Burns House from "Dumfries and Robert Burns: A Photographic Souvenir"

A lithographic print of a monochrome photograph of Burns House from a photographic souvenir booklet.   This small souvenir booklet contains thirteen photographs of places in and around the town of Dumfries with associations with Robert Burns, accompanied by a short description of each place. This photograph shows Robert Burns' final home in Mill Street (now Burns Street), Dumfries.   Robert Burns died here on 21 July 1796, although his wife, Jean Armour Burns, continued to live in the house until her own death in 1834. The house was purchased in 1851 by their son, Colonel  William Nicol Burns, and throughout the 19th Century it became a place of pilgrimage for Burns enthusiasts from around the world. At the time this photograph was taken a caretaker occupied the house, apart from the room in which the poet had died, which was set out as an exhibition of Burns relics.   This booklet was printed and published by a local firm, Maxwell and Son of  Dumfries. Souvenir booklets containing photographic views were popular with the tourists of the early 20th century as very few people owned their own camera at this time.