Burns Room 1

Burns in James Sibbald’s Circulating Library

William Borthwick Johnstone

In this painting Burns is seen reading his poems to the rich and famous people of Edinburgh. James Sibbald was editor of the Edinburgh Magazine which published the first review of Burns’ first book in 1786. This was hugely important since it was written by one of his favourite authors, Henry MacKenzie, who praised Burns’ work calling him a ‘heaven-taught ploughman’.