First Edinburgh edition. First state, with "skinking" correctly set on line 13 of page 263. Original publisher's blue-grey boards, with cream paper spine and paper title label. Engraved frontispiece of Burns on thicker paper. A superb, fine copy, with just superficial splits to the base of the front joint and the head of the rear joint and a small stain to the base of the spine. Internally fresh, with the occasional page carelessly opened. An exceptional copy.

The magnificent Greenhill-Bradley Martin copy of Burns' Poems in original boards. The Edinburgh edition is a comprehensive collection of Burns' verse, with over 22 poems appearing not included in the smaller Kilmarnock edition, printed a year earlier in very small numbers. It also marks the announcement of Burns as an important literary figure, both as a representative of the Scottish working class (and soon to be regarded as the Scottish national poet) but also for his impact on the burgeoning romantic movement. The spontaneity, and emotion as well as sensitivity to nature, born of Burns' humble, rural background, was to influence Wordsworth, Coleridge and Shelley in particular.
It is believed that between 1500 and 2000 copies of the Edinburgh edition were originally printed, but such was the number of advance subscribers that further copies, containing a number of printing variations were hastily printed bringing the total number of copies to about 3000 at the time of publication. This copy, with the correct setting of "skinking" (incorrectly changed to "stinking" in the second state) is from the primary state of the text.
"Copies of either... edition in original boards are very rare." - Egerer (A Bibliography of Robert Burns, 1964)

PROVENANCE: Robert Cunningham, Dublin (1741-1813, early gift inscription to him on flyleaf and on title); Harold Greenhill (bookplate); H. Bradley Martin (bookplate; his sale, 30 April 1990, lot 2681); Private collection.

Egerer 2.

Stock ID: 45446