http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1071858066

Justice to William Creech

From unpublished letters to James Currie as well as from previously published correspondence of the poet Robert Burns, the author reviews the difficulties Burns had in settling with publisher William Creech after the publication of 'Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect' (1787). In light of the notorious slowness of Edinburgh publishers in balancing accounts, and in the absence of harsh correspondence between Burna's and Creech, it is concluded that Creech did not abuse Burns and that the poet respected the publisher. A comparison of Burns's verbal sketches of Creech prior to and after the alleged difficulties reveals no change in Burns's characterization, a circumstance confirming the absence of hostility between the two men.

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