Burns, Robert:

$4,000 · Offered by William Reese Company

POEMS, CHIEFLY IN THE SCOTTISH DIALECT. The true first American edition of Burns's celebrated collection of poetry, preceding the 1788 New York edition by several months. In addition to being the first printing of this book, it also represents one of the earliest printed references to golf in America, in his poem "A Fragment.""There has never been a more truly national poet than Burns. Himself of humble origin, he spoke the language of the people and his songs are part of the air breathed by Scots the world over....[H]is lyrics are as full of life as he was himself. They are 'the links, the watch-words, the masonic symbols of Scottish life'. The wild enthusiasm of Burns's compatriots, especially the expatriates in England and the U.S.A., and especially on the occasion of 'Burns Nicht', all too easily obscures the fact that Burns is not only the greatest Scots poet but one of the great poets of any age and nation" – PMM."The honour of publishing the first American edition of Burns's poem goes to Peter Stewart and George Hyde of Philadelphia. They did not issue any proposals for printing. Instead they determined to release an edition of the Poems and let them sell themselves on their own merit: resorting to a form of advertising, common enough in the eighteenth century, they reprinted many of the forthcoming poems in The Pennsylvania Packet, from 24 Jul. 1787 to 14 Jun. 1788. The Philadelphia edition actually appeared on 7 Jul. 1788." - Egerer.

• Printing: first

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