle. He was one of the first people to have the opportunity to buy Omar's work, but he declined, and later he described it as "perhaps the most famous failure I've ever seen", which he considered "absolutely inappropriate, ineffective, insignificant, and a positive anguish for me personally".
- Is this the last chance to see the Titanic?
In the summer of 1911, a New York trader named Gabriel Wells happened to be in London, and he was even more impressed. He bid £800 for the book.
Southland's auction house rejected the offer, telling him he could buy it for £900. Wells refused and soon returned to the United States.
Lacking interest in Britain, Omar decided to follow him to the United States, where there was a more lucrative book market.
But when it arrived, a dispute with U.S. customs officials over tariffs, Soseland refused to pay, instead ordering the great Omar to return to London. Months passed and still no buyer could be found.
"The book seems to have brought about a catastrophe," Stonehouse later wrote.
"Stonehouse just had to sell Omar the Great to appease the owner Cecil, who didn't consult Cecil about commissioning the book, so in desperation he sold it to Gabriel Wells for £900 and £650," Mr Sanders said.
Wells wouldn't buy it.
"Cecil was furious and demanded that it be auctioned off as soon as possible."
Thus, on March 29, 1912, the book was auctioned at Sotheby's at an open price. Gabriel Wells' London agent paid £405 for this.
The best place is at the bottom of the sea
At noon on 10 April 1912, the Royal Titanic departed from Southampton for its maiden voyage
Omar is ready to return to the United States. The book narrowly escaped a crossing on April 6 and was taken on the next ship, the Rms Titanic.
"The Sotland thing is so fascinating," Mr. Magus said. "The instruction given by the person commissioning its construction was: 'No limit' – just as the Titanic itself has no limit.
"'Make it as big as you can,' whether it's practical or wise."
The Titanic disaster, which killed more than 1,500 people, is certainly one of the most famous events of the 20th century, yet little is known about what happened during Omar's days on board.
Mr. Shepard believes that the book was most likely in the custody of bibliophile Harry Elgins Widna. The 27-year-old and his parents came from two of Pennsylvania's wealthiest families and were among the most prominent passengers aboard the Titanic.
"The responsibility for this book would be great, so he might be asked to take it under his armpits," said Mr. Margers, who said Widner knew Wells. The shrewd bookseller had already written in the newspapers about his disgust at the possibility of paying import taxes.
After his death, Harry Elgins Widner's collection of books was donated to Harvard University, which built a library in his honor
An avid collector, Widner returned to the United States after buying books in London.
According to Don Lynch, the official historian of the Titanic Historical Society, on the night of the disaster, the Widners held a dinner party at the ship's A la carte restaurant in honor of Edward Smith, the captain of the Royal Cruise Ship Titanic. As they ate, someone warned that they had seen an iceberg that could jeopardize the crossing.
Sitting next to Smith and Widner was John F. Kennedy of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. B. Searle; another wealthy Philadelphia couple, William S. Mr. and Mrs. E. Carter; and Achibold M. and Mrs. E. Carter, military aide to U.S. President William Taft. Major W. Barthes.
By the time the ship hit the iceberg, the party was over. Harry Widna is said to have been in the smoking room at the time of the impact.
Like his father, the bibliophile did not survive the disaster.
Widner's mother and her maid were among the 713 rescued from the water — exactly 110 years ago, on April 15, 1912
The Great Omar is by no means the only expensive item lost in a shipwreck. Other works include Merry-Joseph Blundell's painting bain's Circus worth more than $100,000 (equivalent to nearly $3 million today), and an engine from the first flying machine, which was being shipped to the American Airlines Club at the time.
Mr Lynch said Omar was probably the "most famous" of these lost treasures, mentioned in the preface to Walter Lorde's book, an unforgettable night in which the work inspired James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster.
As for the book's likely condition 110 years after the sinking, Mr Lynch has joined the shipwreck dive, which he believes "depends entirely on where it is packed and stored on board".
"Once exposed inside the ship, if it is really exposed, the leather may be corroded, but of course the gemstone will remain."
Presumably, Omar was still lying there, about two and a half miles under the waves—not everyone was unhappy with its fate.
Sir John, the king's librarian, would declare that the Atlantic Bottom was undoubtedly "the best place for it".
For him, life had only just begun
Francis Sangolsky left behind his wife and four children
The book's fate is one of thousands of Titanic stories reported in newspapers around the world.
"Everybody lost their investment in Grand Omar," Mr Sanders said.
While Sotland's account was destroyed in a World War II blitz meant it was unclear how much the business had been affected, he said Omar's losses had caused tensions.
"Southland's relationship with Sangorski & Sutcliffe has deteriorated due to cost and payment disputes," Sanders said.
Just 10 weeks after the Titanic sank, another tragedy ensued.
On 1 July 1912, on a holiday on the south coast of England by Francis Sangolski, his wife and their four children, he decided to take a dip in the Seaside Beach in Sussex.
Sangerski's tomb was designed by his business partners and has a variety of intricate motifs
The interrogators learned that he had been knocked down by a powerful electric current. A man with Sangerski in the sea tries to save the famous bookbinder, who can't swim, but leaves him to assist his female companion when he hears her cries.
Sangolski's body, 37, was found an hour and a half later.
He was buried in St. Mary's Lyle Bonn Cemetery, now East Finchley Cemetery, and his ornate tombstone was designed by his partner Sutcliffe.
John Stonehouse was saddened by the loss of this man and his art.
He wrote: "For him, as a great master craftsman, life has only just begun."
The more you protect it, the worse it gets.
Stanley Bray holds the remains of the second Omar badly damaged in the Blitzkrieg
Despite losing co-founders, Sangorski & Sutcliffe continues to operate.
In 1924, George Satcliffe's nephew Stanley Bray joined as an apprentice.
Eight years later, he stumbled upon the original drawings and tool models that Sangolsky had designed for Omar in the company's safe and decided to recreate this great work.
"I think he basically wanted to impress his uncle," said Mr Shepard, who wrote in the book about Cinderella of the company's art.
Bree worked in the office and at home, and throughout the 30s he spent his time studying the great Omar of the second jewel-encrusted jewel. Just as the war swept through Europe, the restraint was over.
It was thought that the book needed to be protected from bombing, so it was wrapped in protective material and placed in a safe basement on Fore Street in the City of London.
Fore Street was the first road bombed by German bombers. Subsequent air raids in 1940 and 1941 razed almost all of the area's buildings.
The rubble was eventually cleared and the safe containing the bray Omar was found and remained intact.
But when it was opened, a ruined black substance was found, and the heat of the fire melted the leather and charred the page.
Fore Street's lame gate district (pictured) was battered by airstrikes, and by 1951 only 51 people were registered to live in the area
"Basically, part of it's the protection that damages it, so it's pretty much the result of their efforts to protect it — it's not safe — and I also find it interesting because the more you try to protect the book, the worse you make it," Mr. Margas said.
"Like the Titanic, you think, 'What's the safest way to send this book to America — is an unsinkable ship definitely the safest way?'" So the book is a bit of a conscious confrontation with you, and the more you try, the worse the results. "
Of course, the company's factory building on Polish Street in London's Soho district was unscathed in the war, even though an incendiary bomb had landed several meters away.
When England was surrounded by enemy attacks, Bree accepted the destruction of the great Omar, but he said: "If this is all I will lose, I will be lucky."
This has become a symbol
Stanley Bray spent about 4,000 hours completing the third Omar.
Two lost books and years of work did not diminish Bree's enthusiasm for Omar, and when the war in the country celebrated Victory Day in Europe in 1945, he began work on a third book.
Many of the jewels that survived his previous editions were recycled.
The operations of Sangorski & Sutcliffe limited the amount of time he could work in this area, so binding became his plan after his retirement in the 1980s. But after about 4,000 hours of hard work, the third Omar was finally completed.
For Mr. Margers, there is something almost "romantic" about the work That Bray put into the final version.
In fact, Stanley Bray succeeded again, twice—at this point he did it not to make money, but to something else: it had become a symbol.
"It's like the most decadent, the most luxurious, the most capitalist book has transcended itself and become a truly priceless treasure, something made for the sake of making."
Bree presented a third Omar to the British Library. His December 1995 obituary described the book as a "monument to his life's work."
The third Omar is preserved in the British Library. Access to it is rarely allowed
After the death of Bray's widow, Irene, in 2004, Omar and related materials were permanently left to the agency. The book remains in the library's collection, although access is rarely permitted.
For now, at least, it seems that no "curse" has taken root.
In any case, Bray himself never thought of the idea, commenting on the design: "I am not superstitious at all, although they say that the peacock is a symbol of disaster."
"Some say the peacock's feathers are a harbinger of death, but Stanley Bray lived to a very old age," Mr Shepard said.
"In fact, this book might keep him going."
"It's not going to go with you"
Sangolski's name is now almost unrecognizable on his tombstone
At East Finchley Cemetery, the tombstones of the master of binding Francis Sangersky are difficult to find.
Hidden in other stones under a tree, its exquisite carvings have weathered and worn out —like his tome on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
For Mr. Magus, the story of the great Omar coincides with the theory of Omar Hayyam, whose wisdom inspired master craftsmen to honor the poet-philosopher with gold, jewelry and leather.
In a way it's perfect; the whole story is a meta-story because part of the text is about, 'Of course, when you get it, use it, enjoy your life, but know it's going to end, realize it" — it's almost like a curse.
"That's what the great Omar told you," said Mr. Magus.
"If you can afford it, why not?" Do it. But know that you will die, and it will not go with you. ”