The Robert Burns Collection

Repository: Linen Hall Library

Identity Statement

TitleThe Robert Burns Collection
Archive ReferenceIE LHL/B&B
Web Link to this Entryhttps://iar.ie/archive/robert-burns-collection
Creation Dates1700-1900
Level of DescriptionFonds (The whole of the records, regardless of form or medium, organically created and/or accumulated and used by a particular person, family, or corporate body in the course of that creator's activities and functions). (Often, but not always, contiguous with an archives ‘collection’ ).
Extent Medium2, 000 items

Context

Creator(s): Gibson, Andrew (1841-1931), private collectorEverett-Burns, Eliza

  • Administrative History ↴

    Andrew Gibson (1904-1927) was a noted collector and Governor of the Linen Hall Library. Originally from Ayreshire, Scotland, he settled in Belfast eventually becoming a Governor of the Linen Hall Library, President of the Belfast Scottish Association and Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ireland. He was one of the organisers of the Second Belfast Harp Festival in 1903. Gibson was also a member of the Irish Folk Song Society. Robert Burns (1759-1796), the subject of this collection, was a Scottish poet and lyricist, widely regarded as the National Poet of Scotland. Gibson was a Burns enthusiast and collected approximately 2000 volumes of Burns and Burns-related material. The collection was supplemented by Eliza Everett-Burns, the poet's great grand-daughter, who presented items to the Library at a later date. The Burns Collection at the Linen Hall Library is one of the largest collections of Burns material outside Scotland.

  • Archival History ↴

    The Burns Collection was purchased by public subscription in 1901 for the Linen Hall Library. Some items were later donated by Mrs Eliza Everitt, great-granddaughter of Burns.

  • Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

    Purchase

Content & Structure

  • Scope & Content: Gibson, Andrew (1841-1931), private collectorEverett-Burns, Eliza ↴

    The collection contains 782 distinct Scottish, English, Irish, American and continental editions of the works of the Ayrshire ploughman, representing more than 1,000 volumes. In addition, the collection contains Johnson’s “Scots musical museum”, Thomson’s “Select Scottish airs”, 130 biographies of the poet, 109 miscellaneous publications relating to Burns, 50 song-books and chapbooks containing his poems, and 38 prints and drawings.

    The European translations are for the most part in German. Gibson also included a gift of seventy volumes to the Linen Hall. There are no manuscripts, but there is a large range of ephemeral material.

  • Appraisal Destruction ↴

    Permanent Retention

  • Accruals ↴

    No further accruals expected. The Linen Hall Library no longer collects Burnsiana, key reference works concerned with Burns are acquired however.

  • Arrangement ↴

    The collection is arranged in alphabetical order according to place of publication.

Conditions of Access & Use

Access Conditions This Collection is for reference only. Advance notification of intention to visit is required.
Conditions Governing ReproductionSome documents may be copied, charges will apply.
Creation Dates1700-1900
Level of DescriptionFonds (The whole of the records, regardless of form or medium, organically created and/or accumulated and used by a particular person, family, or corporate body in the course of that creator's activities and functions). (Often, but not always, contiguous with an archives ‘collection’ ).
Extent Medium2, 000 items
Material Language ScriptEnglish, French, German
Finding Aids Online catalogue available on Linen Hall Library website. There is also a typewritten catalogue of the collection listing the poet's writings, arranged in alphabetical order according to place of publication available at the Library. Archive Web Link →

Allied Materials

Copies InformationThe material in this Collection has been published in a variety of places throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Related MaterialThe G. Ross Roy Collection of Burnsiana & Scottish Literature, University of South Carolina, USA. Burnsiana: Private and Domestic Burns-Related Objects, 1796-1909, University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Descriptive Control Area

Archivist NoteLinen Hall Library
Rules/ConventionsISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description, 2nd ed., Ottowa, International Council on Archives, 2000.
Date of DescriptionsContact Linen Hall Library Archives Service for information