Publication: Glasgow, Printed by W. Lang for Cameron & Co. Booksellers, 1804

Formatting: 12mo, pp. [xii], 221.

Condition Report: Fair. The contemporary half-calf binding over marbled boards is heavily rubbed and exhibits significant wear to the extremities. The spine is dry and oxidised, suffering from notable surface loss and chipping at both the head and tail, exposing the underlying text block structure. The joints are heavily worn and tender, with a distinct split forming at the lower front hinge, though the boards currently remain tenuously attached. Internally, the pages exhibit moderate age-related toning, occasional scattered spotting, and minor corner wear typical of early nineteenth-century paper. While cosmetically flawed and fragile at the hinges, the text block remains intact, making this a complete and authentic representative copy of an early Burns printing.

Catalogue Note: 1804 Glasgow printing. This early nineteenth-century edition stands as a fascinating testament to the rapid and wide-reaching dissemination of Burns’s work in the decades following the true 1786 Kilmarnock first edition. Provincial editions from this era hold significant value for dedicated Burns collectors charting the historic spread of his poetry across Scotland.

The text is introduced by a brief life of the author and is "embellished with an elegant head," a portrait frontispiece of the poet (situated opposite the title page).

The volume bears a charming contemporary ownership inscription in ink at the head of the title page: "Mary Ely Willis' POEMS, ex do. The Father." The use of "ex do." (an abbreviation for the Latin ex dono, meaning "from the gift of") elegantly records that the book was a present from her father, adding a lovely, deeply personal element to the volume’s provenance.

Experience the enduring spirit of Scotland's national bard in this scarce 1804 edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Featuring his most celebrated verses alongside a biographical sketch and a handsome portrait frontispiece, this early Glasgow printing captures the raw, lyrical brilliance that propelled Robert Burns from a humble Ayrshire ploughman to a literary immortal. A lovely artifact of nineteenth-century Scottish literary heritage, complete with a touching father-to-daughter gift inscription from the era.