The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson
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Volume Four, October 1882-June 1884
Robert Louis Stevenson; Edited by Bradford A. Booth and Ernest Mehew
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Format: ClothPrice: $95.00
Volumes III and IV cover the period from August 1879 to June 1884. The six hundred letters tell for the first time the full story of Stevenson's reckless journey to California as an "amateur emigrant," during which he gained a wife but wrecked his health. They describe his return to Europe and his futile search to improve his health in Scotland, Switzerland, and France and reveal interesting aspects of the writing of Treasure Island, Virginibus Puerisque (his first volume of collected essays), and many poems later collected in Underwoods and in A Child's Garden of Verses.
Volumes V and VI cover the period from July 1884 to September 1890 and comprise over nine hundred letters. During this time, Stevenson lived as a chronic invalid for three years in Bournemouth, England; searched for improved health in the United States and the South Seas; and achieved fame and success with the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped, and A Child's Garden of Verses. The letters convey Stevenson's courage and gaiety in the face of illness and his affection for his family and friends. They also reveal the devoted care given him by his wife, Fanny Stevenson.
Ernest Mehew's detailed annotation provides all the background necessary to fully enjoy Stevenson's letters.
"The outstanding literary event of the centenary [of Stevenson's death] will be the publication of the first six (out of eight) volumes of the Yale University Press edition of the Letters."—Janet Adam Smith, New York Review of Books
"[Stevenson] was a delightful letter-writer, and [these volumes] are offering a handsome salute to this aspect of his literary achievement."—Ian McIntyre, The Times (London)
"[These volumes] are not of merely academic interest; they are, in a word, spell-binding, and no-one who responds to Stevenson will willingly miss them."—J.D.F. Jones, Financial Times
"These two volumes of his letters are restless with movement. . . . Wherever he goes, the letters take the reader too, hypnotically transforming places touched by the spirit of Stevenson. Their publication is as important as that of Boswell's journals; high praise indeed, and well merited."—Alan Taylor, The Scotsman
"The letters communicate the roller-coaster of [Stevenson's] hopes and fears with theatrical pace."—Jenni Calder, Scotland on Sunday
"Ernest Mehew's achievement in collating and reassembling these texts can hardly be overpraised."—Clair Harman, The Independent
"Booth and Mehew have done yeoman's work indeed. This is literary scholarship at its best, restoring key texts accurately and precisely, providing copious information and notes."—Frank Wilson, Knight-Ridder Newspapers
Publication Date: September 10, 1994
