"CONCENTRATED UTTERANCES OF PASSION": THIRD COLLECTED EDITION OF BURNS' POEMS, HANDSOMELY BOUND

BURNS, Robert. The Works of Robert Burns; With an Account of His Life, and a Criticism on His Writings. To Which Are Prefixed, Some Observations on the Character and Condition of the Scottish Peasantry. London: T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1802. Four volumes. Octavo, contemporary full tree calf gilt, red morocco spine labels. $1200.

Third collected edition of Burns' poetry, including his correspondence and a biographical memoir by editor James Currie, with engraved portrait of Burns by James Neagle after a painting by Alexander Nasmyth. Handsome and desirable in contemporary tree calf.

"No one even approaches Burns… in concentrated utterance of passion" (DNB). This early set, edited by Liverpool physician James Currie in order to raise funds for Burns' family, brings together the hundreds of poems, ballads and songs by the beloved Scottish poet, as well as a selection of his correspondence and Currie's Life of Robert Burns. His poetical works, including the major poems "Tam o' Shanter" and "The Jolly Beggars," were first collected in 1800. Volume IV includes a glossary and title index. Gibson, 12. Lowndes, 326. Several leaves of 19th-century Burns-related auction descriptions tipped in or laid into Volume I.

Minor marginal wormholes to first few leaves of Volume IV. Occasional foxing, minor rubbing. An excellent copy in lovely, near-fine contemporary tree calf.