Birth
Robert Louis Stevenson was born at 8 Howard Place, Edinburgh on 13 November 1850. Although christened Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson, he later dropped his third name and changed his second name from the Scots spelling to the French.
Education
Between 1858 and 1861 he attended a preparatory school in India Street, Edinburgh, before moving to Edinburgh Academy. In 1863 he attended a boarding school in London, and from 1864 to 1867 he was a pupil at a private school in Edinburgh. In 1867 he entered Edinburgh University to work for a science degree, and was given some practical engineering experience during the summer months. In 1871 he became editor of a short-lived periodical, Edinburgh University Magazine. Seeing that his future lay with words, Robert told his father that he was disinclined to become an engineer, but he agreed to read Law … in case he failed as an author. On 14 July 1875 he passed his final examination and was called to the Scottish Bar.
Marriage
In 1876 he met, and was immediately attracted to an American lady, Mrs Fanny Osbourne, who later became his wife. At that time she was parted from her husband and had travelled to France for her children’s education. In 1879, after Mrs Osbourne had returned to America, Stevenson learned that she was ill and hastily journeyed to California where he wrote unstintingly to achieve a degree of economic independence. By now he himself was suffering the effects of tuberculosis. However, on 19 May 1880, with Mrs Osbourne now divorced, he and Fanny were married in San Francisco.
Treasure Island
In 1881, in Braemar, Robert began the world-famous adventure story Treasure Island, which he started at the request of his stepson. He also travelled to Davos in Switzerland, a popular resort for tubercular patients, where he completed Treasure Island, which would be his most popular success. In 1882 New Arabian Nights was published.
South Seas
In August 1887 Stevenson sailed to America with Fanny and his mother and spent the winter in the Adirondack Mountains. The following year arrangements were made for a cruise to the South Seas, in the hope that the warm sea air would help his deteriorating constitution. The Stevensons left San Francisco on 28 June 1888 on the chartered schooner Casco to spend almost three years exploring the Pacific Ocean. They finally settled in Samoa, on the island of Upolo, where he was known as ‘Tusitala’ (the Writer of Tales). He died on 3 December 1894.
