Burke and Hare murders two men were hanged in December 1831 for the crime. A bill was quickly introduced into Parliament, and gained royal assent nine months later to become the Anatomy Act 1832. This Act authorised dissection on bodies from workhouses unclaimed after 48 hours, and ended the practice of anatomising as part of the death sentence for murder. The events of the West Port murders have made appearances in fiction. They are referred to in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1884 short story, "The Body Snatcher", and Marcel Schwob told their story in the last chapter of "Imaginary Lives" (1896), while the Edinburgh-based author
West Port Book Festival West Port Book Festival The West Port Book Festival was a book festival which was held in Edinburgh from 2008-2012. Initially it took place in August during the busy Edinburgh Festival season, but later it was held at different times in the year. It is of note due to its use of many working second-hand book shop venues, pubs, fish and chip shops, cafes and art venues in the West Port for most of the events, and its insistence on free tickets for entry. Although the West Port Book Festival received some coverage claiming it was a formal rival to