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Robert Louis Stevenson

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Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (born 1850, died 1894), novelist, poet, travel writer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although ill with tuberculosis from childhood, Stevenson had a full life, starting as a student of law and engineering in Scotland and ending as a tribal leader and plantation owner in Samoa. His novels of adventure, romance, and horror are of considerable psychological depth and have continued in popularity long after his death, both as books and as films.

He was happily married to Mrs. Fanny Osbourne, who proved a great support in his adventurous and arduous life.

Fiction

  • Treasure Island (1882) His first major success, a tale of piracy, buried treasure, and adventure, frequently filmed. Project Gutenberg text: [1].
  • Kidnapped (1886) a historical novel that tells of the boy David Balfour's pursuit of his inheritance and his alliance with Alan Breck in the intriques of Jacobite troubles between England and Scotland. Catriona (1893) is a sequel, telling of Balfour's further adventures.
  • The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) , a short novel about a dual personality much depicted in plays and films, also influential in the growth of understanding of the subconscious mind through its treatment of a kind and intelligent physician who turns into a psychotic monster after imbibing a drug intended to separate good from evil in a personality. Project Gutenberg text: [2]
  • The New Arabian Nights (1882), a collection of tales.
  • The Body Snatcher (1885), another influential horror novel.
  • The Master of Ballantrae (1888), a masterful tale of revenge, set in Scotland and America.
  • Wier of Hermiston (1896), novel, unfinished at his death, considered to have promised great artistic growth.

Poetry

  • A Child's Garden of Verses (1885), written for children but also popular with their parents. Includes such favorites as "My Shadow' and "The Lamplighter". Often thought to represent a positive reflection of the author's sickly childhood.

Travel Writing

Island Literature

Although not well known, his island fiction and non-fiction is among the most valuable and collected of the 19th century body of work that addresses the Pacific area.

Non-fiction works on the Pacific:

  • In the South Seas. Collecton of Stevenson's articles and essays on his travels in the Pacific. Project Gutenberg text: [3]
  • A Footnote to History, Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa

His island fiction includes:

  • The Beach at Falesa, one of his most mature works, it explores the relationship between white traders and islanders in a way that anticipates Conrad and Maugham.
  • An Island Nights' Entertainment. Three great stories: The Bottle Imp, The Beach at Falesá and The Isle of Voices.
  • The Wrecker with Lloyd Osbourne
  • The Ebb Tide with Lloyd Osbourne
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