This marvelous new selection offers Burns´s work as it was first encountered by contemporary readers, presenting the texts as they were originally published. It reproduces in its entirety the volume which made Burns famous--Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, published at Kilmarnock in 1786--and it showcases a generous selection of songs from The Scots Musical Museum and A Select Collection of Scottish Airs, complete with their full scores. Robert Irvine´s Introduction examines Burns´s life and career, the publication of his poetry, his later concentration on song writing and song collecting, and the political contexts in which he wrote, both local and national, before and after the French Revolution. Comprehensive notes describe the circumstances in which other poems and songs found their way into print, both before and after the poet´s death. The edition also includes early reviews and important letters by Burns, a glossary of Scots words that explain obscure expressions, and explanatory notes clarifying historical references, composition and publication details, and much more.