Kilmarnock edition of Burns Poems goes on display after barber ripped out pages
A rare edition of a Burns poetry book saved from a barber using its pages to clean razors, is going on display.
An extremely rare edition of a Robert Burns book that was saved after an English barber was unknowingly cleaning razors with its pages, is going on display.
Originally printed in 1786 in Kilmarnock, the rare first edition of the book full of poems – also known as the Kilmarnock edition - is believed to have only 84 surviving copies out of a few hundred printed in the 18th century in the East Ayrshire town.
It will now go on show for the first time since before lockdown in Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries in Fife, next to the Abbey Church which Burns visited in 1787.
It was a Burns enthusiast who happened to stumble across its existence while in a barber shop in Shrewsbury.
John Murison rescued the historical treasure after spotting it in a dilapidated state, but it was missing the first 50 pages as the proprietor of the barber shop was tearing out pages to clean razors with.
The book is believed to be worth between £40,000 and £60,000 in good condition.
Director of the Robert Burns World Federation (also based in Kilmarnock) Alan Beck, said it was a relief that a burns enthusiast discovered it, and now the world can see it when going on display this January ahead of Burns Night on the 25th.
He told West FM: “The Kilmarnock edition is very rare – there were 612 copies first published – and it was first published by a Kilmarnock man called John Wilson. His statue is in still in the town today.”
“It’s phenomenally significant but it’s actually incredibly important in terms of Scottish nationality. It started burns and made him a prominent figure of Scotland.
“It was Burns that gave Scotland a focus for their nationality at time when they were part of the most powerful empire in the world. Many Scots felt that in order to be an equal partner in the union they had to make Scotland culturally equal to England and Burns became the focus of that. None of that would have happened without the Kilmarnock edition.
“There are probably many Kilmarnock editions that have been used to wipe razors and much more.
“It was incredibly lucky that a burns enthusiast discovered this. What a stroke of luck, it’s stuff you would only dream of as a Burnsian. To sit there and witness that and have the opportunity to not only save it but purchase it is incredible.”
Mr Murison's treasure trove of 1,700 artefacts - considered one of the world's finest collections of Burns-related material - was bought by construction mogul Sir Alexander Gibb, who gifted it to Dunfermline Carnegie Library in 1921.
The Murison Kilmarnock Edition last went on display prior to the first lockdown in 2020, as part of the Tae A Bard exhibition at the library and galleries.
Because of its fragile condition, the book is housed in a conservation box paid for by the Dunfermline United Burns Club.
When Poems Chiefly In The Scottish Dialect was printed by John Wilson of Kilmarnock, the entire print-run sold out within a month.