Thursday, July 24, 2014

Strange faces in the library


The Scottish Portrait Gallery has a beautiful old library open to the public. Along with a fabulous collection of art books a glass case holds a strange collection of plaster casts of various  heads with very descriptive labels such as 'Idiot Girl'. These were collected when the 'science' of phrenology was at its peak and the Scot George Combe founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society.  

















 



On a more regular level it was great to see the bust of Alexander Mccall Smith who has joined the greats of Scottish literature and take pride of place on his own on the staircase.

 



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