or striplings." We thank the Old Edinburgh Club for what it has done; we hope it will give us further information in a later volume. WILLIAM HARVEY, F.S.A., Scot. Dundee Advertiser, 28th August, 1911. THE HOE BOOK SALE-A KILMARNOCK BURNS. The first item catalogued was a copy of the famous Kilmarnock Edition of the Poems printed by John Wilson in 1786, and published at 3s. The leaves are all but uncut, measuring 813 by 5 as against 9 by 5 inches of the Lamb and the Veitch examples, which are in The original blue wrappers are preserved absolutely pristine state. Accompanying within the grained morocco binding by Bedford. the octavo is a two-page autograph letter to Captain Hamilton, of Burns writes :Dumfries, from whom the poet had borrowed money. 66 Sir, It is even so. You are the only person in Dumfries to whom [this has been erased by the writer] or in the world to whom I have run in debt, and I took the freedom with you because I believed, and do still believe, that I may do it with more impunity as to my feelings than any other person almost that I ever met with. I will settle with you soon, and I assure you, sir, it is with infinite pain The unlucky fact for that I have transgressed on your goodness. me is that about the beginning of these disastrous times in a moment of imprudence I lent my name to a friend who has since been unfortunate, and I, of course, had a sum to pay which my very limited God forbid, sir, that anything income and large family could ill afford. should ever distress you as much as writing this card has done me." 66 In addition there are presentation copies with autograph inscriptions of the 1793 edition of the poems, and of the poetical works a small but of William Collins, this last given to Jean Lorimer as sincere mark of friendship." Among the Burns manuscripts are several characteristic letters to Clarinda and four or five poems, including "A New Song from an Old Story," said to be unpublished. of the verses of A Scots Love Song" begins 66 One When in 1903 the trustees of the Burns Museum at Alloway paid £1000 for the immaculate copy of the first edition of Burns's Poems printed by John Wilson, of Kilmarnock, in 1786, and published at three shillings, the comment of some observers was expressed in a single word-madness. Yesterday, however, at the sale in New York of the Robert Hoe Library a copy, apparently somewhat less desirable, of the famous Kilmarnock volume, together with a letter from Burns to Captain Hamilton, of Dumfries, fetched $5800. From the catalogue description, this does not appear to be the fine Lamb example in pristine state, which realised the previous auction record of 545 guineas in Edinburgh thirteen years ago. The Lamb copy was, I believe, sold by Mr Sabin for £700 to an American dealer, the latter passing it on to Mr Caufield, of New York. ANOTHER KILMARNOCK BURNS SOLD. At Sotheby's to-day the record price of £114 was paid for a copy of Shelley's rare Address to the Irish People, issued in Dublin in 1812 at 5d. Last year an example fetched £75 at Puttick's. Browning's earliest volume, Pauline (1833), brought £164; the Kilmarnock Burns finishing on page 236, several pages, moreover, being stained, £105; and Shelley's Epipsychidion (1821), £51. Glasgow Herald, 30th May, 1911. THE HUTH BOOK SALE. £50,821 FOR SEVEN DAYS-BURNS TRIUMPHS. At the seventh and final afternoon's dispersal of part one of the Huth Library, Burns proved to be the hero. In the year 1875 Mr Henry Huth bought of Mr Quaritch for £36, a good copy of the celebrated Kilmarnock Edition of Burns's Poems, printed by John Wilson, and sold by him at three shillings. Presumably early in the history of the volume the original blue paper wrappers made way for the tree calf in which it is now bound, perhaps indeed before the following inscription was written on the fly-leaf :- "From Mr Ferguson of Queenvale to The F.C., 10th Oct, 1786." The measurements are 8 in. by 5 in. against 9 in. by 5 in of a wholly unsheared example. Bidding this afternoon started at £100, and by various competitors was raised to £730, at which point Mes rs Hopkins, of Glasgow, silenced Dr Birch. To-day's price almost tr bles the former record at auction in this country for a copy not in the original wrappers. Even the Van Antwerp example measuring 9 in. by 5g in., with the wrappers preserved, brought £30 less in 1907. The Hoe copy rebound, but with the wrappers inside, together with an autograph letter from the Poet to Captain Hamilton, fetched 5800 dollars in April last. Some 612 copies were printed by John Wilson, 350 of which were subscribed for before publication. Burns received, however, no more than £20 for his all-important share in the venture. Some years before Mr Huth bought his Kilmarnock Burns from Mr Quaritch, J. Payne Collier just missed securing a copy in fine pristine state for Is 6d at Cornish's shop, Lincoln's Inn. The Lamb copy, which at Dowell's in Edinburgh made 545 guineas in 1898, now belongs, I believe, to Mr Caufield, New York. A second Burns item shows an even larger proportion of profit to the Huth Estate. This is the original Patent, printed on vellum, appointing "Robert Burns, gentleman," to the office of exciseman. The single sheet is dated July 14th, 1788, has a caligraphic portrait of George III., and is signed by J. Wharton, George Brown, and James Stodart. Against a cost of twelve guineas from Messrs Sotheran in 1868, this document went to Mr Quaritch at £500. Copies of any kind of the Kilmarnock Edition of Burns are rare, and perfect copies extremely rare. The thin blue and white octavo volume was printed by Wilson in 1786, and published at three shillings. After paying the expenses of paper, printing, and binding, the Poet made only a profit of £20. This is the statement of the account : The publisher declined to publish a second edition unless Burns advanced the cost of the necessary paper. In the mid-nineteenth century, copies of the Kilmarnock edition could occasionally be picked up in second-hand book shops for a shilling. In the seventies there came a boom, until the top price was reached in 1903 for the copy sold by Mr G. S. Veitch, of Paisley, at £1000, to the Trustees of Burns's Cottage. This faultless copy was bought by Mr Veitch for £10. Of the 612 copies of the Kilmarnock edition it is doubtful whether there are more than 30 or 40 copies in existence. There are two copies in the British Museum, one containing additional verses and notes in manuscript, with the names and places in the poems in Burns's handwriting. A number of copies which are in possession of book collectors are made-up copies. One result of the large price paid for the Kilmarnock edition on Thursday is that book buyers are generally inundated with inquiries by possessors of supposed precious copies, but it is extremely rare in these days that a find " turns up so easily. The earliest record of the Lamb copy sold at Edinburgh in 1898 for 545 guineas, is that it was found among a miscellaneous lot of old books purchased for a few shillings at a sale in Glasgow in 1850. 66 The following is a list of some of the highest prices obtained for copies since the early seventies : Unnamed copy, sold at Edinburgh, 1874 Craig's, Sotheby's, 1888 ... £19 0 0 ... 90 0 0 111 0 0 24th November, 1911. A NEW BURNS MS. Orchill, 11th September, 1911. SIR,-In an original Burns MS., unquestionably authentic, which has just come into my hands in a rather romantic way, and which, from certain unique readings, has clearly never been before any of the numerous editors of the Poet's works, either earlier or later, there are one or two points in particular which seem to me to be worthy of investigation, being entirely novel as bearing on the Poet's acquaintanceships. My newly-found MS. is the favourite song, My Nanie's Awa'," written on what is apparently Excise paper, and dated February, 1795; the copy sent to Thomson for his Museum, and now in Brechin Castle, being dated December, 1794, while another copy was in the hands of the Aldine editor. My MS. has the unique readings "welcome for "welcomes "welcome" is fan (in spite of the Centenary edition's note that erroneous reading), "wet" for "weet," "dews o'" for "dews of," and the strange variation, "yellow mavis' for "mellow mavis." But my main object in this letter is to elicit, if possible, from among your many literary readers, information or suggestions on these two points:-1. The heading of my MS. isSong-My Nanie's Awa'-To J. T." Who was J. T. ? The song has always been regarded as written of, and to, Clarinda. 2. At the bottom of the page is the inscription, "For Mr Thomas Dewar, Kirkcaldy, with the author's regards." Who was Thomas Dewar, Kirkcaldy? Was the Poet ever in Kirkcaldy ? Any information on these two points will not only be of interest to myself, but of value to all students of Burns literature, referring as they do to persons whose names, so far as I know, we are now made acquainted with for the first time in connection with Burns. The whole of this interesting MS., including the personal signature, is in the wonderful autograph of the great Poet.—I am, &c. Scotsman, 12th September, 1911. THOMAS CRAWFORD. A LINK WITH BURNS. The Aberdeen Weekly Free Press, 6th May, 1911, contains in addition to the subjoined article, a characteristic portrait of Mrs Alexander Mowat : 'By the death of Mrs Alexander Mowat, Drumlithie, on Wednesday, at the age of 94, an interesting link with the past has been severed. Mrs Mowat was the oldest inhabitant of the village. She belonged to a family who have been connected with the land of Barras and the parish of Glenbervie for generations, her progenitors having farmed most of the holdings throughout both Barras and Glenbervie. Mrs Mowat, whose maiden name was Catherine Burness, was born at Midtown of Barras in 1816, her father at that period being the largest farmer in the county. She was the nearest surviving relation of Scotland's National Bard, being fourth cousin in the direct line of Burnesses. Mrs Mowat was educated at the parish school by Mr Napier, and attended for a session at Aberdeen. The stage-coach was the only conveyance to the Granite City in these days, and she remembered well of the famed Barclay of Urie driving the coach from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. The parish minister of Kinneff at that date was Rev. Peter Stuart, and it was the custom that all roups and raffles were |