HelenYoung explores a fresh account of early modern Edinburgh and the influences of the Scottish Enlightenment

Enlightenment in a Smart City:

Edinburgh’s Civic Development, 1660-1750

Murray Pittock

Edinburgh University Press, 2019 296 pages, aperback, £19.99

ISBN: 9781474416603, scot.sh/hsenlighten

Whether or not you agree with Pittock’s approach or interpretation, his new book exploring Enlightenment in a Smart City: Edinburgh’s Civic Development, 1660-1750 is well worth a read. Fulfllling its aim of bringing a fresh perspective to the well-worn ‘enlightenment’ debate, this work combines engaging narrative with original analysis to shed light on the ‘mechanics’ of the Scottish enlightenment and Edinburgh’s role in shaping it. Acknowledging differing attitudes to the term, Pittock advocates its use to mean ‘the application of reason to knowledge in a context of material improvement’ and frames his argument around this (p.14). In doing so, he frees himself from the constraints of periodisation which, reflecting a preoccupation with enlightenment thinkers and their ideas, has focused attention on post-union Scotland. The result is a long-term view of how ‘women, men and their associations, environment and institutions created the dynamic basis for intellectual change in eighteenthcentury Edinburgh’, taking account of civic developments from the mid-17th century onwards and stressing the importance of the Old Town as much as the New.(pp.16-17).