Edinburgh's Writers' Museum is housed off the Royal Mile in Lady Stair's Close, originally built in 1622 as a private home for one of the city's wealthiest families.  The Museum hosts permanent exhibitions to three of Scot;land's great literary figures, all of whom have strong Edinburgh connections: Robert Burns (1759 - 1796), Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832) and Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894).  Other prominent Scottish writers, including contemporary authors, are featured in the museum's programme of temporary exhibitions.

Burns took various lodgings during his time in the city, but the first place he took up residence on arrival in Edinburgh was on Baxter's Close (now Lady Stair's Close) quite close to the present day site of the Writers Museum.

The dining room of Sir Walter Scott's North Castle Street home has been lovingly reconstructed in the Writers' Museum, complete with the great writer's own chessboard and dining table.  The Museum also has on display the printing press upon which his Waverley novels were produced.

The Stevenson collection is the most significant in the country and contains items from throughout the author's life: from the book he was awarded for winning his school's literature prize to photographs of his time in Samoa with his wife, Fanny Osbourne. 

The courtyard immediately outside The Writers' Museum has been designated as Makars' Court. Here you can find inscriptions commemorating famous Scottish writers, from the 14th century to the present.