Stevenson - The Author
Born on 13 November 1850 in a house in Inverleith, Edinburgh, Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was to become one of the most famous and well-loved novelists of his generation. From the pirate yarn Treasure Island to the ambiguous Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the simple A Child's Garden of Verses, many of his books have become classics.
RLS instead trained as a lawyer in Edinburgh, though his legal career totalled four clients. He left the profession to pursue his real love: writing.
His serious rivals are few indeed
Arthur Conan Doyle
Stevenson was an intrepid traveller, spending time in France, where he wrote Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, before heading to the United States and on to the South Seas. He married American divorcee Fanny Osbourne and later died in Samoa in 1894.
More about Robert Louis Stevenson
More Titles by Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped - the quintessential Scottish historical adventure tale.
Catriona, the sequel to Kidnapped - find out what happens next.
A Child's Garden of Verses - many of these simple famous poems were inspired by incidents from RLS's own childhood, and reflect 19th century Edinburgh.
Treasure Island - "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum," the ultimate pirate adventure.
More titles about Robert Louis Stevenson
Claire Harman's Robert Louis Stevenson - The Biography allows you to discover more about the intriguing and charming man.
Read about the fascinating family of celebrated engineers in Bella Bathurst's The Lighthouse Stevensons - an engaging account of the lives of RLS's grandfather, father and uncles.
Scholarly publications concerning Robert Louis Stevenson include The Journal of Stevenson Studies.
If You Liked Jekyll & Hyde, Why Not Try...
The ThirtyNine Steps - John Buchan
Wandering Willie's Tale - Walter Scott
The Testament of Gideon Mack - James Robertson
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner - James Hogg
illustrations © cam kennedy 2007, reproduced by kind permission of waverley books ltd