Robert Lois Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 94) was born in Edinburgh, the son of a prosperous civil engineer. It was
planned that Stevenson should follow in his father’s career but his weak constitution and ill health
meant that he had to enter a less physically demanding profession. He chose law, but by the time
Stevenson was called to the bar in 1875 he had already determined to be a writer. While still in his
twenties he began suffering respiratory problems. In an attempt to alleviate his suffering, Stevenson
spent much of his life travelling to warmer countries. These trips abroad – to Europe, American, and
ultimately Samoa – provided him with experience and material for his writings, as well as a wife whom
he met in Europe, followed to California, and married in 1880. He finally settled in Samoa where he
became known as ‘Tusitala’, the teller of tales. He dies of a brain haemorrhage while working on his
unfinished novel Weir of Hermiston.

In his comparatively short life Stevenson created a wide range of novels and stories which have assured
that his works will continue to be found on the shelves of bookshops and libraries. From his pen came
such classics as Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Kidnapped, and Black Arrow.