Book Maps of Edinburgh

The Lit Long - Location Visualiser is new map of literary Edinburgh which allows you to explore place-names mentioned in books that use Edinburgh as a setting.. Zoom in on Edinburgh on the map and you can discover books which mention the selected location and even read an excerpt from the relevant texts.

In truth the map is a little frustrating to use. At the moment there is a very noticeable lag as you pan and zoom the map as it loads the relevant data. This is especially annoying as you really have to drill down to get past the numbered markers. Once you do manage to get to the individual quill shaped markers you can then read the excerpts from the texts that mention your selected location.

The time-line below the map shows the distribution of texts (related to the current map view) over time. The map side-panel also updates as you explore the map to show the texts which mention locations in the current map view.


The Lit Long - Location Visualizer is the work of Edinburgh University's Palimpsest Project. The project has also created another (older?) map application, Literary Edinburgh on Palimpsest. Interestingly this map is easier to use and much more fun.

All you have to do with this map is just pan around to different locations and excerpts from texts mentioning locations in the current map view instantly appear beneath the map. This is a great little application to use to explore the literary history of Edinburgh.

I imagine this map would be a lot of fun to use on a mobile device as you travel around the city. Share your location with the map and you instantly get to read excerpts from books which mention nearby locations.