Robert Burns: Commonplace Books, Tour Journals, and Miscellaneous Prose
Edited by Nigel Leask.

The first volume of the new Oxford edition represents a milestone in Burns scholarship, the contents of which have never before been presented to the public in edited form. That’s to say, although most of the items have been published before, they’ve never been gathered together in one volume with an introductory essay, headnote, and full annotations, connecting each to the poet’s life, poetry, and correspondence. The three commonplace books (the ‘Ayrshire’ Commonplace Book 1793-5, the ‘Edinburgh Journal’ 1787-90, and the ‘Glenriddell Manuscripts’ 1792-4) are transcribed (wherever possible) from original manuscripts, and offer a fascinating insight into the poet’s creative process, as well as containing unique drafts of many of his most important poems and song. The Tour Journals narrate Burns’s travels in the Borders and Highland at the height of his fame in 1787, conveying his reflections on Scottish culture and society at a time of intense historical change. The volume also collects Burns’s miscellaneous prose writings, ranging from the prefaces to the Kilmarnock and Edinburgh Poems, through the poet’s blueprint for a working-class library in Dumfriesshire, to his correspondence in the newspapers touching on matters of contemporary political and social import. The volume fills a major gap in our knowledge of the poet and his world, and establishes high scholarly standards for the edition as a whole.
— Nigel Leask

Related Blogs

• Burns Documents at the NRO February 6, 2018- Dr Carol Baraniuk (Research Associate at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies): Much of the current work of research staff on Burns C21 involves the transcription of manuscripts associated with Burns’s correspondence. It’s a...
• Guest Blog by Professor Patrick Scott – The mysterious ‘WR’ once more: a mid-Victorian reminiscence July 14, 2015- This is a follow-up to Nigel Leask’s blog-posts last June and again in October, commenting on the identity of the mysterious ‘WR.’ WR was one of several people who made annotations to Burns’s First...
• Publication of Volume 1 of the New Oxford Edition of The Works of Robert Burns: A Note from the General Editor, Gerard Carruthers October 1, 2014- It is hugely satisfying to see the fine book in its Oxford University Press critical edition garb. Prof Nigel Leask’s volume is the first in our ‘Oxford Edition of the Works of Robert Burns’,...
• Publication of Volume 1 of the New Oxford Edition of The Works of Robert Burns: A Note from the Editor, Nigel Leask October 1, 2014- My volume of the new Oxford Burns edition, Commonplace Books, Tour Journals and Miscellaneous Prose, was officially published on 31st July. I was thrilled to receive my copy on the 10th August 2014, just...
• Nigel Leask speaks about Burns’s Prose: New iTunes-U Podcast May 14, 2013- The Centre for Robert Burns Studies has recently uploaded a selection of papers from the ‘Robert Burns: At Home and Abroad’ conference to the iTunes-U website. Among these is a paper delivered by Professor...
• Who is the ghostly ‘WR’ in the First Commonplace book? June 22, 2012- Who was the ‘WR’ who wrote annotations in Burns’s first Commonplace Book, annotations addressed directly to the poet? Clearly not to be confused with the annotation of later commentators like Syme, Currie and Roscoe,...