


BURNS (ROBERT) Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, second (first Edinburgh) edition, AUTOGRAPH ADDRESS PANEL IN THE HAND OF ROBERT BURNS, TO GEORGE THOMSON tipped in, 1787
£1,500 - £2,500
Looking for a similar item?
Our Books & Manuscripts specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot

BURNS (ROBERT)
Footnotes
Includes a manuscript address leaf written by Burns to "Mr. George Thomson, Trustees Office, Edin." and "Robin Adair" vertically on fold. It is annotated ("ans.d"), and with numeral "No. 20" (struck through in ink) in a different hand. On the flaps are stamped "Au[gust] 14" in red ink, and "Dumfries" in black. George Thomson (1757–1851) was a friend of Burns, Clerk to the Board of Trustees for Encouragement of Art and Manufacture in Scotland, and edited A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs, the first volume (1793) of which included twenty-five poems by Burns himself.
Burns and Thompson were regular correspondents. It is probable that our envelope would have enclosed a version of one the poems that Burns set to the tune of "Robin Adair" and sent to Thompson for comment. In August 1793 he sent two - "Had I a Cave", and " Phyllis the Fair", both of which met with the recipient's approval. For another address panel addressed by Burns to Thompson see the Burns Scotland website.
Provenance: William F. Gable (1856-1921, American collector), bookplate.