Lauriston Castle, Cramond, Edinburgh

Lauriston Castle was left to the Edinburgh City Council, a lot of buildings like this still exist but are now used as hotels, offices or flats. The complete interior and collection belonging to it's most recent owners - the Reid's - are still intact, providing a rich historical reference point. The novelty of this collection to me was that, rather than having clear categories or narrative (a visitor would find it very difficult - without any knowledge of Edwardian history or antiques - to intuitively understand what the collection was about or for), the visitor is provided with a tour guide and expert on all the particulars of the castle. This sort of engagement with the collection allowed the to be generally untouched by signs, reference points, categories and instead a narrative is provided by a guided tour, and any questions I felt I needed to ask could be asked directly.

William Robert Reid, the last owner, was clearly an avid book collector and a mildly obsessive collector of Italian furniture. When asked, the tour guide (Mike), attributed this to Mr. Reid being brought up in the Victorian era wherein a gentleman of the time would likely collect things as a symbol of ownership. The owners before Mr. Reid built up an aristocratic collection, ie. consisting of items handed down through their family, as Mr. Reid acquired most of the collection himself, I felt it far more insightful in terms of that persons interests and passions.

These photos kind of provide a visual guide to the castle and the collection within...

The part that interested me the most was Mr. Reid's book collection, these shots were taken by me...

A great deal of the more valuable books were given to the National Library of Scotland, so the collection as it stands in the castle is not as say, complete, as it was before Mr. Reid died, but this struck me as perhaps another purpose of a collection, a useful service for others who otherwise would not be able to afford a collection themselves. (I've explored this part of the collection a little more here) As the castle itself is a historical reference point, everything that the collection contains, and the collection itself, allows the visitor to understand not only the life of Mr. Reid himself, but the culture of his particular class at the time.