Edinburgh Writer's Museum

Tucked away in Lady Stairs Close, up a narrow staircase entered half-way up the Mound, in Edinburgh Old Town, you will find the Edinburgh Writers' Museum. Quotations by eminent local authors in the Makers' Courtyard (maker is author) such as Scott and Burns greet you on arrival.

The Lady Stairs House, built in 1622, is a small building with a narrow curling, stone staircase. That's in keeping with the intimate nature of the displays which feature authors portraits and original tools of the trade, such as Burns' writing desk, and Scott's chessboard, dining table and the printing press on which his Waverley novels were produced.

The Museum is run by the City of Edinburgh Council Museums and Galleries. During the Fringe it is the starting point for the travel writer Allan Foster's Edinburgh Book Lovers' Tour.

Who was Lady Stair?

Lady Stair was the the widow of John Dalrymple (1648-1707) the first Earl of Stair. She bought the house in 1719 off Sir William Gray of Pittendrum, an Edinburgh Baronet.