Robert Louis Stevenson

Literature / Writers Datebook: November 13

Brief biography of Scottish novelist, short-story writer and essayist, R.L. Stevenson, famous for classic novels Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

 

Robert Louis Stevenson was a leading advocate of neo-romanticism in English literature.  

Early Life of Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850, at Edinburgh, Scotland. A very sickly child, he suffered from poor health all his life. His father, Thomas Stevenson, and his grandfather, Robert Stevenson, were distinguished lighthouse engineers and designers, and so was his great-grandfather. From this side of the family, R.L. Stevenson inherited his passions for adventure.

From Margaret Balfour, his mother, he inherited weak lungs that kept him constantly bedridden during winter. His nurse spent long hours reading from the Bible. His maternal grandfather, Lewis Balfour, was a professor of moral philosophy and a minister. Stevenson spent the greater part of his boyhood holidays in his house.  

Summer was a brighter season as he was encouraged to play outside. At the age of 11, his health improved that his parents prepared him for education by attending Edinburgh Academy, planning for him to follow his father as a lighthouse engineer. He read widely during this time, especially enjoying Shakespeare, Walter Scott and John Bunyan.

He entered the University of Edinburgh at 17, but soon discovered that he was not interested to be an engineer and was more excited with exotic and wonderful romances in the islands and coasts they visited. His strict father eventually allowed him to pursue a literary career, but first finished a law degree as a fall back. He passed the bar examination at 25, but destroyed his health from work-stress. He turned to serious writing.  

R.L. Stevenson Writing Career and Marriage 

His first book, An Inland Voyage, is about his river trip in France. It was published when he was 28 years old. About this time, he met Fanny Van de Grift, an American who was studying art in Paris. They married in 1880 and returned to Scotland with his new wife and stepson.

Stevenson became a famous writer after he published his famous novel, Treasure Island, an adventure story set among pirates. This made a popular writer, aged 33. Another classic, Kidnapped, followed, a tale based on a true Scottish murder case. After these two masterpieces, he wrote several more adventure stories before producing another famous book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was 36.  

Last Years of R.L. Stevenson

From all his travels, Stevenson returned to the U.S. in 1886 but due to ill-health, he was hospitalized. Once he got well, he set off with his family on a four-year voyage around the South Pacific. The family settled on the island of Samoa, where he continued writing.   

During the morning of December 3, 1894, while working on his last novel, Weir of Hermiston, and conversing with his wife, he fell to the ground. He died within a few hours, probably of a cerebral hemorrhage. This book was left unfinished.

The natives called him their Tusitala, Samoan language for "Teller of Tales." He was buried on top of a cliff overlooking the sea. He died at the age of 44, December 3, 1894. Robert Louis Stevenson was greatly admired by many authors including Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Vladimir Nabokov.

Books by Robert Louis Stevenson

An Inland Voyage, 1878

Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, 1879

Treasure Island, 1883

A Child’s Garden of Verses, 1885

Kidnapped, 1886

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1886

The Master of Ballantrae, 1889

Weir of Hermiston, 1896 (Published after death) 

 

Image Credit:

Robert Louis Stevenson. Public Domain

 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994

McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2002

Ousby, Ian.  The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

(c) November 2013. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Robert Burns

 Literature / Writers Datebook: January 25 

 

Scottish Poet, Famous for Auld Lang Syne and A Red, Red Rose  

 Brief biography and works of Scottish poet and tax collector, Robert Burns, national poet of Scotland.

 

Robert Burns is best-loved and celebrated as Scotland's national poet. His work, which was often in Scots dialect, rescued Scottish culture from being swamped by the growing influence of English culture. He is best-known for "Auld Lang Syne" and "A Red, Red Rose". 

Early Life of Robert Burns

Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759 at Alloway in Ayrshire, western Scotland. His father was a poor farmer but did his best to give his sons a good education. In due time, Burns and his brother Gilbert set up as farmers but their rented land was poor. The brothers struggled to make a living.

Aside from writing poems, Burns charm set about wooing girls. He fathered several children by different women. He wanted to marry Jean Armour, one of his loves, but her parents disapproved of the relationship.

The Poetry of Burns 

As Burns's father was determined to give him an education, he studied Shakespeare, the Bible, Alexander Pope, and French language. Despite being taught the formal English poetry, Burns found that Scottish dialect was the ideal way to express himself and his rebellious attitude to the severe Scottish Church. 

Scottish folksinger Karen Matheson sings Robert Burns' "My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose". Youtube, uploaded by DonniesAmerican. Accessed January 25, 2018.

The Poet's Adult Life   

When he was 27, Burns had many of his poems published as Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. The book was a great success, and he moved to Edinburgh for a year and a half. He also started mixing with high society. The success made Jean's parents relent, and Burns married her in 1788. He returned to farming but later gave it up in favour for a more secure job as an excise officer, a tax collector.

Later Years of Burns

Burns wrote nearly all his long narrative poems between 1784 and 1786. After that he took to writing the songs for which he is chiefly remembered, such as "A Red, Red Rose" and "Auld Lang Syne".

He wrote and edited hundreds of songs for collections before dying of heart disease at an early age. He died on July 21, 1796, at the age of 37. Aside a festival celebration to honour him, Burns's birthday is also celebrated in other countries. 

 

Works by Robert Burns

Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 1786

The Works of Robert Burns, 1834-1886

Robert Burn's Commonplace Book, 1783-1785, 1938

 

Image Credit:

Robert Burns. Wikipedia CC / Public Domain

 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994

McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2002

Ousby, Ian.  The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Robert Burns. en.wikipedia.org

 

(c) September 4, 2011. Updated January 25, 2018. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.