(1850-1894) Scottish writer. Robert Louis Stevenson was an essayist, poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer. He became one of the most famous writers of the 19th century with works like The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) and Treasure Island (1882).
Robert Louis Stevenson Birth & Childhood:
Stevenson was a sickly child, and suffered from tuberculosis from an early age. Of course, those days in bed also gave him time to read and write...
Robert Louis Stevenson Education & Travels:
Stevenson traveled a great deal, ostensibly in an attempt to improve his health. Many of his most memorable works are travel writings: "An Inland Voyage" (1878), "Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes" (1879), "The Silverado Squatters" (1880), and "In the South Seas."
Robert Louis Stevenson Death:
Robert Louis Stevenson Marriage:
Robert Louis Stevenson Achievements:
Robert Louis Stevenson Quotes:
- "Virginibus Puerisque"
"He who was prepared to help the escaped murderer or to embrace te impenitent thief, found, to the over throw of all his logic, that he objected to the use of dynamite."
"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake."
Robert Louis Stevenson Lines from "Epilogue of the Cigar Divan":
Robert Louis Stevenson More Quotes:
"But we are so fond of life that we have no leisure to entertain the terror of death. It is a honeymoon with us all through, and none of the longest. Small blame to us if we give our whole hearts to this glowing bride of ours, to the appetities, to honour, to the hungry curiosity of the mind, to the pleasure of the eyes in nature, and the pride of our own nimble bodies."
Robert Louis Stevenson:
Stevenson started writing at an early age, and he would become a master of adventure fiction. All through my boyhood and youth," he says, "I was known and pointed out for the pattern of an idler; and yet I was always busy on my own private end, which was to learn to write. I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in. As I walked, my mind was busy fitting what I saw with appropriate words; when I sat by the roadside, I would either read, or a pencil and a penny version-book would be in my hand, to note down the features of the scene or commemorate some halting stanzas."
Stevenson was one of the greatest writers of the Victorian era. His characters are unforgettable, placed into a dramatic setting for the desired sensational effect. Justin M'Carthy wrote of Stevenson: "He stole quietly into the world of fame..." He was first recognized for his writing with "Treasure Island" (1883). Following the success of "Treasure Island," he published "Kidnapped," "Catriona," "The Black Arrow," and "The Master of Ballantrae."In addition to travel writing and poetry, Stevenson was also recognized for his short stories, which were collected in "The Pavilion on the Links," "Thrawn Janet," and "The New Arabian Nights."
In "The Bottle Imp," Stevenson writes: "Life may be no better; this is the mountain top; and all shelves about me toward the worse. For the first time I will light up the chambers... and sleep above in the bed of my bridal chamber.'"
We can only wonder what works Stevenson might have written if he'd lived longer... Each of his later works seemed to improve upon the last. Stevenson's final, unfinished work, "Weir of Hermiston" (1896) is considered by many to be his masterpiece.
