{"id":643,"date":"2023-09-27T16:26:52","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T14:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/robert-louis-stevenson\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T15:56:10","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T14:56:10","slug":"robert-louis-stevenson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/robert-louis-stevenson\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Louis Stevenson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The man of letters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The novels \u2018Treasure Island\u2019 and \u2018The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde\u2019 by Robert Louis Stevenson are universal bestsellers, republished and translated every year, adapted into films and comics. Stevenson was a prolific writer; \u2018The Master of Ballantrae\u2019, \u2018Kidnapped\u2019 and \u2018The Black Arrow\u2019 are also bookstore successes, along with his short stories, poetry and tales from the South Seas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"portrait<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Traveller<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Always searching for a climate suitable to calm his respiratory illness, RLS was to move away from his native Scotland, born in 1850, until the end his life, at the age of 44, among the inhabitants of Samoa, in Oceania. In the meantime, he traveled across Europe, by canoe from Antwerp to Pontoise, France, on foot in the C\u00e9vennes, with Modestine, his donkey. He stayed not far from Fontainebleau, where he rubbed shoulders with the artists’ colonies between Barbizon and Grez-sur-Loing. Among his many walks were and trips from Grez-sur-Loing to Ch\u00e2tillon-sur-Loire and the C\u00e9vennes region in France. He also wrote in Switzerland, lived in the United States and sailed in the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Voyages<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Humanist<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For Stevenson, travel was not a pretext or an escape but an opportunity to meet people. The accounts of his travels in Europe are considered true ethnographic descriptions of populations and countries. Arriving in the Pacific Islands, Stevenson wrote short stories and tales that profoundly renewed the vision of Oceanian societies, hitherto marked by the myths of colonialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Writer, Traveller, Adventurer, Idealist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Robert Louis Stevenson is at the heart of our European network ‘In the Footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson’. A network based around the sharing of secular, humanist values, based on openness to others and tolerance of differences. Writer-traveler, adventurer, idealist, Stevenson left his mark on his time and the territories he crossed both through his literary work and his profound love of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between charitable associations, projects aimed at people in social difficulties, tourism and heritage professionals, sports clubs, the diversity is sometimes very great, but it is the richness of this European network whose members share a common objective: transmitting the values of RLS, his open-mindedness and his openness to the world, at the same time as the beauty of his great literary work. The hallmark of our network is its human dimension: imbued with friendship, it is a group of small ambitious structures which have come together around a common project: to demonstrate the existence of a European literary heritage, and there to promote the notion of European citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/span>\n
\n
\n
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Rep\u00e8res biographiques<\/h4>\n
\n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/span>\n
13 November 1850<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Birth of Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson in Edinburgh into an upper-middle class Presbyterian family.
His father, Thomas, was an internationally acclaimed lighthouse manufacturer.
He inherited his fragile health from his mother, Margaret Balfour.
Stevenson spent most of his childhood in his bedroom.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
1862<\/h5>\n
\n

La famille accompagne Thomas Stevenson en cure \u00e0 Bad Homburg<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
1864<\/h5>\n
\n \n

He wrote his first novel,\u00a0The Plague Cellar<\/em>\u00a0at the age of 14.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
1867 \u2013 1871<\/h5>\n
\n \n

A student of \u201cScience and Technology\u201d but his underlying dream was to be an author.
A bohemian lifestyle in the rougher districts of Edinburgh..<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
March 1871<\/h5>\n
\n \n

He gave up his scientific studies and signed up to read law. This was a terrible deception for his father\u2026<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
January 1873<\/h5>\n
\n \n

He declared that he was atheist. Relations with his parents deteriorated seriously.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
1873 – 1874<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Publication of his first essays, which met with praise from critics. First published essay under his own name written in Menton, during an extended stay to recover his health.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
Summer 1875<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Passed his law exams and became a lawyer. Visit to Barbizon with his cousin Bob and his painter friends.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
Autumn 1875<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Failure of his first cases at the bar. He turned his back on a legal profession.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
End August 1876<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Canoe trip along the canals and rivers of Belgium and Northern France.
At Grez-sur-Loing he met and fell in love with Fanny Osbourne (married, mother of two children).<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
1876 \u2013 1877<\/h5>\n
\n \n

A bohemian lifestyle between England and France, where he met up with Fanny again.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
May 1878<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Publication of\u00a0An Inland Voyage<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
15 August 1878<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Departure of Fanny and her children for America.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
September 1878<\/h5>\n
\n \n

A stay in the Auvergne at Monastier-sur-Gazeille followed by a walking tour of the C\u00e9vennes.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
May 1879<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Publication of\u00a0Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
7 August 1879 \u2013 30 August 1879<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Departure for California, behind his parents\u2019 backs. Voyage in a ship with emigrants and then by train across the American continent.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
August 1879 \u2013 April 1880<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Stayed in California, penniless, ill (pleurisy, malaria, serious haemorrhages\u2026) and cut off by his family and friends who disapproved of this trip. He waited for Fanny to get her divorce.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
April 1880<\/h5>\n
\n \n

His parents, shocked by his state of health, accepted his marriage.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
May \u2013 July 1880<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Marriage on 19 May in the USA.
\u201cHoneymoon\u201d in an abandoned mine, in Silverado.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
29 July 1880<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Louis and Fanny travelled to Scotland.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
Summer 1880<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Summer in the Highlands.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
Autumn 1880 \u2013 Winter 1881<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Cure in Davos, Switzerland for his health.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
April \u2013 May 1881<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Return to Edinburgh, via Paris and Barbizon.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
Summer 1881<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Summer in the Highlands.
He wrote the first 15 chapters of Treasure Island<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
Winter 1881 \u2013 1882<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Second winter in Davos.
Completion of Treasure Island<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
October \u2013 December 1882<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Set up home in the south of France near to Marseille.
Return of the haemorrhages.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
March 1883<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Moved to Hy\u00e8res, Chalet ‘La Solitude’.
Publication of his first novel Treasure Island<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
January 1884<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Publication of\u00a0The Silverado Squatters<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
June 1884<\/h5>\n
\n \n

In very poor health, he returned to England.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
Autumn 1884<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Set up home in Bournemouth, south of England.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
1885 \u2013 1887<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Haemorrhages, fevers, bronchitis\u2026
Wrote essays and novels unceasingly.
Met Henry James.
Publication in 85 of Prince Otto, The Dynamiter<\/em> <\/em>and A Child<\/em>\u2019s Garden of Verses<\/em> (poems).
Publication in 86 of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll<\/em> and Mr. Hyde<\/em> and Kidnapped<\/em>!.
Publication in 87 of The Merry men and Other Tales<\/em> (short stories).<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
8 May 1887<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Death of Stevenson\u2019s father, Thomas Stevenson.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
21 August 1887<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Departure of the Stevenson family for America.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
September 1887<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Arrival in New York.
He found that he had become famous in America.
A publisher ordered a series of essays.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
October 1887<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Installation on the banks of Lake Saranac, in the Adirondack mountains.
Began writing The Master of Ballantrae<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
April \u2013 June 1888<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Return to New York.
Proposal by Mac Clure of $15000 for a series of travel letters.
Publication of The Black Arrow<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
28 January 1888 \u2013 24 January 1889<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Stay in Hawaii.
Publication of\u00a0The Master of Ballantrae<\/em>.
Publication of\u00a0The Wrong Box<\/em>\u00a0(written with Lloyd Osbourne).<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
24 June 1889 \u2013 February 1890<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Voyage on the merchant vessel Equator.
Stopovers in Butaritari and Apemama where he began work on The Wrecker<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
December 1889<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Arrived in Apia, capital of Upolu a Samoan island.
Bought an abandoned estate: Vailima.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
February \u2013 April 1890<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Travelled through the Samoan islands to Sydney aboard a merchant vessel.
In Sydney, Stevenson fell ill.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
April \u2013 August 1890<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Boarded an old cargo ship, the Janet Nicholl, to return to the warmth of the tropics.
Voyage to the Samoan Islands, Gilbert, Marshall, New Caledonia before returning to Sydney where he fell ill yet again: he could no longer leave the South Seas\u2026<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
October 1890<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Difficult beginnings in Vailima where everything had to be built from scratch.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
January \u2013 May 1891<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Fanny cleared, burned, dug, planted and oversaw the construction of a new, large house.
Publication of The South Seas<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
1892<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Political engagement for the Samoans against the Germans, English and Americans in the sector. Nearly banished from the island.
Writing of A Footnote to History<\/em>, The Beach of Falesa<\/em> and Catriona<\/em>.
Publication of  The Wrecker, A Footnote to History<\/em> and Across the Plains<\/em> (his trip across America by train in 1879).<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
January 1893<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Severely affected by the flu epidemic which ravaged the island.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
Mid-February 1893<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Attempted to return to Sydney where he fell ill immediately upon his arrival, forcing him to return home.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
April 1893<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Fanny suffered from depression.
Publication of Island Night Entertainment<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
End June 1893<\/h5>\n
\n \n

War broke out in the islands. Mataafa, chief of the rebels and Stevenson\u2019s friend was deported to the Marshall Islands.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
August 1893<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Collapsed further to severe haemorrhages.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
September 1893<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Left for Hawaii to attempt a cure but was forced to return to Vailima.
Publication of Catriona<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
1894<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Exhausted, he continued to write Saint Ives<\/em>, an historical novel and Weir of Hermiston<\/em>.
Publication of The Ebb Tide<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n <\/span>\n
3 December 1894<\/h5>\n
\n \n

Stevenson died following a stroke.
He was buried the next day on the summit of Mount Vaea overlooking the sea, according to his last wishes.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The man of letters The novels \u2018Treasure Island\u2019 and \u2018The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde\u2019 by Robert Louis Stevenson are universal bestsellers, republished and translated every year, adapted into films and comics. Stevenson was a prolific writer; \u2018The Master of Ballantrae\u2019, \u2018Kidnapped\u2019 and \u2018The Black Arrow\u2019 are also bookstore successes, along with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":515,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-643","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1635,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/643\/revisions\/1635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlstevenson-europe.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}