“A teller of tales” — books and ephemera by and about Stevenson.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) occupies a rare place in the affections of readers and collectors alike. A Scot who wandered the world in search of health and finally settled in Samoa, he wrote adventure, romance, essay, verse, and the most famous horror story in the language — and he wrote all of it with a style so limpid that other writers have envied it ever since. The house devoted one of its notable catalogues to Stevenson, gathering books and ephemera by and about him.
The Cornerstone Titles
A Stevenson collection turns on a few immortal books:
- Treasure Island (1883) — the archetypal pirate romance and one of the most sought first editions in all of children's and adventure literature. Issue points in the first edition are closely studied and decisive to value.
- A Child's Garden of Verses (1885) — the beloved book of childhood verse, prized in its first edition and in later illustrated forms.
- Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) — issued in wrappers and in cloth; the wrappered first is a famous rarity, and the distinction between the two is a classic collecting point.
- Kidnapped (1886) — the great Scottish historical adventure.
Points, Bindings, and Ephemera
Stevenson's first editions are a bibliographer's delight and a beginner's minefield: several turn on subtle points of binding, advertisement dating, or the priority of wrappers over cloth. The standard bibliographies are essential, and a reputable dealer's description — specifying issue and citing the reference — is worth its weight. Beyond the books lies a rich field of ephemera: letters, manuscripts, photographs of Vailima, and the printed miscellany of a much-loved author.
The Scholarly Context
Stevenson's manuscripts and correspondence are gathered above all at the National Library of Scotland in his native Edinburgh, the indispensable resource for serious study. For the collector, Stevenson offers a rare combination: books that are genuinely scarce, genuinely beautiful, and genuinely loved. Copies of this quality were catalogued by the house alongside its Modern First Editions; see also our Catalogues for the tradition of the author catalogue.