R. L. Stevenson

Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850—1894) is lauded for his novels such as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Black Arrow, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson was an avid traveller and his journeys across the globe gave him plenty of material to weave into his fiction. At 17, he joined Edinburgh University to study engineering, but he did not follow his father in the family business of lighthouse engineering. He began his writing career at an early age and published his first volume of work, An Inland Voyage, an account of his trip from Antwerp to northern France, which he made in a canoe across the River Oise, at the age of 28. He went on to write several popular novels, short stories, and humorous essays. His work earned him a legion of loyal readers and he became a literary celebrity in his lifetime.