ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON(1850-1894)
Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Scotland.His father ,Thomas Stevenson, was an engineer who specialized in building lighthouses and harbours. He wanted Robert to become an engineer and carry on the family tradition.
An only child, at the age of seven Robert developed tuberculosis.This left him weak and thin and he remained sickly throughout his life. His illness pushed him closer to books, and he grew up in his own world of fantasy and imagination. Nurse, Alice Cunningham, stimulated his imagination further by telling him stories of goblins and fairies,and dragons and monsters. Many of these stories found their way into his later books.
When he was at the Edinburgh University, he decided to be a writer. This displeased his father, so he joined a law school. In 1874, he passed his law finals but he refused to set up a law practice.Instead, he decided to devote himself to writing. He left Scotland and travelled to France,Italy and spain ,and finally to America.His two travel books, “Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes” and “An Inland Journey” were based on these experiences.
In 1880, Stevenson married Mrs Fanny Osborne. With his wife and his stepson,Lloyd, Stevenson returned to Scotland to be near to his father and mother. The weather was unpleasant and Stevenson was forced to spend a great deal of time at home.
One wet and windy day,as he said:
I made the map of an island -the shape of it took my fancy beyond expression; it contained harbours that pleased me like sonnets. I called it Treasure Island and as I and Lloyd bent over the map, the future characters of the book began to appear there visibly among imaginary woods; and there brown faces and bright weapons peeped out upon me from unexpected quarters, as they passed to and fro, fighting and hunting treasure,The next thing I knew, I had some paper before me and was writing out a list of chapters.
Treasure Island was published in 1883, and the world went wild over it. An instant success, it established his reputation as major writer in English Literature. This was followed by other novels of high adventures; Kidnapped(1888),The Master of Ballantrae(1889) and david Balfour(1893).
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In August 1887, Stevenson left Britain for what proved to be the last time. His father had died in May, and his mother, his wife and he sailed to America . In june 1888,they, went on a voyage to the south seas in search of a warmer climate . They decided to settle down in the Somoan Island
where he bought an estate of 400 acres,which he called 'Vailima' or Five Stream.Here he lived, struggling,against bad health, in order to write. He started work on two romances, St Ives and The weir of Hermiston. On 3 December1894,he died suddenly from cerebral haemorrhage.He was buried according to his wish, on the mountain top overlooking Vailima.
Treasure Island remains one of the most popular books of English literature enthralling readers, old and young.This skilfully woven masterpieces of high drama and ocean adventure has created several daring and unforgettable characters- the treacherous John Silver and the resourceful Jim Hawkins, the sensible doctor and the talkative squire. They remain popular with children even today.
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