Stevenson, Robert Louis Balfour (1850–1894)

Scottish novelist and poet. He wrote the adventure stories Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped (1886), and The Master of Ballantrae (1889), notable for their characterization as well as their action. He was a master also of shorter fiction such as The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), and of stories of the supernatural such as Thrawn Janet (1881). A Child's Garden of Verses (1885) is a collection of nostalgic poetry reflecting childhood.

Stevenson was born in Edinburgh. He studied at the university there and qualified as a lawyer, but never practised. In 1879 he met the American Fanny Osbourne in France and followed her to the USA, where they married in 1880. In the same year they returned to Britain. In 1890 he settled at Vailima, in Samoa, where he sought a cure for his tuberculosis. In depth of character and power, his unfinished novel Weir of Hermiston might have exceeded all his other works.

Early works include An Inland Voyage (1878) and Travels with a Donkey (1879). After his marriage, he published a volume of stories, The New Arabian Nights (1882), and essays; including ‘Virginibus Puerisque’ (1881) and ‘Familiar Studies of Men and Books’ (1882). The humorous The Wrong Box (1889) and the novels The Wrecker (1892) and The Ebb-tide (1894) were written in collaboration with his stepson, Lloyd Osbourne (1868–1920).