Book/Printed Material Letter, 1788 July 18th, Mauchline, to Mr. John Smith, Jun., Bookseller, Glasgow.
About this Item
Title
- Letter, 1788 July 18th, Mauchline, to Mr. John Smith, Jun., Bookseller, Glasgow.
Summary
- Robert Burns (1759-96) is best known for his poems and songs that reflect Scotland's cultural heritage. He was born in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland, the first of seven children belonging to William Burnes, a tenant farmer, and his wife Agnes Broun. Burns had little formal education, but he read English literature and absorbed the traditional, largely oral Scots-language folk songs and tales of his rural environment. He began to compose songs in 1774, and published his first book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, in 1786. The work was a critical success, and its poems in both Scots and English, on a range of topics, established Burns's broad appeal. While building his literary reputation, Burns worked as a farmer, and spent the final 12 years of his life collecting and editing traditional Scottish folk songs for collections including The Scots Musical Museum and A Select Collection of Original Scotish [sic] Airs for the Voice. Burns contributed hundreds of Scottish songs to these anthologies, sometimes rewriting traditional lyrics and setting them to new or revised music. The spring and early summer of 1788 saw many significant transitions in his life. After leaving Edinburgh for Mauchline, Burns married Jean Armour, took a lease on the farm at Ellisland, and was appointed an excise officer in Ellisland. It is hardly surprising that he was also trying to clear up outstanding debts owed to him, as seen in this letter requesting payment for his books. Burns refers to the nine copies sent from Kilmarnock, and mentions that he "will be in Glasgow in a month or two myself." As Burns did not receive a reply to this letter, he wrote a follow-up letter to the same bookseller five months later (See related item link to "Letter, 1789 Janry. 17th, Mauchline, to Mr. John Smith..."). This unsuccesful correspondence conveys the complexity and delay in settling accounts, where both individual subscribers and multiple booksellers were involved.
Names
- Burns, Robert, 1759-1796 Author.
Created / Published
- [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1788-07-18.
Headings
- - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland--Scotland--Glasgow
- - 1788
- - Booksellers and bookselling
- - Burns, Robert, 1759-1796
- - Correspondence
- - Letters
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - Original resource extent: 1 sheet folded (4 sides) ; 18.5 x 11.5 centimeters.
- - Original resource at: University of South Carolina.
- - Content in English.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Source Collection
- Robert Burns Collection
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021667632
Online Format
- compressed data
- image