ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. - Scottish writer, b. in Edinburgh on 13 Nov. 1850, d. in Samoa on 3 Dec. 1894.
He is one of those rare writers in whom culture is wedded to inventive genius, best bringing out his native originality. His astonishing imagination does not detract from the solid and learned construction of his works. Indeed, he was an original continuer of Walter Scott in his historical novels set in Scotland, among which should be especially remembered *Kidnapped* (1886), *Catriona* (1893), *The Master of Ballantrae* (1889), and finally the unfinished *Weir of Hermiston* (1896), considered by some critics to be his masterpiece. Alongside these are the tales inspired by the South Seas, where he settled for health reasons: the very popular *Treasure Island* (1883) and several collections of exotic short stories and sketches. For these he took his cue from the American Melville, but drew especially from his vivid impressions of landscape, which he captured with an artist’s eye and rendered in pages admirable for their polished style. He also wrote verse, especially for children: *A Child’s Garden of Verses* (1885).
Michele Federico Sciacca