A surprisingly charming photo book
4 stars
It's hard for me to judge this book fairly, as it's the only one I own that's dedicated solely to the Edinburgh area. While I can't compare it to others, I think it's good, and it has been quite useful in helping me avoid my fictional setting resembling London and other southern cities too much.
Like the earlier "Victorian and Edwardian London from old photographs", it is a collection of period photos with brief descriptions. However, I found this one more enjoyable, because C.S. Minto's descriptions are so charming - he's not afraid to reminisce, and sounds excited to talk about his favourite place and its history.
Though the printing quality isn't great, the photos are still immensely useful. Even in black and white, the vastly different texture of Edinburgh compared to London and most other UK cities is obvious. Since many of the buildings shown still exist, one can …
It's hard for me to judge this book fairly, as it's the only one I own that's dedicated solely to the Edinburgh area. While I can't compare it to others, I think it's good, and it has been quite useful in helping me avoid my fictional setting resembling London and other southern cities too much.
Like the earlier "Victorian and Edwardian London from old photographs", it is a collection of period photos with brief descriptions. However, I found this one more enjoyable, because C.S. Minto's descriptions are so charming - he's not afraid to reminisce, and sounds excited to talk about his favourite place and its history.
Though the printing quality isn't great, the photos are still immensely useful. Even in black and white, the vastly different texture of Edinburgh compared to London and most other UK cities is obvious. Since many of the buildings shown still exist, one can deduce how these scenes would've looked in colour.
The images are nearly all dated, some approximately, and locations and landmarks are mentioned in the descriptions for photos of places. Most of the photos date from the early 1900s, but there are a number from earlier decades. A few pages are devoted to "famous sons" of Edinburgh, which I feel add very little - I'd have preferred that space be used for images that are harder to come across, and show more of the city or its lesser-known characters.
This book can often be found cheap online, and if you find yourself wanting reference images of 1870s-1910s Edinburgh, it's one I can recommend.