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Story from The Scotsman By Tim Cornwell

SOME 10,000 copies of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde will be handed out free in schools and libraries across Edinburgh next month – but none will go to primary school children as the novel is "very dark".

Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, chosen for the city's second citywide reading drive, is a classic of Scottish literature. But it is also a murderous tale of the supernatural, with shocking passages, including the trampling of a small girl. The novella was picked for its Edinburgh connections and as an attractive "short shocker" that can be read almost in a lunch break. But organisers of the One Book One Edinburgh initiative, launching on 22 February, will not be sending it to primary schools. "It is very dark. We are aiming it at teenagers and young adults," a spokeswoman said. "We would love to have a book that does everything for four to 90-year-olds, but we can't always do that."

Last year, 25,000 copies of Stevenson's Kidnapped were given away, including 7,500 copies of a graphic version by Kennedy and Alan Grant. This year the One Book One Edinburgh project is operating on a smaller budget. A new paperback edition of Dr Jekyll and Hyde, with an easy-to-read typeface and sinister drawings, will be distributed free across the city, while a graphic novel will be published in English, Gaelic and Scots and will go on sale at £6.99. The story of the cultivated scientist Dr Jekyll and his evil alter-ego Mr Hyde comes with a new introduction by Ian Rankin, the crime author. "As a foray into humankind's dark heart, it is without parallel," he writes. "Hyde remains that most human of monsters, because we continue to see in him our own potential for transgression. This makes the book a terrifying masterpiece and an enduring warning," Rankin says. Helen Gillard, head of English at St George's School for Girls in Edinburgh, said it was a "fair decision" not to distribute the book in primary schools. "It really would be a good novel for 13+ to look at. I would be worried about it in the junior school," she said.

But Willy Maley, professor of English literature at Glasgow University, said it was time for a change in Edinburgh's choices. "They could have gone for something modern and contemporary, by a woman. You don't want the same old same old. "A writer people should read more of, who is shockingly brilliant, is Muriel Spark, or there is The Cutting Room, by Louise Welsh."A FRIGHT FOR FREEBOOK groups in Edinburgh wanting to read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde will be offered free copies as part of the One Book – One Edinburgh scheme, launching on 22 February.

They can register with http://www.cityofliterature.com/

Meanwhile more than 30 city organisations are staging film screenings, readings, and a live performance based on the book. There are walking tours with names such as The Gothic City, Deacon Brodie's Old Town and In Stevenson's Footsteps.Stevenson set Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in London, but Ian Rankin and many others regard Edinburgh as the true location.

The Edinburgh of Stevenson's day with its elegant New Town and seedy, smelly Old Town seemed to boast the same split personality as the characters.The reading campaign offered comments from leading Scottish authors in praise of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde yesterday. Author Irvine Welsh said: "Stevenson is probably Scotland's greatest writer and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is his best work, a telling and timeless parable on the human condition."

Alexander McCall Smith, the 44 Scotland Street author, said: "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a good choice. And if it scares you, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing lots of other people will be scared at the same time."

FOOTNOTE:

Title page of first London edition of book shown above is taken from the Wikipedia website.