Tiles

The Central Library and the tiling that greets you as you descend the stairs from the foyer. A sign below explains all:

The tiling on this wall is an interesting example of the use of specially designed tiles commonly used in public buildings at the end of the nineteenth century. They were manufactured by the firm of Burmantofts in Leeds.

The full text formed a continuous frieze round the tiled dado of the newsroom (now the Scottish Library) at the opening of the library in 1890, and was removed during alterations in 1958.

The text comprised four quotations from the Book of Proverbs. Three of these complete are preserved above. The fourth from Proverbs 8.10 'Receive thy instruction and knowledge rather than choice gold' was incomplete'.

Another cold and showery day in Edinburgh, but many submissions for our Story Shop showcase 2012 have warmed the heart!