This work was first published in 1886 to accompany one of the more eccentric displays at the Edinburgh International Exhibition of the same year. Historically accurate reconstructions of noteworthy but long-demolished Edinburgh buildings were built side by side to create a fictional street. This guide provided visitors with key historical information relating to the recreated buildings and monuments ranging from the medieval market cross to the historic tolbooth. Fact is combined with anecdote, situating the buildings in the wider context of Edinburgh's rich history. The text was written by John Charles Dunlop and Alison Hay Dunlop, antiquarian siblings little known beyond their Edinburgh circles. Of particular interest are the illustrations by William Fergusson Brassey Hole (1846–1917), who later painted the murals in the entrance hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.