Article
Burns and the Altar of Independence: A Question of Authentication,
Studies in Scottish Literature
(2023)
Abstract
Describes and illustrates the only known manuscript of Robert Burns's short 'Poetical Inscription for an Altar to Independence'; notes ongoing disputes over the authenticity of several other of Burns's political poems from the 1790s; traces the manuscript's provenance from the Kern sale in 1929 (when it was cataloged as genuine) to Sotheby's in 1982 (when it was cataloged as a forgery), to its current location in the J.M.Shaw Collection, Florida State University Libraries, where more recent internal records catalogue it as authentic; points out evidence confirming its authenticity; and provides the first collation of the manuscript against the text published by James Currie in 1800.
Keywords
- Scottish literature,
- Scottish politics,
- Scottish history,
- Robert Burns,
- Patrick Heron
Disciplines
Publication Date
June, 2023
DOI
DOI: 10.51221/suc.ssl.2023.48.2.15
Citation Information
Patrick Scott and Gerard Carruthers. "Burns and the Altar of Independence: A Question of Authentication," Studies in Scottish Literature Vol. 48 Iss. 2 (2023) p. 199 - 206 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/patrick_scott/435/