Robert Louis Stevenson

Jacques Paye

Teh basics

Scottish poet, novelist, essayist and travel writer
Famous works include Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Lived between 1850 and 1894
Has been admired by Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, Ernest Hemingway and G.K. Chesterton
Considered one of the great writers of both 19th century children's literature and adult horror novels

Robert Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh to Thomas and Margaret Stevenson
His father was in the lighthouse designing business
Robert only learned to read around age seven or eight, but was dictating stories to his mother and nurse before then
Wrote stories constantly throughout childhood
Had his first work published at the young age of 16, a history of a religious revolt called the Covenanter's Rebellion
Robert didn't have the best health as a child, was very thin and got sick often

Robert missed a lot of elementary school and transferred often due to his illnesses
He ended up going to Edinburgh University
Robert wasn't interested by architecture, and ended up studying law instead
He was quite the traveler in school, and used to spend his summer vacations in France observing painters and writers
Robert became quite rebellious during his college years, visiting cheap pubs and brothels, wearing his hair long and declaring himself an atheist (much to the dismay of his Presbyterian parents)

Robert got quite sick in 1873, and spent a while in France to recover
He started to like the French countryside and of traveling in general during his recovery, and spent a fair amount of time wandering the French countryside
When he visited Edinburgh in 1875, he met a patient at a hospital called William Ernest Henley (often seen as the inspiration for Long John Silver in Treasure Island)
He passed the Bar exam for Scotland in 1875, but never practiced, preferring to focus on his writing
His first works were travel journals, such as An Inland Voyage (1878), about a canoe trip in France

Robert met Fanny Osbourne (from Indianapolis) in 1876
He traveled to the US to spend time with her
The travel took a toll on his health, and he ended up sick and poor on more than one occasion while in America
He tried to find a place to live in the US for nearly a decade, and wrote Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Kidnapped during this period
He traveled to the Pacific, and eventually settled down in Samoa

Robert tried to help the local Samoans in as many ways possible, and earned their respect
He eventual died of what is thought to have been a cerebral hemorrhage
The Samoans carried him up a mountain and buried him
His tombstone inscription became a Samoan song of grief

Recounts the adventures of Jim Hawkins, a boy who becomes involved in a pirate search for buried treasure

A horror novel geared toward adults about a doctor who chemically transforms into an evil version of himself

Most considered him to be a second-class writer of children's books and horror stories

The late twentieth and early 21st centuries have seen a revival of respect for and interest in RLS
He is the 26th most translated author in the world today

"Robert Louis Stevenson Biography." Robert Louis Stevenson Biography. Brandeis University, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
"Robert Louis Stevenson." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
"Robert Louis Stevenson." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.

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By jacquespaye