Encouraged by the success of the Kilmarnock edition of his poems and particularly by a letter from Dr. Thomas Blacklock, an Edinburgh minister, Burns gave up his planned emigration to Jamaica and set off for Edinburgh.
A review of his poems had already appeared in the October 1786 edition of the Edinburgh Magazine but it was Henry Mackenzie’s review in ‘The Lounger’ of December 9th, 1786 that made Burns a celebrity. Initially the number of copies printed was 1500 but this was increased very quickly to 3000 copies. Burns received 100 guineas from the publisher William Creech for the copyright of his poems plus all the subscription money.
The Edinburgh Edition contained a dedication to ‘The Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Caledonian Hunt’, all of whom subscribed to his book. After the first batch had been printed, the type had to be reset due to an error in ‘Address to the Haggis’ whereby the line ‘Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware’ became ‘Auld Scotland wants nae stinking ware’.
The Mitchell has copies of both forms of the first Edinburgh Edition which was published in April 1787. 17 new poems, including ‘Address to the Haggis’ and 5 new songs were added to this edition. This particular copy contains 10 lines on the reverse of the portrait of Burns, the composition and handwriting of Helen Craik of Arbigland, a friend of the poet and is from the Andrew Bain Memorial Collection.