c1900's British-made magic lantern slide - Scottish poet Robert Burns poem "The Cotter's Saturday Night" - written during the winter of 1785-6, by Robert Burns, 1759 –1796 - widely celebrated as the national poet of Scotland. Labeled "A Night with Burns", this slide was likely used as part of a literary presentation of Burns' poetry and /or song lyrics. The slide is also captioned "But hark, a rap" - a line from the poem, and marked with the number "20", and the initials "J.V." The "20" identifies this slide as the 20th in the sequence of the story line , and J. V., is likely the publisher of the set of glass slides. The image is that of the Cottager's daughter's beau arriving for a visit on Saturday night.

Burns wrote poetry in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a "light" Scots dialect understandable outside Scotland. As well as his original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) Auld Lang Syne is one of his best known songs, and Scots Wha Hae served for a long time as an unofficial Scottish national anthem. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well-known across the world today include Tam O'Shanter; A Red, Red Rose; A Man's A Man for A' That; To a Louse; and To a Mouse. Renown for his carousing, he died early at the age of 37 of a heart condition, but left an impressive body of work. Also remembered for his somewhat scandalous love affair with Jean Armour.

Before moving pictures, magic lanterns were used to project on a large screen a series of still images of travel sights, historical events or popular stories - often shown in sequence with the reading of an accompanying text.

Hand-painted glass in a metal frame. Measures 3-1/4" x 3-1/4".