St Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us and in celebration a neon sign bearing words from Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote will be launched by writer, former Python and Cervantes admirer, Terry Gilliam on railings at Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh.
The 10 metre neon sign will display the passionate and inspiring quote “I shall tear up trees with my bare teeth! I shall crush mountains with my fists! I shall go crazy - for love!” and is part of the Words on the Street project being run by City of Literature Trust to celebrate the power of great books to inspire artists and the city's rich tradition with publishing. Gilliam is famed for quoting Don Quixote as a major influence on his life and work and his book Gilliamesque details his fascination with Cervantes’ text. The book sent him on his own mission to make it into a film, currently an ongoing project that also marks the 400th anniversary of Cervantes' death.
Scotland’s publishing history dates back to 1508 when its first book, The Complaint of the Black Knight a lyrical poem by John Lydgate, was published in Edinburgh’s Cowgate. Don Quixote’s connection with Edinburgh goes back to the mid-18th century, when one of the book’s first English translators, Tobias Smollett, lived close to Jeffrey Street at St John's Pend in the Canongate. Smollett’s translation was first published in 1755 and revised in 1761, quickly becoming one of the most popular editions of Cervantes’ work. Jeffrey Street itself is named after Francis Jeffrey, co-founder of the Edinburgh Review so it is fitting all round that the Jeffrey Street railings have been chosen. The chosen site is at the heart of both Edinburgh’s literary heritage and its contemporary publishing community, and will be visible from the North Bridge; from trains coming in to Waverley and from the Carlton Hill.
The project has been funded by the City of Edinburgh Council,the New Waverley Community Fund and Union Projects and is delivered in partnership with Canongate Books and Jump Marketing.