Past exhibitions and displays

An exploration into the development of Scottish tourism over 400 years.

1 June to 31 October 2003.

Exploring the extraordinary roles that ordinary Scots played during the Second World War.

8 July to 16 October 2005.

An exhibition showing the photographs taken by Professor Kiyonori Kanasaka retracing routes taken by Isabella Bird in the 18th-century.

28 October to 27 November 2005.

An exhibition looking at the changing nature of shops and shopping in Scotland from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

December 2005 to February 2006.

Photographs of Scotland's diverse Asian communities by Herman Rodrigues.

10 March to 22 May 2006.

Discover the experiences of 19th-century American wildlife artist John James Audubon during visits to Scotland's capital.

4 July to 15 October 2006.

A touring exhibition that celebrated aspects of Highland cultural life, past and present. It explored the relationship between land and people.

January to December 2007.

An examination of the historic relationship between Scotland and India.

5 July to 5 September 2007.

Ian Rankin looked back on 20 years with his fictional alter ego, Inspector Rebus. 

24 October 2007 to 13 January 2008.

Exploring the development of comics and graphic novels over the past century, and contributions made by Scots to this.

4 April to 1 June 2008.

Celebrating 500 years of printing in Scotland and its impact today.

27 June to 12 October 2008.

A travelling exhibition of items from the National Burns Collection.

7 November 2008 to 1 February 2009.

Exploring Scotland's influence on music around the world.

6 March to 9 May 2009.

Uncovering the experience of Scottish emigration over the past 300 years through both personal letters and advertising brochures.

26 June to 11 October 2009.

Celebrating the achievements of Scottish theatre from the 1970s to 2010.

19 December 2009 to 3 May 2010.

Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship, this exhibition charted the social history of golf in Scotland.

18 June 2010 to 20 March 2011.

Robert Stevenson's great engineering achievement.

12 January to 28 February 2011.

Lewis Carroll's delightful tales about Alice's adventures.

18 March to 2 May 2011.

Celebrating the Scottish philosopher's 300th birthday.

5 May to 28 June 2011.

Spotlighting the history of censorship in five central themes.

24 June to 30 October 2011.

The story of the ill-fated Scottish colony in the 1690s.

1 July to 31 August 2011.

Workers' efforts to improve labour and social conditions.

2 September to 31 October 2011.

Marking the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

2 November 2011 to 8 January 2012.

Shakespearean treasures and exploring what Shakespeare has meant in Scotland across the centuries.

9 December 2011 to 29 April 2012.

Captain Scott's Antarctic Expedition of 1910 to 1913.

12 January to 25 March 2012.

A look at 30 years of Scotland's science fiction.

28 March to 30 June 2012.

Explore the story of cinema in Scotland for the past 120 years.

15 June to 28 October 2012.

Revolution and its role in the founding of the USA.

4 July to 16 September 2012.

Celebrating 200 years of Grimm's fairy tales.

19 September to 18 November 2012.

The art and history of a favourite British comic.

21 November 2012 to 3 February 2013.

Telling the story of one of Scotland's most influential map making firms, John Bartholomew & Son.

7 December 2012 to 7 May 2013.

The legacy of some remarkable Scottish women scientists.

1 March to 30 April 2013.

Marking two major anniversaries for Scotland's sacred isle.

3 May to 7 July 2013.

A study of David Livingstone's illustrations of Africa and their influence and impact.

14 June 2013 to 3 November 2013.

A look at one of the greatest novels written in English.

10 July to 15 September 2013.

Little marvels from specialist Scottish book publishers.

18 September to 17 November 2013.

Some of the most delightful items in the national collections.

20 November 2013 to 19 January 2014.

Celebrating what Scotland has given the world through an A to Z of achievements.

13 December 2013 to 18 May 2014.

The greatest collection of Burns' handwritten work.

23 January to 30 March 2014.

Explore the First World War through the experiences of Scots.

27 June to 11 November 2014.

A sample of the diverse nature of the Commonwealth.

9 July to 7 September 2014.

The story behind Walter Scott's first novel, 'Waverley', published 200 years ago.

10 September to 16 November 2014.

James Wordie and Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

20 November 2014 to 18 January 2015.

Learn the story of the 1715 Jacobite rising.

10 December 2014 to 10 May 2015.

Commemorating the end of the American Civil War.

21 January to 29 March 2015.

Exploring the construction and opening of the Forth Bridge.

1 April to 21 June 2015.

Learn about 400 years of Scottish food history and its relationship with food and drink.

12 June to 8 November 2015.

New watercolours celebrate original literary treasures.

25 June until 6 September 2015.

Celebrating the centenary of John Buchanan's most famous novel.

10 September to 22 November 2015.

Some of the most beautiful books ever printed.

26 November 2015 until 13 March 2016.

Explore 700 years of contagious diseases in Scotland and how society reacted to this.

11 December 2015 to 29 May 2016.

The work and influences of the architect Robert Adam.

16 June until 18 September 2016.

Explore our world through maps and learn about their purposes and histories.

22 July 2016 to 17 April 2017.

A collection of treasures marking the birthday centenary of 20th century Scottish writer Jessie Kesson.

22 September to 25 November 2016.

Scotland and the photographically illustrated book, 1845 to 1900.

30 November 2016 to 26 March 2017.

Celebrating 200 years of Edinburgh's influential periodical.

30 March to 2 July 2017.

Frank Hurley's photographs of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the men of the 'Endurance Expedition', alongside items from the Library's polar collections.

16 June to 12 November 2017.

Visually stunning material from the South Asia collections.

6 July to 20 August 2017.

The extraordinary partnership of Kulgin Duval and Colin Hamilton.

24 August to 15 October 2017.

How Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation.

19 October 2017 to 14 January 2018.

A celebration of the literary and personal style of Dame Muriel Spark.

8 December 2017 to 13 May 2018.

'The Scotsman': 200 years of a Scottish newspaper.

18 January to 8 April 2018.

Exploring 18th-century Scottish poetry book illustrations.

12 April to 17 June 2018.

Young people interpret Scottish women's First World War experiences.

21 June to 29 September 2018.

The life and anti-slavery work of Frederick Douglass (1818 to 1895) and his family.

4 October 2018 to 13 February 2019.

Explore life and society in Scotland following the end of the First World War.

16 November 2018 to 27 April 2019.

Award-winning decorative bookbindings.

21 February 2019 to 13 April 2019.

The story of Lord Byron's 'Don Juan' on the 200th anniversary of its publication.

18 April to 27 July 2019.

Discover Scotland's contribution to the flourishing intellectual artistic and scientific progress of the Enlightenment.

21 June 2019 to 18 April 2020.

Revisiting the 1980s through the Library's collections.

1 August 2019 to 12 November 2019.

Past scenes from Scotland's seas and waterways captured on camera.

16 November to 15 February 2020.

The work and influences of Allan Ramsay, one of Scotland's most celebrated writers.

18 February to 16 May 2020.

Explore overlooked moments in the lives of Scotland's 20th-century women.

20 July to 20 September 2020.

The story of Henrietta Liston - the wife of a British diplomat - and her travels in the Ottoman Empire.

10 July to 6 November 2021.

Reveal how women have overcome physical and social barriers to spend time in the mountains.

10 July 2021 to 28 May 2022.

Sir Walter Scott's role in the development of the historical novel.

12 November 2021 to 28 May 2022.

Works by Edinburgh College of Art students inspired by Sir Walter Scott's 'The Heart of Mid-Lothian'.

12 November 2021 to 28 May 2022.

Explore how ideas of gender, genre, privacy, reputation, authorship, and authenticity influence authors' use of pen names in the past and today.

8 July 2022 to 29 April 2023.

Discover the magical Gaelic folktales collected by John Francis Campbell of Islay (1821-1885).

9 June 2023 to 20 April 2024.

Learn about what makes a text political from the 17th century to today.

8 December 2023 to 20 April 2024.

A look at Japanese novels, film, and manga from our collections in the General Reading Room.

5 January 2024 to 3 March 2024.

Explore how arts and crafts can be used to empower different people through our collections in the General Reading Room.

29 March 2024 to 31 October 2024.

This display explores how visual representations of Italy developed from the 15th to 19th century.

16 May 2024 to 2 November 2024.

This display explores how feminism's paintbrush has evolved over the decades.

4 November 2024 to 27 January 2025.