Albert Institute, Dundee - Ref: WC0993
This Alexander Wilson photograph shows the west entrance to the Albert Institute, as it then was called, in Meadowside / Albert Square, Dundee. The north end of Commercial Street can be made out through the trees at the right.
Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott after unbuilt plans he'd drawn up for the Town Hall in Hamburg, the institute was built as a memorial to Queen Victoria's husband in 1855-7, paid for by private investment (mostly by the Baxter family).
The fountain which stands at the foot of the double staircase was damaged during a storm and demolished thereafter. A letter in the local paper purported to be from Rabbie Burns, whose statue stands nearby, complaining of the fright he got!
For more information regarding The McManus please check their website
Alexander Wilson who took this photograph, was a supervisor in a Dundee jute mill for over 20 years. He bequeathed much of his collection and £50, to cover the costs involved, to the Free Library Committee of Dundee in 1923.