Rare 1885 first edition of Poems by Peter Burn, with gilt boards and all-edge gilt; poetic collection of Cumbrian verse.
 
Publication Details
 
Author: Peter Burn (1831–1902)
Title: Poems by Peter Burn, Brampton, Cumberland
Edition: Rare First Edition, 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV)
Publisher: Bemrose & Sons, London; printed by G. & T. Coward, Carlisle
Format: Green cloth over bevelled boards, gilt-lettered and gilt decorated front cover and spine, embossed black borders on rear board
Extent: 389 pages + 3 paginations of publications list
Size / Weight: Approximately 18.8 × 12.8 × 2.8 cm; approx. 521 g
 
Binding and Physical Features
 
All-edge gilt pages remain bright
Brown coloured pastedowns and endpapers
Front board and spine feature gilt titles and ornate borders; rear board has embossed black borders
Cover is robust with light wear, including faint marking, just a few patches of fading, soft corner bumping, edge rubbing, very slight splits in the cloth along the long edges of the spine. Good for a 140-year-old book
 
Interior Condition
 
Light foxing and small marks on preliminaries; occasional marks and light foxing in text
Very occasional light creases, pages mostly neat and uncreased
Ink marks on pages 102–103 only
A few small edge rips (including on the inner margins of the pastedowns) with no text loss
Very slight binding cracks at pp.320–321 and pp.322–323, minimal and stable
No pen or pencil inscriptions
All 389 text pages plus 3 pages of publication list present
 
Literary Significance
 
Includes Peter Burn’s celebrated earlier works (e.g. Voices of Nature, Local Traditions, The Village Funeral, English Border Ballads) plus later fugitive poems labelled Autumn Leaves, all collected and arranged by date. The preface honours his literary journey and local readership. Highly meaningful for enthusiasts of Victorian poetry and Cumbrian cultural heritage
 
Although Peter Burn is not widely documented in modern literary reference works, his self-published poetic journey and local acclaim shine through in Poems by Peter Burn. His preface speaks of long-term engagement with the reading public, most likely in Cumberland, through a series of earlier works such as Voices of Nature and border ballads. This collection embeds his legacy in the Cumbrian oral and literary tradition of the late Victorian era, making it a rare artifact for those researching regional British poets and the cultural life of 19th-century rural England.