It is not only the people of Edinburgh who should be thankful for this two-part twentieth volume in the Public Sculpture of Britain series, but also people in general, be they residents or tourists in the capital. The review of public sculptures is full and generous. Thanks should be given to the authors for the decades of work and research it has taken to complete these works. In Scotland, they complement the volume published on Glasgow's public sculpture in the same series in 2001. Behind the scenes, it is encouraging to see the support that the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Edinburgh World Heritage have given too.

The sense of civic pride in this collection manifests itself further in the depth and qualities of the references and research used to describe these catalogues of sculptures. The texts are eminently readable and clear to understand, and avoid the technical terms for the methods of production that can often prohibit the popular access and enjoyment of architectural heritage texts. These reference books should be in the hands of inspectors of such buildings, heritage and conservation bodies, tourist guides, teachers and all those who may dare to look up and away from the paving stones to see what has been put in front of them by way of commemoration and celebration. Some entries are triumphant essays in their own rights, giving credence to the aim to provide an erudite, definitive catalogue of the most important and impressive public sculptures the city has to offer. Perhaps the best example of such is the entry for the magnificent Scott Monument in Princes Street (volume II, pp. 220–6) – utterly dominant and a contrast to the ‘invisible’ monuments that Sir Mark Jones commented on in his introductory remarks to the first volume. If the citizens of the city do ignore their art and architectural heritage, then these books give opportunities to start or reconnect their lives to it.

In contrast to the triumphs of description are several urban history polemics. These occur in both volumes. The introductory essays set the collection of public sculptures into historical and cultural contexts and overall urban development, and the railway line running between Old and New Town is presented as the divider between the Old Town and New Town of Edinburgh. This is an easy reference for anyone to envisage, albeit an anachronism for the development of sculpture in either section of the city. There has been enough research and publications on Edinburgh, however, to debate the validity of seeing the city as bisected in two as a binary of old and new, insanitary and sanitary, medieval and enlightened, as is done in volume I's introduction. The ‘essential duality’ is not ‘incontestable’ and perhaps no more than a simplistic concept made for the benefit of past readers rather than one a modern urban historian would accept. The focus on artistic production and places of study is welcome in emphasizing the establishment of Victorian schools of art, and academic achievement, but the status of the mason and architect for older Edinburgh is given less credence. The entries for the works of the Mylne family at Parliament Hall, Heriot's Hospital and Holyroodhouse should have stated that Edinburgh's incorporation of wrights and masons managed and trained the workforces which designed, carved and installed the city's public sculptures for public and private patrons.

The introductory essay to the second volume also touches upon a polemic: the presentation of James Craig's circus plan of 1781 as the architect's plan of the New Town of 1767. This is clearly either an oversight or a meditated entry into the scholarship on the development of Craig's plan. The research sources for this volume show that the one book that had been used was A.J. Youngson's The Making of Classical Edinburgh (1966). Not even this seminal text, which is now over 50 years old and cannot accommodate the research and publications on the New Town that followed, claimed that this circus plan was Craig and Edinburgh Town Council's adopted plan. The closest supporting text to this entry has been Andrew Fraser's reassessment of Craig's New Town plans.Footnote ¹ Even this work did not claim that his circus plan was the adopted plan of July 1767. If the author of this introduction wanted to discuss Craig's interests in accommodating public sculpture, it could have been done through references to the authorized plan of the New Town, which is in Edinburgh City Museums collections, on public display, and accessible in print form in library collections, as well as widely published in books and articles. From this plan, it is clear that Craig offered variations on obelisks and equestrian monuments in the squares; there was no need to present such a polemic in a book on public sculpture.

Despite this shortcoming, the volumes are a real asset for reference, and a triumph of research and dedication to adding to accessible knowledge about public sculpture in Scotland. For this, the books should be applauded, purchased and used for years to come.