Literary Edinburgh

A portrait of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), novelist, poet and one of Edinburgh's most famous writers. The author of Ivanhoe, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor, among other books, he was born in College Wynd in the Old Town, and studied at Edinburgh University. The 60m gothic spire of the Scott Monument, on Princes Street, dominates the city's skyline; and the train station, Edinburgh Waverley, is named after one of his novels
Photograph: Time Life Pictures/Getty Image

A 1955 British Railways poster promoting rail travel to Edinburgh, showing a view of the Scott Monument above Princes Street Gardens
Photograph: Science & Society Picture Librar/Getty Images

The late Dame Muriel Spark, another of Edinburgh's leading literary luminaries, photographed at the city's book festival in 2004. Her best-known novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, is set in the city
Photograph: Murdo Macleod

Spark pictured in 1960
Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty

A still from the film of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, with Maggie Smith in the title role. Smith won an Oscar for her portrayal of a 1930s Edinburgh teacher seeking to cultivate the 'crème de la crème'
Photograph: Cinetext/20th Century Fox/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar

Alexander McCall Smith at home in Edinburgh. McCall Smith is one of the city's best-known present-day literary residents; his 44 Scotland Street series offers a portrait of a particular slice of contemporary Edinburghian society
Photograph: Murdo Macleod

A still from the film of Trainspotting, based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, which mines a rather less salubrious side of the city than that dealt with by McCall Smith
Photograph: Cinetext Collection/Sportsphoto/Allstar

Irvine Welsh reclines in an Edinburgh cemetry
Photograph: Murdo Macleod

JK Rowling, who also makes her home in Edinburgh, poses with pen and paper in a cafe overlooking the castle. The story of her writing the first volume of her worldbeating Harry Potter series in an Edinburgh coffee shop is now the stuff of literary legend
Photograph: Murdo Macleod

Ian Rankin – 50 today – on a balcony overlooking the city in which his Inspector Rebus novels are set
Photograph: Murdo Macleod

A monument to the philosopher Sir David Hume, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh
Photograph: Murdo Macleod

A photograph of the novelist, poet and travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson. The author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (thought to be based on the life of infamous Edinburghian Deacon Brodie), Stevenson was born and grew up in the city, but was forced to leave in search of more clement weather on account of his failing health
Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty

The Robert Louis Stevenson memorial on Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh. The memorial depicts the characters of Alan Breck and David Balfour, the heroes of Stevenson's novel, Kidnapped
Photograph: Duncan Hale-Sutton/Alamy

A portrait of the poet Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet (1759-1796), who was born in Ayrshire but maintained deep and lasting associations with the city of Edinburgh, where his first volume of poems was published
Photograph: Time Life Pictures/Getty Image

Copies of The Poetry of Robert Burns in McNaughtan's Secondhand and Antiquarian Bookshop in Edinburgh
Photograph: Neil Setchfield/Alamy

The Burns monument on Calton Hill in Edinburgh
Photograph: Doug Houghton/Alamy

A statue of the poet Robert Fergusson (1750-1774) on the Royal Mile. Fergusson wrote in both English and Scots, and played a key role in the Scottish Enlightenment
Photograph: Peter Scholey/Alamy

Edinburgh's Scottish Poetry Library, founded in 1984, which places emphasis on contemporary poetry written in Scotland
Photograph: Pascal Saez/Alamy

The view over Edinburgh Waverley train station towards Edinburgh Castle
Photograph: The Travel Library/Rex Features

The National Library of Scotland, the country's largest library
Photograph: Jonathan Littlejohn/Alamy

Letters from Lord Byron to John Murray with his signature, and a drawing of Lord and Lady Byron by his former lover Caroline Lamb. The John Murray Archive is one of the world's most significant literary and cultural archives, containing letters, manuscripts and journals from some of the greatest writers, politicians and scientists alive between 1768 to 1920. Edinburgh-born publisher John Murray started the collection when he set up his business in London in the late 18th century
Photograph: Murdo Macleod

The entrance to the Edinburgh International Book festival, the largest such event in the world
Photograph: Jeffrey Blackler/Alamy