Three long lost
Robert Burns (1759-1796) manuscripts including letters from the well loved Scottish poet and his friends were discovered earlier this year. Chris Rollie, a researcher discovered the manuscripts inside an Extra Illustrated W. Scott Douglas edition
of 'The Works of Robert Burns', from 1877-79. This edition belonged to
Burns's publisher, William Paterson.
One of the discovered letters is from 'Clarinda' the pseudomny for Agnes
McLehose. Burns was in love with Agnes and she was the subject of
several of his poems including: '
Clarinda (Mistress of My Soul' and '
To Clarinda'. After Burns' death in 1796, Agnes had requested that the intimate
letters she had written to Burns be returned to her by Burns' friend and
doctor William Maxwell.
Also discovered were other letters, a manuscript by Burns of an early draft of '
Address to a Woodlark' and a handwritten letter from Burns to
Robert Muir, Kilmarnock. The manuscripts have now been sold to a collector.
Manuscripts by or relating to Robert Burns can be search for in
Manuscripts Online
(simply enter Burns, Robert into the keyword search box) and include
letters from Robert Burns to James Smith about Burns' proposed voyage to
the West Indies, 1786 (MS 76, 105, 191); the original manuscripts of
the 'The Robert Burns story' by Jonn Cairney, 1971 (NZMS 1103); material
relating to the Auckland Burns Club and Literary Society, 1892-1911
(NZMS 154); various research papers by George McKay including research
on James Milne Menni and his gifts to Auckland including the statue of
Robert Burns, no date (NZMS 1635).
The University of Glasgow's
Centre for Robert Burns Studies
is focused on the development of research, scholarship and teaching in
Robert Burns, his cultural period and related literature.
Auckland Libraries also has a number of
resources by or about Burns it its heritage collections inlcuding poems, letters, songs and biographies.
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