Mausoleum of Burns, Dumfries

A hand coloured steel plate engraving from a painting by William Henry Bartlett of the grave of Robert Burns in St Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries.   In the years following his death, Robert Burns' admirers came to believe that his simple grave was an insufficient memorial to the poet. In 1813,  John Syme formed a committee and launched an appeal to build a mausoleum in his memory. One of the subscribers was the Prince Regent, later George IV. After a public advertisement, over 50 designs were received and the plans of T F Hunt, a London architect were approved.   Burns Mausoleum became a place of pilgrimage for visitors to Dumfries. This view of the mausoleum is engraved from a painting by William Henry Bartlett and shows the mausoleum in its corner of the old churchyard.   This view of Burns Mausoleum has been hand coloured, most probably sometime in the 20th century after having been removed from a topographical book published in the mid 1880s. At this time the development of steel plate engraving made it possible for images to be reproduced in much greater numbers than previous printing technology had allowed. Engravings of works by eminent artists became popular, although they were still expensive and beyond the pocket of most people.