Robert Burns (1759 –1796), Scotland's national poet and pioneer of the Romantic Movement, has been hugely influential across Europe and indeed throughout the world. Burns has been translated seven times as often as Byron, with 21 Norwegian translations alone recorded since 1990; he was translated into German before the end of his short life, and was of key importance in the vernacular politics of central and Eastern Europe in the nineteenth century. This collection of essays by leading international scholars and translators traces the cultural impact of Burn's work across Europe and includes bibliographies of major translations of his work in each country covered, as well as a publication history and timeline of his reception on the continent.

Murray Pittock FRSE is Bradley Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow, UK, and has previously held chairs and other senior appointments at the universities of Manchester, Strathclyde and Edinburgh.