Document inviting subscription for publication of the first volume of Poems by Robert Burns dated April 14th 1786

Robert Burns was born in a small thatched cottage in Alloway, Ayrshire. During a short period while a farmer, he composed a wealth of songs and poems, many reflecting his arduous life on the land as a farmer. Later he took up the position of an excise officer in Dumfries.

This document headed "Proposals for publishing by subscription Scotch Poems by Robert Burns" priced at three shillings, was one of eight dozen copies printed by the Publisher John Wilson of Kilmarnock in April 1786, and thought to be the sole one to survive.

The document carries the signatures of a dozen or so patrons noting the number of copies they wish to subscribe for. The "Kilmarnock Edition" was printed in July 1786 and proved to be a great success and a turning point in Burns's life.

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