Archibald Burns was a commercial photographer who had a background in the publishing trade. His photographs illustrated several pictorial books aimed at the flourishing Victorian tourism market. Like his contemporaries, he created picture postcard views before the picture postcard was invented.
However, the images from this volume, 'Picturesque 'bits' from Old Edinburgh' published in 1868, differs from the typical tourist book of the time. It takes the reader on a tour around Edinburgh's Old Town streets but alongside images of the castle and Holyrood, there are also evocative views of Edinburgh's narrow and overcrowded Old Town closes.
In 1871, Burns was commissioned by the Edinburgh Improvement Trust to carry out a photographic survey of a slum area earmarked for demolition south of the Cowgate. It is thought that this 'Picturesque 'bits'' volume was a factor in the Improvement Trust's choice of photographer.
The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries