The Edinburgh Edition is the name given to the second edition of Robert Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, published by William Creech of Edinburgh on 17 April 1787. It followed the Kilmarnock Edition of 1786.
The Edition and its contents It was the second published edition of Burns's work, his first edition having been printed nine months before in Kilmarnock. It cost 5 shillings for subscribers and 6 shillings for non-subscribers. The printing of 1500 copies had been initially plannedScott, Patrick & Lamont, Craig (2016). 'Skinking' and 'Stinking': the Printing and Proofing of Robert Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh, 1787) Book Collector Vol. 65 Iss. 4. p.601. however demand was such that circa 3000 copies were printed, with estimates ranging from 2,894 to 3,250, and 1500 subscribers for 2876 copiesScott, Patrick & Lamont, Craig (2016). 'Skinking' and 'Stinking': the Printing and Proofing of Robert Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh, 1787) Book Collector Vol. 65 Iss. 4. p.607. are listed, however Burns lost some of the Subscription Bills "and perhaps some have been mislaid", resulting in a need to sell some copies at the subscribers price. By comparison only 612 copies of the Kilmarnock Edition of which 88 are known to survive however no record exists of the number of the first Edinburgh Edition that are extant. Cairney states that local tradition in Kilmarnock has it that an extra six were printed for Burns as "author's copies", making 618 in total.
The volume was dedicated to the "Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Caledonian Hunt". The 1787 Edinburgh edition contained an extra seventeen poems and five new songs. In addition most of the poems present in the 1786 Kilmarnock Edition are reprinted, except for three, with almost no deliberate changes. 1786 material included such favourites as "Halloween", "The Twa Dogs", "The Cotter's Saturday Night", "To a Mouse", etc. New poems included "Death and Doctor Hornbrook", "The Brigs of Ayr", "The Holy Fair", "John Barleycorn", "Address to the Unco Guid, or the Rigidly Righteous" and significantly "To a Haggis" (often given elsewhere as "Address to a Haggis"). Of the seven new songs, "Green Grow the Rashes: A Fragment" is an example of Burns's gift for re-working traditional folk-verse.
Ross notes that "The peculiar feature of the 1786 edition is the an, et and 't endings ... probably on Creech's advice he abolished the older endings in his edition of 1787, substituting in' or ing for an and it for et."
Nearly twice the length of the Kilmarnock Edition of 1786, it was printed in octavo format, measuring 22.3 x 14.3 cm, untrimmed, had 343 pages, a 38-page subscribers list and an expanded 24-page glossary or dictionary of Scots words for those unfamiliar with the language, with an added emphasis on the national language rather than the dialect of Burns's native Kyle. Interestingly the word "skinking" is not included in the glossary. For reasons unknown a few words from the original glossary were omitted from the expanded versions, such as "taet", meaning a small quantity.
Changes were present within the poems themselves: for example, "The Vision" had seven extra stanzas not present in the 1786 Kilmarnock Edition, meaning that four further "worthies" were given a mention.
Burns was personally responsibility for the cost of the subscription list and its increased length added around 11% to his costs.Scott, Patrick & Lamont, Craig (2016). 'Skinking' and 'Stinking': the Printing and Proofing of Robert Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh, 1787) Book Collector Vol. 65 Iss. 4. p.606.
It was first published and then bound by Mr Scott in French gray paper printers' boards, with most copies subsequently being cut and ornately bound once purchased so that uncut copies in the original paper wrappers with a cream paper spine and label are exceedingly rare, especially those of the "Stinking Edition". No perfect unbound copies of the Kilmarnock Edition survive, however due to the extra rarity value of the original binding, attempts have been made to produce "fake" copies with their paper wrappers, labels, etc. The watermark fleuron is a classic fleur-de-lis.
Burns added a number of annotations to clarify or enhance the understanding of his works such as with "Halloween" on page 156 and his notes on the "Cove of Colean" (Culzean) as the Elfhame or home of the fairies.
Such was the popularity of the Kilmarnock Edition that his family back at Mossgiel were only able to read his work in print from the Edinburgh Edition, despite Gilbert Burns having subscribed for 70 copies of the first.
Gilbert Burns recalled that Robert's friend John Ballantine, Provost of Ayr in 1787, had offered to lend money for the publication of the Edinburgh Edition as well as advising him to contact an Edinburgh publisher. On 18 April 1787 Robert wrote to him to say that he had sent John one hundred copies of his newly published poems and songs.
Two songs that Burns had intended to add to the 1787 edition were rejected as "defamatory libels against the fastidious powers of Poesy and Taste" by a jury of Literati. These were "Young Peggy Blooms our Boniest Lass" and "Twas Even; or, The Lass of Ballochmyle".
The Stinking Edition It could be argued that in 1787 two editions were published and Burns himself once referred to his second and third editions.Scott, Patrick & Lamont, Craig (2016). 'Skinking' and 'Stinking': the Printing and Proofing of Robert Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh, 1787) Book Collector Vol. 65 Iss. 4. p.602. The printings however are usually regarded as variant settings of one edition with mainly accidental changes. Around 10% of the variants have been found to have sheets from both settings. The editions have 51 half-sheet gatherings of which 5 were for the subscription list, two for the contents, 42 for the text of the poems and 3 for the glossary.Scott, Patrick & Lamont, Craig (2016). 'Skinking' and 'Stinking': the Printing and Proofing of Robert Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh, 1787) Book Collector Vol. 65 Iss. 4. p.603.
William Smellie had printed a first run of pages as far as the gathering or signature "Mm" (page 281) when he discovered that he had insufficient copies to cover all the subscribers and due to a shortage of type he was forced to reset the printing blocks and repeat the run as a partial second impression. Burns had remarked that Smellie was also publishing a Gaelic Bible and a Hebrew grammar. In the haste to reset the blocks a large number of mainly minor errors were introduced, the most famous of which is the substitution of a "t" for a "k" that converted the Scots word "skinking" (meaning watery) into "stinking". This error has resulted in the term "Stinking Burns" or "Stinking Edition" being applied to this possibly rarer setting, around 1000 out of 3000 copies reportedly carrying this variation. The other well-known error "Duke of Boxburgh" for "Duke of Roxburgh" is common to both impressions on page xxxvii of the subscribers list. Another error is that page 232 is given as "332". Altogether around three hundred differences exist between the two impressions, two hundred being noted as far back as 1888.Scottish National Memorials (1888). Glasgow : James MacLehose, Page 184
The evidence suggests that although Burns was not very closely involved with proof reading and setting the second setting he may have introduced a small number of authentic Scots spellings whilst the remainder of the differences were accidental.Scott, Patrick & Lamont, Craig (2016). 'Skinking' and 'Stinking': the Printing and Proofing of Robert Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh, 1787) Book Collector Vol. 65 Iss. 4. p.614.
The full details are that the gathering "Kk" appears to have been overlooked at first and as with the gatherings "Nn" to "Yy" the contents of the two impressions are identical. Gatherings "a" to "f" bore the title page, portrait, dedication (Dated 4 April 1787), etc. and were printed in one run towards the end of the process. The dedication was 200 words shorter than the Kilmarnock Edition.
The portrait was printed from a copper plate and close observation shows that is not printed onto the same laid or "chain and line" type of paper but on wove or velin paper that lacks the visible lines of the laid. The Subscribers Names list required an addenda. All the errors and differences in the partial second impression occur in gatherings "Aa" to "Ii" and "Ll" to "Mm". For example, on the very first page of poems, the line "That bears the name of Auld King Coel" has "of" in the second impression and "o'" in the first.
Robert Burns probably made £855 from selling the copyright to William Creech and from the profits from the sale of copies.
Six of the original holograph manuscript versions of the poems from the Kilmarnock and Edinburgh editions are in the possession of the Irvine Burns Club in North Ayrshire, who also possess a copy of the Kilmarnock Edition and the Edinburgh Edition.
The publisher
In the announcement of the publication William Creech is named as the publisher however the statement goes on to say that "This book is printed by subscription for the sole benefit of the author". Creech had no financial responsibility therefore, however on the title-page the statement "Printed for the author, and sold by William Creech." Creech can be technically seen as the publisher, however the financial and practical arrangements were not straightforward.
In a letter to Robert Aiken in December 1786 he refers to him as "Dear Patron of my Virgin Muse" that has been interpreted as inferring that he may have been an intermediary in Burns introduction to William Smellie and William Creech. He had collected nearly a quarter of all subscriptions for Burns's Kilmarnock Edition.
Burns gave £180 to his brother Gilbert out of the circa £700 that the Edinburgh Edition had earned him.
The Portrait of Robert Burns A portrait had not originally been advertised to potential subscribers, however when it became clear that 3000 or so copies were to be printed the decision was made to include one. Some may have been sold separately in addition to the three dozen on India paper at a shilling each that Burns sent with "bread and butter letters" to those that had shown him kindness whilst he was in Edinburgh.
William Creech commissioned Alexander Nasmyth to paint Burns's portrait, from which John Beugo engraved the copper plate required for the printing process. Nasmyth was a landscape painter and was reluctant to take on the work; however, he met with Burns and they became friends, resulting in Nasmyth producing a portrait which he never fully completed due to his concern over spoiling what he had already achieved. John Beugo the engraver arranged several sittings with Burns and produced a better likeness as confirmed by Gilbert Burns, for which he would not accept payment. Nasmyth refused payment from Creech and gave the painting to Jean Armour.
An intriguing incident is that Burns had heard that Creech was secretly publishing another edition and to prove this he visited Beugo and asked for the engraved plate used to print the frontispiece portrait. Beugo engraved a "distinguishing mark" on it and this secret mark subsequently appeared on a large number of copies of the Edinburgh edition. McQueen records that "Beugo was suspicious when William Creech asked for the copper-plate engraving of Burns, so he put a secret note on the engraving".
Presentation, loaned copies, Subscribers, etc