Robert Louis Stevenson Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Robert Louis Stevenson

Born	Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson 13 November 1850 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	3 December 1894 (aged 44) Vailima, Samoa
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Scottish
Period	Victorian era
Spouse	Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne
Children	Isobel Osbourne (stepdaughter) Lloyd Osbourne (stepson)
Relatives	Thomas Stevenson Margaret Isabella Balfour

Robert Louis Stevenson (born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 13, 1850 – died December 3, 1894) was a famous Scottish writer. He is known for writing many exciting books. These include novels, short stories, poems, and travel books.

Stevenson is most famous for his adventure stories. His best-known books are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. When he was young, Stevenson went to Mr Henderson's School in Edinburgh. Later, because he was often unwell, he had teachers who taught him at home.

What Were Robert Louis Stevenson's Most Famous Books?
Remembering Robert Louis Stevenson
Images for kids
See also

What Were Robert Louis Stevenson's Most Famous Books?

Treasure Island (1883)
A Child's Garden of Verses (1885)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)
Kidnapped (1886)
The Black Arrow (1888)
The Master of Ballantrae (1889)
Island Nights' Entertainments (1893)

Remembering Robert Louis Stevenson

Many places and things honor Robert Louis Stevenson's life and work. These memorials help people remember his stories and his impact on literature.

Museums and Homes Dedicated to Stevenson

Bronze memorial of Stevenson in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh

Profile bust of Stevenson at the Writers' Museum, Edinburgh

Statue of Stevenson as a child, outside Colinton Parish Church in Edinburgh

The Writers' Museum in Edinburgh has a special room for Stevenson. It displays items from his childhood and adult life.
The Stevenson House in Monterey, California, was once a hotel where he stayed. It remembers his journey across the United States.
The Robert Louis Stevenson Museum in St. Helena, California, has over 11,000 items. These include his childhood rocking chair and writing desk. It is a free museum for students and fans.
Stevenson's old home in Vailima, Samoa, is now a museum. It shows items from his later life. The path to his grave on Mount Vaea starts from this museum.

Statues and Plaques Honoring Stevenson

A bronze memorial designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens is in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh.
Another memorial in Edinburgh is in West Princes Street Gardens. It is a stone with "RLS – A Man of Letters 1850–1894" carved on it.
In 2013, a statue of Stevenson as a child with his dog was put up outside Colinton Parish Church.
A plaque in Castleton of Braemar marks where he wrote Treasure Island in 1881.
A garden in Westbourne was made in 1957 to remember Stevenson. It has a statue of the Skerryvore lighthouse.

Stevenson in Pop Culture and Education

In 1966, actor Lloyd Bochner played Stevenson in a TV show called Death Valley Days.
In 1994, the Royal Bank of Scotland made special £1 notes. They had Stevenson's signature and face on them.
Many schools in the United States are named after Stevenson. These include elementary and middle schools.
Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California, is a college preparatory boarding school.
Robert Louis Stevenson State Park in California is where he spent his honeymoon.
A street in Honolulu, Hawaii, is named Tusitala, which was Stevenson's Samoan nickname.
The Chemin de Stevenson (GR 70) is a hiking path in France. It follows the route Stevenson described in his book Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes.
There is a memorial to him in Portsmouth Square, San Francisco, California.
A memorial by Gutzon Borglum was put up in 1915 in Saranac Lake, New York.

Images for kids

Bound set of many of Stevenson's works, 1909
Daguerreotype portrait of Stevenson as a child
Stevenson's childhood home in Heriot Row
Stevenson at age 7
Stevenson at age 14
Stevenson at age 30
Stevenson at 35 in 1885
Stevenson at age 26 in 1876 at Barbizon, France
Stevenson at age 26 by Charles Wirgman
Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne, c. 1876
French Hotel (now "Stevenson House"), Monterey, California, where he stayed in 1879
Family in 1893: Wife Fanny, Stevenson, his stepdaughter Isobel, and his mother Margaret Balfour
Stevenson's "Cure Cottage" in Saranac Lake, New York
Photographic portrait, c. 1887
Bibliography frontispiece
Stevenson playing a flageolet in Hawaii ca. 1889
Stevenson and King Kalākaua of Hawaii, c. 1889
The author with his wife and their household in Vailima, Samoa, c. 1892
Stevenson's birthday fete at Vailima, November 1894
Stevenson on the veranda of his home at Vailima, c. 1893
Burial on Mount Vaea in Samoa, 1894
His tomb on Mount Vaea, c. 1909
Portrait by Henry Walter Barnett, 1893
Stevenson on horseback
RLS Museum, Samoa
Portrait by Girolamo Nerli, 1892
With Kalakaua in the King's boathouse
Portrait by John Singer Sargent, 1887
Stevenson paces in his dining room in an 1885 portrait by John Singer Sargent. His wife Fanny, seated in an Indian dress, is visible in the lower right corner.
Portrait by William Blake Richmond, 1886