The Washington times., 1912-07-07
| each other. Now that Smith Is gone
his old Scotch friend Is his chief
Was Burns Collector.

each other. Now that bmlth Is gone
his old Scotch friend is his chief
mourner
Was Burns Collector.
Mr. Smith possessed what is be-
leved to be the greatest collection of
Robert Burns works in the world.
As he loved the writings Of the i'm
mortal Bobby. so he died among hum
dreds and hundreds of volumes writ
ten by or about Scotlands greatest
son.
He used to point with pride to the
moro than 500 volumes that filled the
walls of the two-room brick cottage he
lived in these many years. Not only
were they lined up on shelves. but in
corners, on tables and stuffed in draw
ers.
Besides the volumes he had biogra-
phies, critical reviews and comment
aries. poems. and addresses, all dealing
with the man whom all Scotchmen
loved.
Two hundred Of the collection were
given to the grand old man by Andrew
Carnegie. The two Scotchmen, whose
lives seemed to have run so far apart,
were the best OF friends; real friends,
and it was with pleasure that each
referred to the other. The death OF the
botanist will be mourned by Carnegie
as we'll as BY others who knew and
loved his simple life.
One Fault In Collection.
There is but one thing to mar the
collection Of books, and that Is 1t has
no original of the very first edition,
known as the Kilmarnock edition, be-
cause 1t was printed there in 1885, There
were only 600 copies of that issue. and
they have become so rare that a single
copy now will bring over $1,000.
Though this earliest edition is want
ing, except in facsimile. there are two
copies of the second edition, the one
known as the first Edinburgh, printed
there in 1887 One Of these copies has
been rebound, but the other is in its
original binding.
Mr. Smith bought one OF these in 1880
for 50, but now 1t would bring several
hundred. The first Edinburgh contains
an interesting "Ragman's Roll" or list
of subscribers. Five thousand were
printed. though the subscriptions, of
course, were far from that number. ,
In London in 1877, really the third edi-
ton. 1t is known as the 'stinking
edition." because of the error which the
English typographer made in the we'll
known poem. ITO Haggis."
Signed By Labor Leader.
One of the most interesting Of the
collection given him by Mr.. Carnegie is
one printed at Newcastle-on-Tyne in
1902. Under the portrait of Burns, which
forms the frontispiece, is written in bold
hand:
Dumb Labour, this day 1859, found its
JOHN BURNS.
Glasgow, January 25. 1891.
The inscription was placed there by
NlaA Lob lanI I.s. H. l. \
of parliament. Though his name Is the
same he is not related to the Robert
Burns family.
Mr.. Smith was perhaps one of the best
works. He knew by heart hundreds
of the famous SCotchman's poems, and
had read every volume of Burns he
could secure.
Board of Trust Named.
In his will Superintendent Smith be-
queathes this remarkable collection OF
books to a board of trust, with the
wish that they be IAN aid to preserv-
ing the republic in pure democracy
with demaSogues left out" The board
named in his will is Andrew Carnegie.
Theodore Norris, Blair Lee, Secretary of
Agriculture James Wilson. Champ
Clark, David Hutchinson, Thomas Nell
son Page, John Barrett, oliver Richie
son, DR.. Charles c. Marbury, and Al
merit DpuSldS.
1t will be necessary for this board to
meet before 1t can be known definitely
what Is going to become OF the books,
AS the collector did not indicate in his
will or otherwise what city should re-
ceive them. Inasmuch as his whole life
has been spent in Washington. and as
II is known that he loved this city more
than any other in the world, IL is be-
lieved that the board will make some
arrangements for housing the books
here.