Robert Louis Stevenson

Introduction & Top Questions
Early life
Romantic novels
Life in the South Seas
Legacy

Quotes References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Visit Robert Louis Stevenson's house, now a museum, in Apia, Samoa

Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa, c. 1890

Front cover of an 1886 illustrated edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

Title page of an 1886 illustrated edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

At a Glance

Robert Louis Stevenson summary

Quizzes

Book Jacket of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by American children's author illustrator Eric Carle (born 1929)

Classic Children’s Books Quiz

Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry

A Study of Poetry

4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul

Famous Poets and Poetic Form

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:

Poetry: First Lines

Nobel prize-winning American author, Pearl S. Buck, at her home, Green Hills Farm, near Perkasie, Pennsylvania, 1962. (Pearl Buck)

Novels and Novelists Quiz

Related Questions

Did Robert Louis Stevenson ever work as a lawyer after joining the Scottish bar?
How did Robert Louis Stevenson begin writing Treasure Island?
How did Robert Louis Stevenson teach himself the craft of writing as a teenager?
How did Robert Louis Stevenson’s father help him after his marriage to Fanny Osbourne?
How did Robert Louis Stevenson’s reputation change after his death?
How did Treasure Island shape popular ideas about pirates?
How does A Child’s Garden of Verses portray childhood?
How does Jim Hawkins obtain the treasure map in Treasure Island?
How does The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde combine a thriller with a moral allegory?
How was the Road of the Loving Hearts connected to Robert Louis Stevenson’s grave?
Under what title was Treasure Island first serialized in Young Folks magazine?
What caused Robert Louis Stevenson’s death in Samoa?
What secret plan does Jim Hawkins overhear during the voyage in Treasure Island?
What themes of human behavior appear in The Master of Ballantrae?
What was Robert Louis Stevenson working on when he died?
When and where was Robert Louis Stevenson born?
When did Robert Louis Stevenson marry Fanny Osbourne?
When was Treasure Island published as a book?
Where are Fanny Osbourne’s remains buried?
Where did Robert Louis Stevenson die?
Where did Robert Louis Stevenson live while he was struggling to survive in California?
Where is Robert Louis Stevenson buried?
Which Robert Louis Stevenson novel draws on 18th-century Scottish history?
Which Robert Louis Stevenson novel was less successful than Treasure Island?
Which author became friends with Robert Louis Stevenson in Bournemouth?
Which book did Robert Louis Stevenson write about his honeymoon near an abandoned silver mine?
Which early work by Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired by the Covenanters?
Which islands did Robert Louis Stevenson visit during his South Seas travels?
Which pirate survives and escapes with some money at the end of Treasure Island?
Which schools did Robert Louis Stevenson attend before university?
Which travel books grew out of Robert Louis Stevenson’s journeys in France?
Which writings by Robert Louis Stevenson describe the South Seas?
Who is the main character in Treasure Island?
Who was Fanny Sitwell in Robert Louis Stevenson’s life?
Who was Sidney Colvin and why was he important to Robert Louis Stevenson?
Who were Robert Louis Stevenson’s parents?
Why are Robert Louis Stevenson’s letters important to biographers?
Why did Robert Louis Stevenson decide not to become a lighthouse engineer?
Why did Robert Louis Stevenson enter the University of Edinburgh?
Why did Robert Louis Stevenson have difficulty attending school regularly?
Why did Robert Louis Stevenson travel to California in 1879?
Why did Robert Louis Stevenson travel to the French Riviera in 1873?
Why did The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde make Robert Louis Stevenson famous with ordinary readers?
Why did the Stevenson family leave Hyères, France?
Why is Treasure Island also considered a coming-of-age story?
Why is Weir of Hermiston considered Robert Louis Stevenson’s masterpiece?
Why is Robert Louis Stevenson important?
What was Robert Louis Stevenson’s occupation?
Was Robert Louis Stevenson married?
What is the focus of Julian Barnes’s novel Departure(s)?
What is The Sense of an Ending about?
What did Margaret Atwood invent?
What awards did Margaret Atwood win?
What is Margaret Atwood best known for?
What was Alice Walker’s childhood like?
What is Alice Walker best known for?

Literature Novels & Short Stories Novelists L-Z

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External Websites

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction - Biography of Robert Louis Stevenson
Poets.org - Biography of Robert Louis Stevenson
Poetry Foundation - Biography of Robert Louis Stevenson
The Victorian Web - Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1890
Official Site of Robert Louis Stevenson Museum
Official Site of Robert Louis Stevenson
BBC - Bookclub - Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Robert Louis Stevenson - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
Robert Louis Stevenson - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Robert Louis Stevenson

British author

Also known as: Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson

Written by

David Daiches

Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex, Brighton, England. Author of Robert Burns; Robert Burns and His World; R.L. Stevenson and His World.

David Daiches

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 9, 2026 •History

Robert Louis Stevenson (born November 13, 1850, Edinburgh, Scotland—died December 3, 1894, Vailima, Samoa) was a Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, best known for his novels Treasure Island (1881), Kidnapped (1886), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and The Master of Ballantrae (1889). Stevenson was the only son of Thomas Stevenson, a prosperous civil engineer, and his wife, Margaret Isabella Balfour. His poor health made regular...

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