The Poetical Works of Robert Burns. Pearl Edition. Glasgow: David Bryce & Son, [n.d., at or before 1898]
Mauchline Binding Miniature (90 x 60 mm) pp. 512. Armenian red clay fore edges. Mauchline binding featuring Burn’s Cottage vignette, ‘bought the cottage’, and 4 lines of poetry. Spine in red leather with gilt title, thistle motif, and author portrait. Decorated turn ins with minor chipping. Ownership inscription: From Burns Cottage, Ayr, Aug. 25th, 1898. Internally quite clean. Overall VERY GOOD condition.
Robert Burns’ time in Mauchline, Scotland, to the southwest of Glasgow, has been called his most creative period. The town also invented a novelty binding which is now commonly associated with the Scottish poet. Mauchline bindings, and Mauchline ware, is made by transferring an image onto a piece of wood, and then heavily varnishing it. In use since the 1830s, the technique was used for bindings, as seen in this example, as well as houseware such as cups and trinket boxes, usually for the amusement of tourists looking for Scottish-themed gifts. And in terms of Scottish-themed gifts, this collection of Poems and Songs includes Burn’s Scots-language “Address to A Haggis,” perhaps the most sincere panegyric to ever be written about the inside business of a cow or sheep.