Description
Book SynopsisThis is the twentieth volume in the Public Sculpture of Britain series, the ambitious collaboration between Liverpool University Press and the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association that will eventually document the outdoor sculptural heritage of the whole of the UK. Public sculpture is defined in this context as any work of three-dimensional art located in an unregulated public space, typically consisting of free-standing commemorative monuments, architectural carvings and statues attached to buildings, and contemporary site-specific interventions. A subject that was until recently overlooked as a matter of marginal relevance to the history of art, public sculpture has been shown through the Liverpool University Press series to offer a range of important insights into the built environment, enriching our understanding of architecture and city planning, and raising many challenging issues relating to the development of society as a whole. This is nowhere better illustrated than in Edinburgh, where the richness of its history as a capital city, and the dramatic power of its urban topography, have combined to create a uniquely fertile breeding ground for public sculpture of every kind. With the coverage divided between two companion volumes, the study begins appropriately with the historic Old Town, and the various suburbs extending from it to the south.
Trade Review‘The Depth of detail, the lavish use of black and white photographs and the helpful indices and artists’ biographies are exemplary... These two handsome volumes will be key reference works for years to come but they are also of great interest to the public.’
Fiona Pearson,
Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History‘
Public Sculpture of Edinburgh is a triumph. It will be impossible to surpass, surely, by whatever measure one may care to adduce. In scholarship and in meticulous attention to detail (on the one hand) and (on the other) in lively discussion of, or trenchant opinion on, individual works of sculpture or the sculptural programmes which adorn the city’s grander buildings and public spaces it could not conceivably be bettered. No more significant work on the fabric of Scotland’s capital city has appeared in recent times.’
Iain Gordon Brown,
Scottish Archives'These lovely books are all that anyone could ask for, and more. [...] Overall,
Public Sculpture of Edinburgh is a remarkable achievement and a superb testament to the vitality of this great city and its public art.'
William S. Rodner,
SCOTIA: Interdisciplinary Journal of Scottish Studies
