Bibliography

Egerer, J. W. A Bibliography of Robert Burns. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1965, 396 p.

Impressive list documents first appearances of Burns's poetry and prose up to 1802, and most editions of his works up to 1953.

Reid, J. B., ed. A Complete Word and Phrase Concordance to the Poems and Songs of Robert Burns. 1889. Reprint. New York: B. Franklin, 1968, 568 p.

With glossary of Scottish words, notes, index, and appendix of readings.

Biography

Carswell, Catherine. The Life of Robert Burns. London: Chatto & Windus, 1930, 467 p.

Often scorned for its lack of documentation, a sympathetic and highly readable account of Burns's life.

Daiches, David. Robert Burns and His World. London: Thames and Hudson, 1971, 128 p.

Lavishly illustrated work treats Burns's life and career; bibliography and chronology included.

Douglas, Hugh. Robert Burns: The Tinder Heart. Gloucestershire: Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd, 1996, 299 p.

Biography with index of poems and songs and bibliography.

Snyder, Franklyn Bliss. The Life of Robert Burns. 1932. Reprint. Hamden Conn.: Archon Books, 1968, 524 p.

Highly acclaimed biography eschews anecdotal material for "verifiable fact."

Criticism

Beaty, Frederick L. "The Necessity of Marriage: Burns and Wordsworth." In his Light From Heaven: Love in British Romantic Literature, pp. 59–80. Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1971.

Examines Burns's wide-ranging and sometimes contradictory views on matrimony as expressed in his poems and letters.

Crawford, Thomas. "Maturity." In his Burns: A Study of the Poems and Songs, pp. 217–56. Edinburgh and London: Oliver and Boyd, 1960.

Examines "Tam o'Shanter" and Burns's democratic poems and politics.

Damrosch, Jr., Leopold. "Burns, Blake, and the Recovery of Lyric." Studies in Romanticism 21, no. 4 (Winter 1982): 637–60.

Asserts that Burns's merging of his own experience with Scottish folk tradition enabled the poet "to be personal and impersonal at once."

Jack, R. D. S. and Andrew Noble, eds. The Art of Robert Burns. London: Vision Press, 1982, 240 p.

Collection of essays examines Burns's lyrics, satires, poems, and epistles, as well as his careful cultivation of his image.

Kinsley, James. "The Music of the Heart." Renaissance and Modern Studies 8 (1964): 5–52.

Examines Burns's "personal and passionate" interest in songs and his "patriotic mission" to recover, interpret, and compile the old folk songs of Scotland.

Low, Donald A., ed. Robert Burns: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974, 447 p.

Ambitious and invaluable collection of contemporaneous and near-contemporaneous criticism.

——. Critical Essays on Robert Burns. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1975, 191 p.

Important collection of essays covers Burns's life, work, and audience.

——. "Values, Voice and Verse Form." In his Robert Burns, pp. 31–57. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1986.

Considers Burns's motivation in writing selected works.

McGuirk, Carol. Robert Burns and the Sentimental Era. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1985, 193 p.

Considers Burns in terms of the sentimental.

Snyder, Franklin Bliss. Robert Burns: His Personality, His Reputation and His Art. 1936. Reprint. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1970, 119 p.

Examines Burns's personality, reputation, and art. Snyder concludes that, although the poet was a national genius, his works also show evidence of craftsmanship.

Additional coverage of Burns's life and career is contained in the following sources published by Gale Research: Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, Vols. 3 and 29, and Poetry Criticism, Vol. 6.