Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850.  The son of a prosperous civil engineer, he was expected to follow the family profession but finally was allowed to study law at Edinburgh University.   In his early twenties he became afflicted with a severe respiratory illness from which he was to suffer for the rest of his life; it was at this time that he was determined to become a professional writer. 

At 26 years of age, Stevenson met Mrs. Fanny Osbourne, a married American art student who was studying in Paris.  Fanny was 11 years older than Stevenson and had a son and a daughter.  Stevenson fell in love with her, and in 1880, after Fanny's divorce, the two were married in Oakland, California.

Due to Stevenson's constant illness, which developed into tuberculosis, he travelled from place to place hoping to improve his health. The harsh nature of the Scottish climate forced him to spend long periods abroad looking for a place where he could live and work.  Stevenson and his family finally settled on the Samoan island of Upolu in 1890. He bought a large estate and built a large house that he called "Vailima" (Five Rivers). There, he was loved by the native Samoans who called him "Tusitala" (teller of tales).

On December 3, 1894, at the age of 44, Stevenson died of a stroke. The natives carried his body to the peak of Mount Vaea, where they buried him. His poem "Requiem" is inscribed on his gravestone as an epitaph:

"Under the wide and starry sky,

Dig the grave and let me lie.

Glad did I live, and gladly die,

And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:

"Here he lies where he longed to be.

Home is the sailor, home from the sea,

And the hunter home from the hill."

Stevenson began his career by writing for the undergraduate Edinburgh University Magazine . He began publishing short stories and essays in the mid-1870's. His first and most famous novel is called, Treasure Island, and was published in 1883.  Stevenson wrote many of his best books from a sickbed. Three of Stevenson's well known works include:The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped, and A Child's Garden of Verses.  When Stevenson died, he left two novels unfinished: Weir of Hermiston and St. Ives (St. Ives was finished by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch). Stevenson's writings brought him great popularity during his lifetime. Henry James, a well known American novelist, once praised Stevenson as "the only man in England who can write a decent English sentence."    The reading public has never lost its admiration for Stevenson.  His sure handling of narrative pace, his strong sense of atmosphere and above all his masterly command of style give his novels and stories enduring vitality. The history of English literature records no braver story than the life and work of Robert Louis Stevenson.