33-849: The Writers’ Museum , housed in Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, presents the lives of three of the foremost Scottish writers : Robert Burns , Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson . Run by the City of Edinburgh Council , the collection includes portraits, works and personal objects. Beside the museum lies the Makars' Court , the country's emerging national literary monument. The invitation reads: Scottish Burns Club, Edinburgh Founded 1920, "The Heart ay's
66-600: A crime writer . He thought his first novels, Knots and Crosses and Hide and Seek , were mainstream books, more in keeping with the Scottish traditions of Robert Louis Stevenson and even Muriel Spark . He was disconcerted by their classification as genre fiction. The Scottish novelist Allan Massie , who tutored Rankin while Massie was writer-in-residence at the University of Edinburgh, reassured him by saying, "Do you think John Buchan ever worried about whether he
99-560: A group of ten book sculptures were deposited around Edinburgh as gifts to cultural institutions and the people of the city. Many of the sculptures made reference to the work of Rankin, and an eleventh sculpture was a personal gift to him. In 2019, Rankin donated his personal archives to the National Library of Scotland after moving to his flat in the Quartermile. The Library planned an exhibition for 2021 of highlights from
132-782: A number of years in the Merchiston / Morningside area, near the authors J. K. Rowling , Alexander McCall Smith and Kate Atkinson , before moving to a penthouse flat in the former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary building in Quartermile in Lauriston . The couple also own a house in Cromarty in the Scottish Highlands . Rankin appears as a character in McCall Smith's 2004 novel, 44 Scotland Street . In 2011,
165-463: A school canteen. He was educated at Beath High School , Cowdenbeath . His parents were horrified when he then chose to study literature at university, as they had expected him to study for a trade. Encouraged by his English teacher, he persisted and graduated in 1982 from the University of Edinburgh , where he also worked on a doctorate on Muriel Spark but did not complete it. He has taught at
198-534: A total of £1,850, to a book sale in aid of Christian Aid . Rankin was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2002 for services to literature and knighted in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to literature and charity. As of 2024 , Rankin has published 25 novels, two short-story collections, one original graphic novel, one novella, and a non-fiction book. He has also written
231-567: A trip through Edinburgh with writer/cook Anthony Bourdain . He appeared in The Amber Light , a 2019 documentary film about Scotch whisky. Rankin is the singer in the six-piece band Best Picture, formed by journalists Kenny Farquharson ( The Times ) and Euan McColl ( The Scotsman ) in 2017, and featuring Bobby Bluebell on guitar. They released the single "Isabelle" on Oriel Records in October 2017. They made their live debut at
264-615: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article relating to a museum in the United Kingdom is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lady Stair%E2%80%99s House Lady Stair's House is a building, completed in 1892, which stands in Lady Stair's Close in Lawnmarket , Edinburgh, Scotland. The structure is a Category A listed building , having received its designation in 1970. Today it
297-545: Is designated a Category A listed building by Historic Environment Scotland . Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin OBE DL FRSE FRSL FRIAS (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Rankin was born in Cardenden , Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in
330-521: Is home to the Writers' Museum . The current building is a faux-medieval work by Stewart Henbest Capper dating from 1892. It was presented by the Earl of Roseberry (who probably commissioned the work) to the city for use as a museum in 1907. Only then did it acquire the name of "Lady Stair's House". It incorporates replicas of various carved stones probably from the earlier building. The house it replaced
363-553: Is reputed to have been used for printing the Waverley . The press was owned by James Ballantyne who printed many of Scott's works including Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border in 1802, which success prompted him to move to Paul's Work, North Back of Canongate , Edinburgh. In 1957, forty years after the discontinuation of the Edinburgh print-works, the firm then called Ballantyne and Company of London, gave this hand-press to
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#1732798102912396-563: The Kendal Calling music festival on 28 July 2018. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Miranda ( née Harvey), whom he met at university and married in 1986, and their two sons: John Morgan "Jack" Harvey-Rankin (born 1992) and Christopher Connor "Kit" Harvey-Rankin (born 1994). He has acknowledged the assistance they get from Forward Vision in Edinburgh in looking after Kit and other young adults with special needs. They lived for
429-496: The Artists J. A. Hiddleston Reply ・ ・ ・ ・ George Peat The Chairman ・ ・ ・ G. W. Walker Vice-President Auld Lang Syne The soundtrack is on loop, displaying extracts from letters and poems written by Robert Burns. Beyond childhood, Scott spent his free time learning languages instead of mastering the game of chess, as written in J. G. Lockhart 's biography Life of Sir Walter Scott. He apparently thought that time
462-463: The Victoria and Albert Museum who returned it to Edinburgh in October. The soundtrack of the exhibit displays a conversation between Mr. Hughes, the printing firm's chief workman, and his young apprentice. Stevenson took the book with him on his " Travels with a Donkey ", along many others. The illustration is based on the excerpt: "I lay lazily smoking and studying the colour of the sky, as we call
495-525: The album Jackie Leven Said . In 2007, Rankin appeared in programmes for BBC Four exploring the origins of his alter-ego character, John Rebus . In these, titled "Ian Rankin's Hidden Edinburgh" and "Ian Rankin Investigates Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde," Rankin looks at the origins of the character and the events that led to his creation. In the TV show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations , he takes
528-479: The archive, which includes research notes, newspaper clippings and manuscripts. Rankin has donated a considerable portion of his earnings to charity. In 2007, he and his wife set up a trust to support charities in the fields of health, art and education. In 2020, it was reported that he had donated around £1 million to the trust in the previous five years, with £200,000 being donated in 2019. In 2022, he donated rare first editions of three of his early works, valued at
561-552: The inscription "FEARE THE LORD AND DEPART FROM EVILL". Their son was the Scots Worthy Andrew Gray whose books became well-known despite dying at an early age. The building was initially known as Lady Gray's House and the close known as Lady Gray's Close because Sir William Grey's wife, Lady Grey, continued to live in the house after his death in 1648. The tenement is now named after the Gray's granddaughter:
594-441: The pairt ay" Seventy-First Annual Supper Napier University Craiglockhart Campus 219 Colinton Road, Edinburgh Saturday 29th January 1994 6 for 6.30 pm Seats to be taken by 6.15 Ticket £12.50 The menu is accompanied with a portrait of Robert Burns surrounded by drawings of poetic scenery. The seventy-first annual supper had on its menu egg mayonnaise, scotch broth, haggis, roast turkey, pear melba, and coffee. On
627-649: The premises of several of Edinburgh's literary organisations, 10 Street Scene shows support of "libraries, books, words, and ideas" as well as an adoration for Ian Rankin and Robert Louis Stevenson. Its sides are made out of the covers of Hide and Seek , and showcases the scene in the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in which Edward Hyde attacks a woman. 55°56′59″N 3°11′37″W / 55.9497°N 3.1937°W / 55.9497; -3.1937 This article about an organisation in Scotland
660-492: The right of the menu is the toast list which reads as the following: The Queen ・ ・ ・ ・ The Chairman Interval The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns Charles H. Johnston, M. A., LL. B. Advocate Our Speaker ・ ・ ・ ・ The Chairman The Lassies ・ ・ ・ J. Gibson Kerr Reply ・ ・ Mrs. Dorothea Sharp Our Guests and Kindred Clubs D. McCallum Hay Immediate Past President Reply ・ ・ ・ John Millar, J.P. President, Colinton Burns Club Vote for Thanks to
693-490: The short story "Fieldwork" to Oxfam 's Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Rankin's story was published in the Earth collection. In 2009 Rankin stated on BBC Radio 5 Live that he would start work on a five- or six-issue run on the comic book Hellblazer , although he may turn the story into a stand-alone graphic novel instead. The Vertigo Comics panel at WonderCon 2009 confirmed that
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#1732798102912726-420: The society beauty Lady Stair, Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Stair (née Elizabeth Dundas), the widow of John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair . She purchased the building in 1719. In 1825, Lady Stair's House was bought by John Russel, a brushmaker whose family lived in the house until 1895. In the 1890s, the original building was inherited by Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery . He was prompted to do so by
759-594: The story would be published as a graphic novel , Dark Entries , the second release from the company's Vertigo Crime imprint. In 2013, Rankin co-wrote the play Dark Road with Mark Thomson, the artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre . The play, which marked Rankin's play-writing debut, premiered at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh , in September 2013. In 2005, Rankin became
792-424: The study. Cadogan wrote that the pattern of the slippers were based on a pair worn by Ghazi Khan in the fifteenth century. Letters of Demonology and Witchcraft written by Scott took the form of ten letters addressed to Lockhart. Scott sometimes visited his legal assistant Carmichael in the evening, in which Carmichael would play the fiddle or give Scott some tunes for recently composed verses. The hand-press
825-711: The subject of evil was broadcast on Channel 4 in December 2002. In 2005 he presented a 30-minute documentary on BBC Four called Rankin on the Staircase , in which he investigated the relationship between real-life cases and crime fiction. It was loosely based on the Michael Peterson murder case, as covered in Jean-Xavier Lestrade's documentary series Death on the Staircase . The same year, Rankin collaborated with folk musician Jackie Leven on
858-481: The tenth best-selling writer in Britain, accounting for 10% of all crime fiction sold. He also wrote three non-Rebus crime novels in 1993-95 under the pseudonym Jack Harvey. In 2021, Rankin helped finish a draft by William McIlvanney , a prequel telling the story of an early case of McIlvanney's fictional detective Jack Laidlaw. McIlvanney, whom Rankin admires, had died in 2015 leaving the manuscript unfinished. It
891-527: The town planner Patrick Geddes , who had been campaigning for a renewal programme in Edinburgh's Old Town, largely demolished by the City Improvement Schemes of the 19th century. The rebuilding of 1892 included nothing of the original building other than unseen basement areas. In 1907, the Earl gave the house to the royal burgh of Edinburgh, for use as a municipal museum. Lady Stair's House
924-644: The university and retains an involvement with the James Tait Black Memorial Prize . He lived in Tottenham , London, for four years and then rural France for six while he developed his career as a novelist. Before becoming a full-time novelist, he worked as a grape picker, swineherd , taxman, alcohol researcher, hi-fi journalist, college secretary and punk musician in a band called the Dancing Pigs. Rankin did not set out to be
957-589: The void of space, from where it showed a reddish-grey behind the pines to where it showed a glossy blue-black between the stars" (Travels with a Donkey). The collection includes "The Pirate and the Apothecary", in which a respectable chemist is revealed to be a hypocrite, while the pirate turns out to be the hero. The following is an excerpt: Come lend me an attentive ear A startling moral tale to hear, Of Pirate Rob and Chemist Ben, And different destinies of men. A paper sculpture left anonymously in
990-598: Was better spent on the acquiring a new language and said, "Surely, chess playing is a sad waste of brains" The slippers are woven in pink and blue wool, lined with silk, and leather soled. The slippers became part of a collection of Scott-related items owned by Sir Hugh Walpole, who, a great admirer, thought himself as Scott's reincarnation. Louisa Cadogan attached a letter to the gift, in which she recounts her and her daughters, Lady Augusta Sarah and Lady Honoria Louisa's visit to Abbotsford. They were prompted to gift Scott new slippers upon finding uncomfortable-looking slippers in
1023-409: Was demolished in 1890. Lady Stair's House (3 Lady Stair's Close, 477 Lawnmarket) is located within Lady Stair's Close , just off the Lawnmarket. The original house was built in 1622 for Sir William Gray of Pittendrum . The lintel over the entrance is dated 1622 and carries the initials WG and GS, for William Gray and Geida (or Egidia) Smith, his wife (sister of Provost John Smith of Grothill ), and
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1056-476: Was published under the name The Dark Remains . In 2022, Rankin signed a deal with publisher Orion to write two new John Rebus novels. Later that same year, he received a Knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature and charity as part of her Birthday Honours List. Rankin is a regular contributor to the BBC Two arts programme Newsnight Review . His three-part documentary series on
1089-403: Was writing literature or not?" Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels are set mainly in Edinburgh. They are considered major contributions to the tartan noir genre. Thirteen of the novels—plus one short story—were adapted as a television series on ITV, starring John Hannah as Rebus in series 1 and 2 (4 episodes) and Ken Stott in that role in series 3–5 (10 episodes). In 2009, Rankin donated
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