Five hundred quatrains from the original Persian, translated metrically by E. H. Whinfield, were issued in London, 1883, while Payne made a poetical translation, reproducing all the metrical eccentricities of the original Persian, which he called "The Quatrains of Omar Khayyám, now first completely done into English Verse from the Persian, with a Biographical and Critical Introduction" (London, 1898). Heron Allen has added a valuable book in The Rubá'iyát of Omar Khayyám: A Facsimile of the Manuscript in the Bodleian Library, Translated and Edited (Boston, 1898).
One of the best editions of the Rubá'iyát is a reprint of FitzGerald's various editions, showing the many changes, some of which were not improvements, and the quatrains that were dropped out of the final version, with a commentary by Batson and an introduction by Ross (New York, 1900).
Another excellent edition of FitzGerald's final version, issued by Paul Elder & Company, is edited by Arthur Guiterman and contains The Literal Omar, that lovers of the astronomer-poet may see, stanza for stanza, how the old Persian originally phrased the verses that the Irish recluse so musically echoed in English.
DANTE'S "DIVINE COMEDY"
The best known English translation of the Divine Comedy is that of Cary, first published in 1806. Other English versions are by Dayman, Pollock and J. A. Carlyle. Longfellow made a translation in verse which is musical and cast in the terza rima of the original.
A mass of commentary on Dante has been issued of which only a few noteworthy books can be mentioned here. Among these are Botta, Introduction to the Study of Dante (London, 1887); Maria Francesca Rossetti, A Shadow of Dante (London, 1884); Butler, Dante: His Times and His Work (London, 1895); Symonds, Introduction to the Study of Dante (Edinburgh, 1890); Lowell, Among My Books, one of the finest essays on the great poet and his work (Boston, 1880); Macaulay, Essays, Vol. I; Carlyle in Heroes and Hero Worship.
One of the largest Dante libraries in the world was collected by the late Professor Willard Fiske of Cornell University. At his death this splendid library was given to the university which Professor Fiske served for over twenty years as head of the department of Northern European languages. Professor Melville B. Anderson, recently retired from the chair of English Literature at Stanford University, is now completing a translation of Dante, which has been a labor of love for many years.
MILTON'S "PARADISE LOST," AND OTHER POEMS
The first edition of Milton's Paradise Lost, in ten books, bears date of August 10, 1667. Seven years later, with many changes and enlarged by two books, it appeared in a second edition. All that Milton received for this poem was £10. Paradise Regained was first printed with Samson Agonistes in 1671.
The standard biography of Milton is by Masson in six volumes (London, 1859-1894). The best short sketch is Mark Pattison's in John Morley's English Men of Letters Series (New York, 1880). Another good short sketch is in Richard Garnett's volume in Great Writers' Series (London, 1890).