The Bard: Robert Burns, a Biography, Crawford, Robert. Published by Jonathan Cape, UK, 2009. Signed, dated and inscribed by author to title page. 8vo up to 9½” tall., xii, 465pp. with frontis-portrait, bibliographical references, and index. Black boards with gilt titles. Volume is in fine condition; dustjacket has light top edge ruffling and is otherwise fine.
Drawing on a surprising variety of untapped sources — from rediscovered poetry by Burns to manuscript journals, correspondence, interviews and oratory by his contemporaries — this new biography presents the remarkable life, loves, and struggles of the great poet. Robert Crawford outlines how Burns combined a childhood steeped in the peasant song-culture of rural Scotland with a consummate linguistic artistry to become not only the world’s most popular love poet but also the controversial master poet of modern democracy.
