BURNS’ MS. FOUND?
(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter) CAPE TOWN. A 40-page manuscript of handwritten poems owned by Mr Norman Feitelberg may be worth about £lOO,OOO if the spidery writing can be proved to be that of Robert Burns. The Director of the Cultural History Museum in Cape Town, Dr. G. A. Wacha, said he is convinced that the poems were written by Robert Burns himself. He said that Burns had obviously copied them out to give to a friend. The manuscript and an accompanying letter are dated 1786. Dr. Wacha said the handwriting had been compared with other known Burns letters and signatures. The poems and letters have been owned by the Feitelberg family for about 40 years. They were given to the family in lieu of a debt.
The family had no intention of selling the manuscript yet but it had been offered “a fortune” for it. Mr Feitelberg said: “Once we are entirely sure of the authenticity of this manuscript we should like to exhibit it for h while, either in a museum or at the South African Library.”
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30880, 13 October 1965, Page 14
Word Count
178BURNS’ MS. FOUND? Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30880, 13 October 1965, Page 14
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