Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson

Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson

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Title: Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Release Date: January 21, 2004 [EBook #10761]
Language: English
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ESSAYS OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
SELECTED AND EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND
NOTES BY WILLIAM LYON PHELPS M.A.(HARVARD)
PH.D.(YALE)
PREFACE
The text of the following essays is taken from the Thistle Edition of
Stevenson's _Works_, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, in New
York. I have refrained from selecting any of Stevenson's formal essays

in literary criticism, and have chosen only those that, while ranking
among his masterpieces in style, reveal his personality, character,
opinions, philosophy, and faith. In the _Introduction_, I have
endeavoured to be as brief as possible, merely giving a sketch of his
life, and indicating some of the more notable sides of his literary
achievement; pointing out also the literary school to which these Essays
belong. A lengthy critical Introduction to a book of this kind would be
an impertinence to the general reader, and a nuisance to a teacher. In
the _Notes_, I have aimed at simple explanation and some extended
literary comment. It is hoped that the general recognition of Stevenson
as an English classic may make this volume useful in school and
college courses, while it is not too much like a textbook to repel the
average reader. I am indebted to Professor Catterall of Cornell and to
Professor Cross of Yale, and to my brother the Rev. Dryden W. Phelps,
for some assistance in locating references. W.L.P., YALE
UNIVERSITY, _13 February 1906_.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I ON THE ENJOYMENT OF UNPLEASANT PLACES NOTES
II AN APOLOGY FOR IDLERS NOTES
III AES TRIPLEX NOTES
IV TALK AND TALKERS NOTES
V A GOSSIP ON ROMANCE NOTES
VI THE CHARACTER OF DOGS NOTES
VII A COLLEGE MAGAZINE NOTES
VIII BOOKS WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED ME NOTES
IX PULVIS ET UMBRA NOTES
INTRODUCTION
I
LIFE OF STEVENSON
Robert Louis Stevenson[1] was born at Edinburgh on the 13 November
1850. His father, Thomas, and his grandfather, Robert, were both
distinguished light-house engineers; and the maternal grandfather,
Balfour, was a Professor of Moral Philosophy, who lived to be ninety
years old. There was, therefore, a combination of Lux et Veritas in the
blood of young Louis Stevenson, which in _Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_

took the form of a luminous portrayal of a great moral idea.
In the language of Pope, Stevenson's life was a long disease. Even as a
child, his weak lungs caused great anxiety to all the family except
himself; but although Death loves a shining mark, it took over forty
years of continuous practice for the grim archer to send the black arrow
home. It is perhaps fortunate for English literature that his health was
no better; for the boy craved an active life, and would doubtless have
become an engineer. He made a brave attempt to pursue this calling,
but it was soon evident that his constitution made it impossible. After
desultory schooling, and an immense amount of general reading, he
entered the University of Edinburgh, and then tried the study of law.
Although the thought of this profession became more and more
repugnant, and finally intolerable, he passed his final examinations
satisfactorily. This was in 1875.
He had already begun a series of excursions to the south of France and
other places, in search of a climate more favorable to his incipient
malady; and every return to Edinburgh proved more and more
conclusively that he could not live in Scotch mists. He had made the
acquaintance of a number of literary men, and he was consumed with a
burning ambition to become a writer. Like Ibsen's _Master-Builder_,
there was a troll in his blood, which drew him away to the continent on
inland voyages with a canoe and lonely tramps with a donkey; these
gave him material for books full of brilliant pictures, shrewd
observations, and irrepressible humour. He contributed various articles
to magazines, which were immediately recognised by critics like Leslie
Stephen as bearing the unmistakable mark of literary genius; but they
attracted almost no attention from the general reading public, and their
author had only the consciousness of good work for his reward. In 1880
he was married.
Stevenson's first successful work was _Treasure Island_, which was
published in