Robert Louis Stevenson
13 November 1850 - 3 December 1894
Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of a lighthouse engineer. As a child he was often sick, especially during the winter months, possibly due to chronic bronchiectasis. He often tutored at home due to his illnesses, but at age eleven he was sent to Edinburgh Academy. He was always interested in writing stories, and his father published his first book, The Pentland Rising: A Page of History, 1666, in 1866.
In 1867 he went to the University of Edinburgh for engineering, although the discipline did not interest him. In 1871, he told his father that he intended to be a writer. His parents convinced him to return to the University of Edinburgh to read Law. After travelling to London and Paris, becoming active in literary circles in both cities, and a physical collapse in 1973 and recovery in the French Riviera, qualified for the Scottish bar in 1875. However, he never practised law, engaging instead in travel and writing.
In the course of his travels, Stevenson met Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne, an American mother of two who was in France to study art, in 1876. They met again in 1877 and became lovers, and he spent much of his time visiting with her and her children in France, until she returned to in San Francisco in 1878.
In 1879 he set sail to the U.S. to join her, becoming sick along the way, and when he arrived in San Francisco he was very ill. The now-divorced Vandegrift came to his bedside and nursed him to recovery. They married in 1880, honeymooned in the Napa Valley of California, then sailed with back to Britain, where he was reunited with his family.
For the next seven years, Stevenson travelled in search of a home that would benefit his health. He spent his summers in Scotland and England and his winters in France. During this time he wrote some of his best known work: Treasure Island (1883), A Child's Garden of Verses (1885), Kidnapped (1886), and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).
When his father died in 1887, Stevenson moved with his mother and family to the Adirondacks. In 1888, they set sail in a chartered yacht for the South Pacific. For nearly three years they wandered the eastern and central Pacific, visiting the Hawaiian Islands, the Gilbert Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand and the Samoan Islands. They took a second voyage to the Equator in 1889, and a third in 1890 to the South Seas islands.
In 1890 Stevenson purchased some land on one of the Samoan islands and established an estate. He adopted the native name Tusitala, and became involved in local politics, whcih led to clashes with the European bureaucrats who ruled the islands. He died in his estate, probably of cerebral hemorrhage, in 1894.
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Most Editions | First Published | Most Recent
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Treasure Island
347 editions - first published in 1883 Read -
Kidnapped
199 editions - first published in 1886 Read -
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
152 editions - first published in 1875 Read -
A child's garden of verses
113 editions - first published in 1885 Read -
David Balfour
89 editions - first published in 1892 Read -
The master of Ballantrae: a winter's tale
87 editions - first published in 1888 Read -
The black arrow: a tale of the two roses
75 editions - first published in 1888 Read -
An inland voyage
65 editions - first published in 1878 Read -
SCUDDER'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
64 editions - first published in 1882 Read -
The Silverado Squatters
53 editions - first published in 1883 Read -
Vailima letters: being correspondence addressed by Robert Louis Stevenson to Sidney Colvin, November 1890-October 1894.
51 editions - first published in 1895 Read -
Works
48 editions - first published in 1800 Read -
Across the plains: with other memories and essays
45 editions - first published in 1892 Read -
St. Ives: being the adventures of a French prisoner in England
44 editions - first published in 1897 Read -
In the South Seas: being an account of experiences and observations in the Marquesas, Paumotus and Gilbert Islands in the course of two cruises, on the yacht "Casco" (1888) and the schooner "Equator" (1889)
44 editions - first published in 1896 Read -
The ebb-tide: a trio and quartette
43 editions - first published in 1894 Read -
The wrecker
42 editions - first published in 1892 Read -
The wrong box
41 editions - first published in 1889 Read -
Memories and portraits
41 editions - first published in 1881 Read -
Island nights' entertainments: consisting of The beach of Falesá, The bottle imp, The isle of voices
31 editions - first published in 1893 Read -
Father Damien
26 editions - first published in 1890 Read -
Edinburgh: picturesque notes
23 editions - first published in 1878 Read -
Prayers written at Vailima
22 editions - first published in 1890 Read -
The works of Robert Louis Stevenson
22 editions - first published in 1904 Read -
Virginibus puerisque, and other papers
20 editions - first published in 1881 Read -
The merry men, and other tales and fables: Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
20 editions - first published in 1887 Read -
Essays of travel
19 editions - first published in 1879 Read -
The novels and tales of Robert Louis Stevenson
17 editions - first published in 1895 Read -
The amateur emigrant
17 editions - first published in 1895 Read -
The Pocket R.L.S: being favourite passages from the works of Stevenson.
15 editions - first published in 1904 Read -
Doctor Jekyll and Mr.Hyde
13 editions - first published in 1990 -
The Bottle Imp
12 editions - first published in 1949 Borrow -
Underwoods
12 editions - first published in 1887 Read -
An inland voyage and Travels with a donkey
12 editions - first published in 1910 Read -
Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson
11 editions - first published in 1906 Read -
My shadow
10 editions - first published in 1989 Borrow -
A Christmas sermon
9 editions - first published in 1888 Read -
Will o' the mill
9 editions - first published in 1895 -
Prince Otto: A Romance
8 editions - first published in 1885 Read -
Essays
8 editions - first published in 1918 -
The beach of Falesá
8 editions - first published in 1956 -
The letters of Robert Louis Stevenson
7 editions - first published in 1995 -
The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale
7 editions - first published in 1889 Read -
Moral emblems & other poems written and illustrated with woodcuts
7 editions - first published in 1921 Read -
Across the plains with other memories and essays
7 editions - first published in 1892 Read -
The lantern-bearers and other essays: Robert Louis Stevenson
7 editions - first published in 1988 Borrow -
The Art of Writing
7 editions - first published in 2001 -
Letters to his family and friends: Selected and edited with notes and introd. by Sidney Colvin.
6 editions - first published in 1899 Read -
El Extrano Caso Del Dr. Jekyll Y Mr. Hyde / the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr Hyde
6 editions - first published in 2000 -
A child's garden of verse: and other poems.
6 editions - first published in 1899 -
Island nights' entertainment: [and] The body-snatcher ; [and] Fables
5 editions - first published in 1893 -
Essays of travel and in the art of writing
5 editions - first published in 1905 Read -
The beach of Falesa
5 editions - first published in 1959 -
El Extrano Caso del Dr. Jekyll y Mr. Hyde
5 editions - first published in 1995 -
A Lowden Sabbath morn
5 editions - first published in 1898 Read -
Edinburgh Picturesque Notes: The Silverado squatters; Memories and portraits
5 editions - first published in 1896 Read -
The essay on Walt Whitman
5 editions - first published in 1900 Read -
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and other stories
5 editions - first published in 1929 DAISY -
David Balfour: A Sequel to Kidnapped ..: David Balfour
4 editions - first published in 1898 Read -
The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses
4 editions - first published in 1888 Read -
The merry men & other tales: Fables
4 editions - first published in 1924 -
The moon
4 editions - first published in 1984 -
The Master of Ballantrae; and Weir of Hermiston
4 editions - first published in 1925 -
Memories: [25 illustrations of Robert Louis Stevenson, his homes and his haunts].
4 editions - first published in 1912 -
A Selection of 24 Poems from "A Child's Garden of Verses"
4 editions - first published in 1978 DAISY -
Catriona, A Sequel to Kidnapped: being memoirs of the further adventures of David Balfour at home and abroad (The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson)
4 editions - first published in 1947 -
Moral emblems: & other poems
4 editions - first published in 1921 -
The wrong box ; The ebb-tide
4 editions - first published in 1907 Read -
The Little Land
4 editions - first published in 1983 -
El Diablo En La Botella: Y Otros Relatos (Coleccion Modelo Para Armar)
4 editions - first published in 1987 -
Block City
4 editions - first published in 1988 -
![[Collected works]](http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/olid/OL23663856M-S.jpg)
[Collected works]
4 editions - first published in 1890 Read -
The Body Snatcher: Planning and Resource Guide
4 editions - first published in 1982 -
The Biographical Edition of the Works of Robert Louis Stevenson
4 editions - first published in 1905 Read -
The poems and ballads of Robert Louis Stevenson
4 editions - first published in 1913 Read -
Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin ; Records of a family of engineers
4 editions - first published in 1909 -
Kidnapped
4 editions - first published in 2006 -
Stevenson
4 editions - first published in 1971 -
Ballads
4 editions - first published in 2006 Borrow -
An apology for idlers: and other essays.
4 editions - first published in 1905 -
Secuestrado
3 editions - first published in 1984 -
Complete Poems: A child's gardens of verses
3 editions - first published in 1905 Read -
New Poems
3 editions - first published in 2004 -
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
3 editions - first published in 2006 -
The charity bazaar: an allegorical dialogue.
3 editions - first published in 1871 -
Edingburgh Picturesque Notes
3 editions - first published in 1999 -
From Scotland to Silverado ..: comprising The Amateur Emigrant: "From the Clyde to Sandy Hook" and "Across the plains"; The Silverado squatters & four essays on California
3 editions - first published in 1966 -
Talk and talkers
3 editions - first published in 1910 -
( Letters). The works of Robert Louis Stevenson
3 editions - first published in 1912 -
Lay Morals And Other Papers
3 editions - first published in 1911 Read -
Der seltsame Fall des Dr. Jekyll und Mr. Hyde
3 editions - first published in 1998 -
Macaire: a melodramatic farce
3 editions - first published in 1895 Read -
The Sire de Maletroit's door
3 editions - first published in 1913 -
Sketches, criticisms, etc
3 editions - first published in 1898 Read -
Stevenson's workshop: with twenty-nine MS. facsimiles.
3 editions - first published in 1921 Read -
New poems and variant readings: by Robert Louis Stevenson.
3 editions - first published in 1918 Read -
El Club de Los Suicidas
3 editions - first published in 1995 -
Ticonderoga: a legend of the West Highlands.
3 editions - first published in 1923 -
Meistererzählungen
3 editions - first published in 1986 -
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & The suicide club
3 editions - first published in 1961
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Alternative names
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Robert Louis, Stevenson
- Robert, Louis Stevenson
- Louis Robert Stevenson
- Robert Louis stevenson
- Robert Louis, III Stevenson
- Stevenson Robert Louis
- ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
- STEVENSON, ROBERT LOUIS, 1850-1894.
- Robert louis Stevenson
- Robert louis stevenson
- Robert, Louis Stevenson:
- Robert Louis ( Stevenson
- Robert Louis STEVENSON,
- Stevenson, Robert Louis
- Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894.
- Robert-Louis Stevenson
- Robert Stevenson
- Robert Lewis Stevenson
- robert stevenson
- Robert Loius Stevenson
- Robert Louise Stevenson
- Robert-Lou Stevenson
- Robert Louis et al Stevenson
- Robert L. Stevenson
- R.L. Stevenson
- R. L. Stevenson
- R.-L. Stevenson
- R L Stevenson
- R., L. Stevenson
- R.L.Stevenson
- Rl Stevenson
- R.L Stevenson
- R. L Stevenson
History Created April 1, 2008 · 8 revisions
| July 20, 2012 | Edited by Alan Millar | merge authors |
| June 17, 2011 | Edited by Edward Betts | remove bad date field |
| February 13, 2011 | Edited by Tom Morris | merge authors |
| October 14, 2010 | Edited by George | merge authors |
| April 1, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | initial import |