The Writers’ Museum, housed in Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, presents the lives of three of the foremost

Scottish writers This list of Scottish writers is an incomplete alphabetical list of Scottish writers who have a Wikipedia page. Those on the list were born and/or brought up in Scotland. They include writers of all genres, writing in English, Scots language, Lowl ...

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

and

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

. Run by the

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Sco ...

, the collection includes portraits, works and personal objects. Beside the museum lies the Makars' Court, the country's emerging national literary monument.

Exhibits

Robert Burns

* Invitation card to the Scottish Burns Club's Annual Supper (1994) The invitation reads:

Scottish Burns Club, Edinburgh Founded 1920, "The Heart ay's the pairt ay" ''Seventy-First Annual Supper'' Napier University Craiglockhart Campus 219 Colinton Road, Edinburgh Saturday 29th January 1994 6 for 6.30 pm Seats to be taken by 6.15 Ticket £12.50

The menu is accompanied with a portrait of Robert Burns surrounded by drawings of poetic scenery. The seventy-first annual supper had on its menu egg mayonnaise, scotch broth, haggis, roast turkey, pear melba, and coffee. On the right of the menu is the toast list which reads as the following:

The Queen ・・・・ The Chairman Interval The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns Charles H. Johnston, M. A., LL. B. ''Advocate'' Our Speaker ・・・・ The Chairman The Lassies ・・・ J. Gibson Kerr ''Reply'' ・・ Mrs. Dorothea Sharp Our Guests and Kindred Clubs D. McCallum Hay ''Immediate Past President'' ''Reply'' ・・・ John Millar, J.P. President, ''Colinton Burns Club'' Vote for Thanks to the Artists J. A. Hiddleston ''Reply'' ・・・・ George Peat The Chairman ・・・ G. W. Walker ''Vice-President'' Auld Lang Syne

* Robert Burns Display Soundtrack The soundtrack is on loop, displaying extracts from letters and poems written by Robert Burns.

Walter Scott

* Chessboard and chessmen once owned by Sir Walter Scott Beyond childhood, Scott spent his free time learning languages instead of mastering the game of chess, as written in J. G. Lockhart's biography ''Life of Sir Walter Scott.'' He apparently thought that time was better spent on the acquiring a new language and said, "Surely, chess playing is a sad waste of brains"Object label, ''Sir Walter Scott'', The Writer's Museum, Edinburgh * Slippers - Gifted to Scott by Lady Honoria Louisa Cadogan, December 1830 The slippers are woven in pink and blue wool, lined with silk, and leather soled. The slippers became part of a collection of Scott-related items owned by Sir Hugh Walpole, who, a great admirer, thought himself as Scott's reincarnation. Louisa Cadogan attached a letter to the gift, in which she recounts her and her daughters, Lady Augusta Sarah and Lady Honoria Louisa's visit to Abbotsford. They were prompted to gift Scott new slippers upon finding uncomfortable-looking slippers in the study. Cadogan wrote that the pattern of the slippers were based on a pair worn by Ghazi Khan in the fifteenth century. * Part of a letter by Scott to J. G. Lockhart regarding demonology and witchcraft '' Letters of Demonology and Witchcraft'' written by Scott took the form of ten letters addressed to Lockhart. * Inkstand of Scott posthumously given to William Carmichael Scott sometimes visited his legal assistant Carmichael in the evening, in which Carmichael would play the fiddle or give Scott some tunes for recently composed verses. * The Ballantyne Press The hand-press is reputed to have been used for printing the Waverley. The press was owned by James Ballantyne who printed many of Scott's works including ''Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'' in 1802, which success prompted him to move to Paul's Work, North Back of

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...

, Edinburgh. In 1957, forty years after the discontinuation of the Edinburgh print-works, the firm then called Ballantyne and Company of London, gave this hand-press to the Victoria and Albert Museum who returned it to Edinburgh in October. The soundtrack of the exhibit displays a conversation between Mr. Hughes, the printing firm's chief workman, and his young apprentice.

Robert Louis Stevenson

* ''The Bible in Spain'' by George Borrow, 1869 Stevenson took the book with him on his " Travels with a Donkey", along many others. * Illustration by Walter Crane, to "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes" The illustration is based on the excerpt: "I lay lazily smoking and studying the colour of the sky, as we call the void of space, from where it showed a reddish-grey behind the pines to where it showed a glossy blue-black between the stars" (Travels with a Donkey). * 'Moral Emblems: a Second Collection of Cuts and Verses', printed by

LLoyd Osbourne Samuel Lloyd Osbourne (April 7, 1868 – May 22, 1947) was an American writer and the stepson of the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, with whom he wrote three books, including '' The Wrecker''. He also provided input and ideas on other ...

at Villa-am-Stein, Davos-Platz, Winter 1881-2

The collection includes "The Pirate and the Apothecary", in which a respectable chemist is revealed to be a hypocrite, while the pirate turns out to be the hero. The following is an excerpt:

''Come lend me an attentive ear'' ''A startling moral tale to hear,'' ''Of Pirate Rob and Chemist Ben,'' ''And different destinies of men.''

* 10 Street scene A paper sculpture left anonymously in the premises of several of Edinburgh's literary organisations, 10 Street Scene shows support of "libraries, books, words, and ideas" as well as an adoration for

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel ...

and Robert Louis Stevenson. Its sides are made out of the covers of ''

Hide and Seek Hide and seek may refer to: * Hide-and-seek, a children's game Film * ''Hide and Seek'' (1932 cartoon), a Fleischer Studios Talkartoon animated short * ''Hide and Seek'' (1963 film), a Swedish comedy film * ''Hide and Seek'' (1964 film), a ...

'', and showcases the scene in the ''

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between ...

'' in which Edward Hyde attacks a woman.Object label, ''Book Sculpture 2011 Anonymous Artist'', Writer's Museum, Edinburgh

Gallery

File:Writers Museum interior with exhibit rooms.jpg , Interior and exhibit rooms File:Robert Louis Stevenson books at the Writers Museum Edinburgh.jpg , Display of Robert Louis Stevenson books File:Statue of Robert Burns in Writers Museum Edinburgh.jpg , Statue of Robert Burns File:Ballantyne display in Writers Museum in Edinburgh 002.jpg , Ballantyne display File:Writers Museum gift shop and exhibits.jpg , Gift shop and exhibits

References

External links

Official website
Museums in Edinburgh Literary museums in Scotland Royal Mile Robert Burns Walter Scott Robert Louis Stevenson Biographical museums in Scotland Museums dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson {{UK-museum-stub