New ways of reading

On arriving in Edinburgh today I am greeted at Waverly station with quotes from Sir Walter Scott displayed in the most unlikely places – on the floor of the busy central forecourt, alongside electronic boards displaying the train timetables and tucked into incongruous corners.

It was as if Edinburgh had suddenly discovered Scott. A big display stand offering free books giving a resume of Scott’s life explained it:

This is the 200th anniversary of the publication of the Waverley novels and the 10th anniversary of Edinburgh’s designation as a UNESCO City of Literature.

For those who doubt the future of the book here was ample evidence in this cultural celebration of Scott that reading is alive and well, though we are more likely to be doing it on electronic devices these days.

Scott would have approved. He loved technology. Abbotsford, his home in the Borders, had a pneumatic bell system, water closets and gas lighting installed in 1824.

The station, named after him, carries one of his most prescient quotes:” The increasing powers of steam…will I think one day waft friends together in the course of a few hours…”