Forrest, Bob

Willy Pogany (1882-1955) and the Rubaiyat of 1942 Bob Forrest. Manchester : [Bob Forrest], 2022. 17 pages, 23 unnumbered pages of plates, 30 cm.
Rubaiyat Artists No. 22.

There have been many editions of The Rubaiyat illustrated (or “presented”) by Willy Pogany (1) published over the years, and it would be a daunting task indeed to catalogue all of them. But one edition stands out like the proverbial sore thumb among the rest – that published by David McKay of Philadelphia in 1942 (Coumans #155.) Its illustrations are completely different in style to all other editions; they are all in black and white; and they are more overtly erotic, for, as is well–known, Pogany delighted in drawing naked young women, an enthusiasm he shared with the likes of Rubaiyat illustrators Ronald Balfour (1920), John Buckland–Wright (1938) and John Yunge–Bateman (1958). Nudes sell books, of course, and the ‘exotic orient,’ with its houris and dancing girls, is always a good excuse to weave a few in. But as we shall see, there is more to it than that.

Online available in the Notes and Queries Index