Author Description

Originally published in 1925, this guide uses the available public transport to lead tourists through the favoured districts of Edinburgh and the surrounding districts. The style is entirely practical, and remarkably informative. A particular feature is the habit of quoting the cost of buildings and structures, where known; for example, the Forth Bridge, for which the cost is noted as having been 3,500,000 (including 800,000 for connecting lines) By the time of publication, the British railways had been brought into four groups, after the ravages of the Great War. However, what was to prove a more substantial threat to their dominance of the travel and tourist market had already arrived - chars-a-banc and motor 'buses provided the "favourite excursions.""