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Robert Burns Collection: Finding Aid
mssHM 2584, etc.
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Title: Robert Burns Collection
Dates (inclusive): 1784-1829
Bulk dates: 1784-1796
Collection Number: mssHM 2584, etc.
Additional Collection Numbers: mssHM 2584, mssHM 7394, mssHM 13021-13061,
mssHM 16300, mssHM 34699
Creator:
Burns, Robert,
1759-1796.
Extent:
approximately 45 items in 1 box (26 folders) and 18 loose cases and volumes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains approximately 45 pieces of
correspondence and manuscripts chiefly in the hand of Scottish poet Robert Burns
(1759-1796), dating from 1784. Within the documents, there are approximately 36
different pieces of verse by Burns, including poems, ballads, and songs. The
correspondence, often containing lines of verse, primarily consists of one to two
letters from Burns to various friends and patrons.
Language: English.
Items are available with curatorial approval. Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Robert Burns Collection, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
The collection was assembled from various sources, including:
- HM 2584, acquired from H.V. Jones, December 1918 (no. 256)
- HM 7394, received as part of the Gable Collection.
- HM 13029 and HM 13031, purchased by Henry E. Huntington from William K. Bixby through the Anderson Galleries (Sale 1280, Lots 588 and 589), February 1917.
- HM 13036-13039, acquired from William K. Bixby, date unknown.
- HM 13061, acquired from the collection of Henry G. Bohn.
- HM 34699, acquired from G. D. Smith.
Processing/Project Information
- HM 16300, removed from the Geddes Burns (Call number: 151851).
- HM 13051, 13053-6, and 13058 were originally bound together as a volume of Burns manuscripts and disbound by Huntington Library staff in November 1971.
Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a Scottish poet and lyricist. His first volume of poems,
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect, was published in 1786.
This collection contains approximately 45 pieces of correspondence and manuscripts
chiefly in the hand of Scottish poet Robert Burns, dating from 1784. Within the
documents, there are approximately 36 different pieces of verse by Burns, including
poems, ballads, and songs. The correspondence, often containing lines of verse,
primarily consists of one to two letters from Burns to patrons and friends including
Robert Cleghorn, Frances Anna Dunlop, Robert Muir, John Richmond, and Burns's
printer William Creech. In addition there are also a few later letters consisting of
a letter from Burns's brother Gilbert Burns to "Dobie," a letter from painter Alexander Nasmyth to William Cribb, and a letter
from Jean Jeffrey Renwick to Henry Brevoort.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
- Burns, Robert, 1759-1796. Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect. (1787) (Call number: 110910). With 39 annotations in Burns's hand, filled in the names of persons and localities originally printed with asterisks.
- Collins, William, 1721-1759. The Poetical Works of Mr. Williams Collins. (1765) (Call number: 120027). Autograph presentation copy from Burns, with an inscription to Jean Lorimer.
- Burns, Robert, 1759-1796. Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect. (1787) (Call number: 151851). The "Geddes Burns," containing 15 leaves inserted of which 27 pages bear handwriting and contain 13 manuscript poems by Burns.
- Burns, Robert, 1759-1796. [Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect] (1793) (Call number: 110909). With manuscript corrections attributed to Burns.
The collection consists of material organized in the following 2 series:
- Manuscripts
- Correspondence
Items listed in the finding aid are chiefly housed in individual folders in 1 box, with 18 items separately housed in decorative
gilt leather volumes or pull-off cases.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Burns, Robert,
1759-1796 -- Archives.
Poets, Scottish -- 18th
century.
Letters (correspondence) -- Scotland --
18th century.
Poems -- Scotland -- 18th century --
Archives.
Songs -- Scotland -- 18th
century.
Bixby, William K. (William Keeney),
1857-1931, former owner.
Creech, William, 1745-1815,
recipient.