Writers’ Museum
Address: 3 Lady Stair’s Close, Edinburgh, EH1 2PA
The Writers’ Museum focuses on the lives of three of the most celebrated writers in Scottish history. Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Collections on display include personal items, portraits, manuscripts and first editions of their books. The museum building is called Lady Stair’s House, named after Lady Stair (Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Stair), one of its previous owners. Tucked away off the busy Royal Mile, on Lady Stair’s Close. It dates originally from 1622 and was rebuilt in 1892 in a faux-medieval style, incorporating replica carved stones, probably from the building which stood there before it.
In 1907, the building was donated to the City Of Edinburgh to be used as a museum. The museum first opened to the public in 1913, displaying a variety of historical objects relating to Edinburgh. Over the next 50 years, collections were moved around between the city’s venues to form specialised museums and it finally became The Writers’ Museum in 1962.
5 things to do at the Writers’ Museum
- See the Robert Burns collection. The museum showcases portraits, a rare cast of Robert Burns’ skull, his writing desk, personal letters, and a handwritten manuscript of his poem Scots Wha Hae, celebrating Scotland’s national poet.
- See the Sir Walter Scott collection. Scot is one of Edinburgh’s most famous writers, and the museum features the printing press used for his novels, a first edition of Waverley, a portrait by Sir Francis Grant, his dining table, rocking horse, chess set and personal letters.
- See the Robert Louis Stevenson collection. The collection dedicated to Stevenson, a celebrated Edinburgh writer, showcases original works like The Pentland Rising, A Child’s Garden of Verses, an illustration from Kidnapped, his journal, personal items and a wide collection of photographs and printed works.
- Browse the first floor shop, where you can buy books by Scots authors and other gifts and souvenirs.
- Visit the museum’s public outdoor space known as the Makars’ Court. (Makar is the Scots word for poet or author). It has engraved flagstones on the ground, which represent many Scottish writers from the 14th century until the present day. The museum adds new stones regularly, so the monument is constantly evolving.
