Burns and His Highland Mary.

PrinterPrinted by Kelloggs & Comstock American, 1848 - 1850

PublisherPublished by Kelloggs & Comstock American, 1848 - 1850

PublisherPublished by D. Needham American, 1808 - 1888

Date1848-1851

MediumLithography; printer's ink and watercolor on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 11 7/8 x 8 5/8in. (30.2 x 21.9cm)
Sheet (height x width): 17 7/16 x 13 1/8in. (44.3 x 33.3cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineMuseum purchase

DescriptionA young man and a young woman are seated on large rocks beside a stream. He wears a plaid tartan over his shoulder, and his elbow rests on an open book. A Scottish cap lies nearby. She wears a skirt and a long blouse with an open bodice, revealing laces and an undergarment. A ribbon is in her hair. Vines grow on a large tree at the left. A waterfall and mountains are in the right background.

Object number1983.131.2

InscribedOn recto, lithographed title beneath image, "BURNS AND HIS HIGHLAND MARY. / Eternity will not efface / Those records dear of transports past: / Thy image at our last embrace; / Ah! little thought we 'twas our last! / Ayr, gurgling kiss'd his pebbled shore ' O'erhung with wild woods thickening green. / The fragrant beech and hawthorn hoar / Twined amorous round the raptured scene. / 89."

On verso, in pencil: lower right, "Dwr 10"; lower left, accession number.NotesHistorical Note: The son of a farmer, Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Scotland on 25 January 1759. Although poor, he read widely, and by 1781, had begun to write poetry. His Poems, chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, were an immediate success when they were published in 1786. He died at Dumfries, Scotland on 21 July 1796 at the age of 37.

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