Registration

• Admission for this tour is $35. Members receive exclusive discounts on our programs and courses. Not a member? Learn more.

• Please check your spam folder for your email confirmation. If you have questions, please call (215) 732-1600 or email rsvp@rosenbach.org.

• Registration opens for Delancey Society members on Friday, June 13, for Rosenbach members on Friday, June 20, and for the general public on Friday, June 27. Registration opens at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Description

Poet and lyricist Robert Burns (1759-1796) ranks as one of the most beloved figures of Scottish history. Author of iconic verse and collector of traditional song lyrics, Burns has long inspired Scottish literary and cultural enthusiasts to declare him a symbol of national identity and liberty worldwide. He is, in fact, one of the most frequently memorialized figures in the world. Statues in Burns's honor can be found from Central Park in New York to Edinburgh to New Zealand. Burns fans have composed innumerable poems, songs, and speeches to his “immortal memory.” Despite his untimely death, this man who mixed “dirt and deity” (in the words of Lord Byron, a fellow Scot) still commands our attention as we consider his work and his legacy. 

The Rosenbach Museum & Library holds one of the world’s most significant collections of Burns letters, literary manuscripts, rare books, and artifacts. In this special, hands-on Behind the Bookcase tour, timed to coincide with the 229th anniversary of Burns’s death on July 21, we will consider enshrinements of Burns and in Burns’s literary works. Even as the poet celebrates life, his work is shot through with meditations on death.  

The Rosenbach's world-class collection includes manuscripts of "Thou Lingering Star” (to the oft-memorialized Highland Mary) and poems memorializing famous Scots, events, and figures, such as "Scots Wha Hae"/"Bruce to His Troops at Bannockburn" and "The Lament of Mary Queen of Scots.” Tour participants will enjoy the opportunity to see and even handle these documents. The program will close with a scotch toast to the legacy of Robert Burns. (Non-alcoholic drink options will be available.) 

This tour will be presented by Steve Newman, Associate Professor of English at Temple University.  

This program is a partnership between the Rosenbach, the Robert Burns Association of North America (RBANA), and the South Jersey Celtic Society (SJCS). Representatives of RBANA and SJCS will be on hand during the tours to discuss their groups’ work.  

About the Instructor

Steve Newman is an associate professor of English at Temple University, where he also serves as Director of Graduate Studies. He has taught and lectured on Burns in China, Nepal, and elsewhere and published about him in The Call of the Popular: Ballad Collection, Lyric, and the Canon from the Restoration to the New Criticism (Penn), as well as in various articles and book chapters. Burns is also a key figure in Newman’s current book project, Narratives of Value: What the Scottish Enlightenment and Scottish Romanticism Have to Teach Us About the Value of the Humanities Now. He is the editor of Burns's favorite pastoral, The Gentle Shepherd (Edinburgh UP) and directs a digital humanities project on The Beggar's Opera.   

Behind the Bookcase: Hands-on Tours at The Rosenbach

Behind the Bookcase: Hands-on Tours offer unparalleled access to see, and even touch, rare and important items not usually on view to the public. Each program is dedicated to a different author, theme, or topic and grants a truly hands-on experience with materials in The Rosenbach’s inspiring collection.

See all upcoming tours here. Space is limited and advance registration is strongly recommended.