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Menu Card, Portfolio of Menu Cards and Letters Relating to the Khayyam Club
Menu Card, Portfolio of Menu Cards and Letters Relating to the Khayyam Club
Menu Card, Portfolio of Menu Cards and Letters Relating to the Khayyam Club

Menu Card, Portfolio of Menu Cards and Letters Relating to the Khayyam Club

Artist (Newburgh, Scotland, 1883 - 1959)
Associated (London, England, 1875 - 1952)
Associated (Shaftesbury, England, 1871 - 1955)
Associated (Fort George, Inverness, Scotland, 1856 - 1943)
Date1929
Object NameMenu Card
Mediumpaper
ClassificationsMcBey
DimensionsOpen: 21.6 x 35.2cm
Closed: 21.6 x 17.6cm
AcquisitionPresented in 1988 by Mrs Marguerite McBey.
Copyright© Aberdeen City Council (McBey Collection)
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG008362.9
About MeMenu Card, within the Portfolio of Menu Cards and Letters Relating to the Khayyam Club, dated 7 March, 1929. The menu card frontispiece is a drawing by James McBey, of two figures embracing an outside scene.

There are four copies of the menu card within the record. On one of the pages there is a "Supplementary Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam", by "EVOE", a pseudonym for the poet Edmund George Valpy Knox (E.V. Knox).

The dinner featured notable British politicians, diplomats and artists such as:

Philip Guedalla (writer and politician)
Martin Hardie (artist)
John Henderson (politician)
Sir W. Arbuthnot Lane (surgeon)
Bohun Lynch (historian)
James McBey
Edward Verrall Lucas (who regularly corresponded with James McBey)
R.H. Marsh
Dr R.H.A. Plimmer (later Professor)
Arthur R. Ropes (also known as Adrian Ross; lyricist)
Michael Sadleir (novelist and book collector)
Sir Malcolm Seton
Ralph Straus
Laurence J. Cadbury (who succeeded his brother to take over the Cadbury Chocolate Firm)
Sir Thomas Horder (physician)
E.V. Knox (also known as Edmund George Valpy Knox, or EVOE)

Established in 1892, the Omar Khayyam Club of London was set up for the purpose of appreciating good company, good food, and the works of Omar Khayyam. Many well-known authors and artists became club members, including James McBey, Arthur Conan Doyle, and A.A. Milne.

This object is part of an archive that belonged to Marguerite McBey. As a result of her generosity, Aberdeen Art Gallery holds the largest archive of James McBey's work, including prints, drawings, sketchbooks, oil paintings and memorabilia such as this menu card.
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