In the 1850s, tourists began to travel to parts of Scotland that featured in the works of Sir Walter Scott and other national writers. Wilson recognised the commercial potential in taking photographs of these places and sought to reflect Scott’s descriptions in his work. He also understood that distribution was key and placed his photographs in buildings frequented by tourists, including railway stations and hotels.

Scott was buried in Dryburgh Abbey, where his wife and son were also interred. Other photographs of Scott’s tomb proved commercially successful, such was the continued interest in the writer following his death.

Loch Katrine in the Trossachs provided the setting for Scott’s 1810 poem, The Lady of the Lake. Wilson’s stereoscope of A Bay on Loch Katrine was popular not only as an example of the picturesque, but also for its obvious association with the poem.