A Work of Beauty: Alexander McCall Smith's Edinburgh

by Alexander McCall Smith

"I love this city, and always shall. I write about it. I dream about it. I walk its streets and see something new each day - traces of faded lettering on the stone, still legible, but just; some facade that I have walked past before and not noticed; an unregarded doorway with the names, in brass, of those who lived there sixty years ago, the bell-pulls sometimes still in place, as if one might summon long-departed residents from their slumbers." Edinburgh is a city of stories - a place that has witnessed everything from great historical upheavals, to the individual lives of a remarkable cast of characters. Every spire, cobblestone, bridge, close and avenue has a tale to tell. In this sumptuous new book, Alexander McCall Smith curates his own, distinctive story of Edinburgh - combining his affectionate, incisive wit with a wealth of stunning imagery drawn from Scotland's national collection of architecture and archaeology. Through a series of photographs, maps, drawings and paintings - many never before published - he takes the reader on a unique tour. Just like the city's architecture, the book can move in an instant from sweeping views to secret, hidden vignettes. This is a story of famous landmarks and lost buildings; the people who made them; the people who lived in them. 'A Work of Beauty' is an intimate portrait of a city by one of Scotland's greatest storytellers.

Genres: Scotland, Nonfiction, History, Travel, Architecture, Photography

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2014

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Christmas gift from a few years ago. I have finished it. It was actually quite a long book. Lots of old photographs and etchings and architectural renderings of streets and buildings of Edinburgh throughout history and lots of interesting information on all the stories behind all of it. You would have to be very interested in Edinburgh’s history to enjoy it, and I was, and I did : )

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alexander McCall Smith first came to Edinburgh as a student and has loved the city ever since. Taking pictures from the archives, he showcases both the city as it is, and the city as it has been in the past. Like me, he deplores the destruction of the many wonderful buildings that were laid waste to be replaced by the faceless, character-less "international style" glass-and-steel block buildings. Though focusing mainly on architecture, he has some photos of people, and even colorful advertising. Mostly photographs, some engravings or drawings.
Chapters are: A Work of Beauty; City of Literature; Seat of Learning; Working Lives; Of Doctors and Scientists; City of the Mind.
This book makes me want to go back to Edinburgh. It also makes me want to go back in time to see some of the Edinburgh that is now gone.

[Suzanne Fournier · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect coffee table book. I might be biased having loved McCall Smith's writing and this wonderful city beforehand but the photos and information make it perfect to sit down and read or browse through the pictures.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous visual portrait of Edinburgh. I've lived in Scotland for 2.5 years and have worked in Edinburgh weekly for that time, so I know the city reasonably well, and seeing it through others' eyes was charming.

[Also, how did I not know that the University of Edinburgh's Old College was built on the spot (formnerly called Kirk O’Fields), where Henry Darnley, husband of Mary Queen of Scots, was murdered?]

All the photographs and art were gorgeous, but special mention goes to the “Modern Athens” series of engravings by Thomas Sheperd (the views of Edinburgh from 1868 and 1829 are included in the book, but there are a number of others in the series viewable online) -- these are absolutely gorgeous prints that will make you see the city in a whole new way.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

" 'I love this city and always will. I writer about it. I walk its streets and see something new each day -- traces of faded lettering on the stone, still legible, but just; some facade that I have walked past before and not noticed, an unregarded doorway with the names, in brass, of those who lived there sixty years ago, the bell-pulls sometimes still in place, as if one might summon long-departed residents from their shadows.'

"Edinburgh is a city of stories -- a place that has witnessed everything from great historical upheavals to the individual lies of a remarkable cast of characters. Every spire, cobblestone, bridge, close and avenue has a tale to tell.

"In this sumptuous book, Alexander McCall Smith curates his own distinctive story of Edinburgh -- combining his affectionate, incisive wit with a wealth of stunning imagery drawn from Scotland's national collection of architecture and archaeology. Through a series of photographs, maps, drawings and paintings -- many never before published -- he takes the reader on a unique tour. Just like the city's architecture, the book can move in an instant from sweeping views to secret, hidden vignettes. This is a story of famous landmarks and lost buildings; the people who made them; the people who lived in them.

"A Work of Beauty is an intimate portrait of a city by one of Scotland's greatest storytellers."

What more can be said?

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally picked up this book to finish it for Non Fiction November. Mc Call Smith is a prolific author who seems talented at putting his hand at a variety of kinds of writing. He has more than four popular fiction series. My favorite is the Sunday Philosophers Club series. In this book, when he talks about one of the most famous of Edinburgh philosophers, Hume, he confesses that Edinburgh's historical connection to well known philosophers led him to create the character of Isabel Dalhousie and the Sunday Philosophers Club series. This anecdote is an example of the occasional tangents McCall Smith takes in this volume.

It is full of historical drawings, maps, and photographs which Mc Call Smith uses to lay out the history of this amazing city. It is a huge undertaking and he manages to avoid getting bogged down too much or lost in the weeds of this city's culture, history, and famous figures.

Edinburgh is my favorite city. There are other cities I have visited, lived in and/or spent time in -Rio de Janiero, Dublin, Barcelona, Boston - but Edinburgh (excepting for the summer months when huge groups of cruise ships tourists jam the streets making what is a busy travel season unbearable- has so much of what I love - history, great restaurants, wonderful people, and a gorgeous city.

[Lainey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This coffee table book is Alexander McCall Smith’s love letter to his Edinburgh. He tells the story of Edinburgh in his distinctive voice, interspersed with hundreds of wonderful historical and modern-day photographs, maps, building design drawings, paintings, and engravings, etc. This book earns its title

[Andrea]

Fun, light reading. I adore the characters and the place and the little stories. Some of the books are better than others - I have read them all and am writing this review long afterward so I cannot remember one from the other - but overall these are an easy read and I feel like I am visiting with friends and learning about a place someone else clearly loves.