Books on the Old Town
If you go into any bookshop in Edinburgh you will be confronted with a vast array of books on Edinburgh and Scotland. But which to choose to enhance your enjoyment and knowledge? Apart from the 'obvious' guidebooks, below are a few suggestions from people who live in the Old Town. Each title has a link to Amazon or (if the book is not available through Amazon) the publisher.
Pocket Guides and Walking Tours
Michael & Elspeth Wills, Walks in Edinburgh's Old Town. Takes you into the hidden corners as well as describing the main buildings and streets. There is a companion volume for Walks in Edinburgh's New Town.
Jean Bareham, Hidden Gardens of the Royal Mile. A guide to green spaces and gardens in the Old Town, a potted history of gardens and interview with today's gardeners.
Jane Peyton, Looking Up in Edinburgh. A different view of the city, its landmarks and buildings.
Let's Explore Edinburgh Old Town by Anne Bruce English is a potted history and guidebook for children.
Picture Books and Souvenirs
Douglas Corrance & Karen Fitzpatrick, Edinburgh: An Illustrated Journey. Text and photos take you on a journey from the Old Town to the outskirts of Edinburgh.
Colin Baxter, Edinburgh. Not just the skyline and blue sky, but the nooks and corners and all weathers.
David Torrance, Inside Edinburgh. Guidebooks and picture books give you exteriors; here are 100 of the most splendid interiors in Edinburgh, including many in the Old Town.
Malcolm Cant, Edinburgh's Old Town and its Environs. Historical photographs of the buildings and the people of the Old Town and the often grim reality behind the picturesque exteriors.
Miroslav Sasek, This is Edinburgh. Delightful and evocative paintings of Edinburgh by the Czech artist who visited in 1961.
Architecture
Charles McKean, Edinburgh: An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Small enough to fit into a pocket or handbag yet full of information about Edinburgh's development and its buildings. Inexplicably out-of-print but available second-hand.
Colin McWilliam, David Walker & John Gifford, The Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh. The authoritative (and heavyweight) architectural guide and history.
Hamish Coghill, Lost Edinburgh. A history of the development of Edinburgh through the buildings that are no more.
History
Arthur Herman, The Scottish Enlightenment. A history of the time when Edinburgh was 'a hotbed of genius' and one could stand at the Mercat Cross and 'in a few minutes take fifty men of genius by the hand'.
A J Youngson, The Making of Classical Edinburgh. Although 40 years old and mostly about the New Town, it begins with an unrivalled description of when Edinburgh was the Old Town.
Mary Cosh, Edinburgh: The Golden Age. The social and literary history of Edinburgh from 1760 to 1832 based on newspapers, journals, diaries and letters.
Dorothy Bell, Edinburgh Old Town. Demonstrating from contemporary sources that the Old Town in the 18th century was not chaotic and overcrowded but a very pleasant place to live. Available from Tholis Publishing.
Jim Johnson & Lou Rosenburg, Renewing Old Edinburgh. A history, using contemporary sources, of the development of the Old Town from the mid-19th century to the early 21st century and how the changes were influenced by the ideas of Patrick Geddes.
Historical (but still in print)
Chiang Yee, The Silent Traveller in Edinburgh (1948). A whimsical view of Edinburgh from a Chinese writer.
Robert Louis Stevenson, Picturesque Notes (1879). Nobody describes the character, topography or weather better.
Henry Cockburn, Memorials of His Time (1856). A first-hand account of life in the capital during the Age of Enlightenment.
Robert Chambers, Traditions of Edinburgh (1824 & 1868). Anecdotes of 18th century Edinburgh and the characters who lived there.
Literature
Allan Foster, The Literary Traveller in Edinburgh: a book lover's guide to the world's first city of literature.
Andrew Lownie, The Edinburgh Literary Companion. A guide to the literary and historical background to Edinburgh.
Lindsey Fraser and Kathryn Ross, Reading Round Edinburgh is a guide to children's books of Edinburgh.
Fiction
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is ostensibly set in London but it was inspired by Edinburgh and the story of Deacon Brodie.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark has scenes in the Royal Museum and National Gallery.
The Fanatic by James Robertson takes one back to Edinburgh and the case of Major Weir in the turbulent 17th century.
Many crime novels are set in Edinburgh, epitomized by Ian Rankin's Rebus series. The Skinner novels by Quentin Jardine are a rattling good read. Payment Deferred by Joyce Holms is an exciting yet humorous whodunnit.
Body Politic, The Bone Yard and Water of Death by Paul Johnston are set in a future when the city has been given over entirely to the tourists.
For Children
Our City is a collection of short stories based in Edinburgh written by nine authors for upper-primary children. The Old Town stories are Word of Crow by Viv French and The Boy With No Name by Nicola Morgan.
The story of Greyfriar's Bobby has been told best by Eleanor Atkinson, Lavinia Derwent and, as a picture book, by Ruth Brown.
The Chaos Clock by Gill Arbuthnot and The Seven Professors of the Far North, The Flight of the Silver Turtle and The Secret of the Black Moon Moth by John Fardell are fantasies with many references to the Royal Museum.
Historical adventures include At the Sign of the Black Dagger by Joan Lingard (set on the Royal Mile); Traitors' Gate (Edinburgh Castle in the Wars of Independence) and Dead Man's Close (Robert Louis Stevenson connection) by Catherine MacPhail.
See also Let's Explore Edinburgh Old Town by Anne Bruce English, This is Edinburgh by Miroslav Sasek and Reading Round Edinburgh by Lindsey Fraser and Kathryn Ross, all listed above.
For teenagers
Fleshmarket by Nicola Morgan is a dark tale about Dr Knox (who bought corpses from Burke & Hare) - strong stuff.
Note: The links on this page are provided for your convenience without any endorsement or liability. If you choose to purchase a book from an online retailer, you will be covered by any such guarantee as they provide. The Edinburgh Old Town Association will not be held liable in any way for any purchase you make. All purchases made using any link to Amazon from this page will generate a small donation to the Old Town Association – at no cost to you. Please use any link from this page for all your Amazon purchases.