"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive."— Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
The man who invented pirates as we know them
Robert Louis Stevenson, everyone called him Louis, grew up in chilly, foggy Edinburgh, Scotland. His lungs were weak from the day he was born. He spent more time in bed than out of it, with his nurse reading him pirate stories and tales of explorers.
He wanted to be one of those explorers when he grew up. But because he was always sick, his parents said, "You're going to be a lawyer, like your father." Louis tried. Then he gave up and ran off to write.
Quick Facts
- Born: November 13, 1850
- From: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Job: Author & traveler
- Famous for: Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
He invented the most famous treasure map ever drawn, while playing with his 12-year-old stepson on a rainy day.
His Famous Adventures
Read Stevenson's stories on Worldly
Stevenson is the original adventure writer, pirates, highlanders, monsters. On Worldly, every word fits your reading level.
★ On Worldly
1883Young Jim Hawkins finds a treasure map and joins a sea voyage that becomes a fight for his life. The pirate story that started them all.
1886A teenage boy is kidnapped by a wicked uncle and shipped off, but escapes onto the Scottish Highlands with a daring rebel as his guide.
1886A kind doctor invents a potion that lets him become someone else. Then he can't stop. The first ever 'good guy turns into bad guy' tale.
1885Cozy, dreamy poems from Stevenson's own sick-in-bed childhood, about pretending, sailing toy boats, and looking out the window.
His Life, Year by Year
From sickbed to South Pacific
Stevenson's life was a series of escapes, from cold weather, from lawyer school, from people who told him he couldn't.
A sickly baby in Scotland
Robert Louis Stevenson is born in Edinburgh. His lungs are weak from the start, he'll fight them his whole life.
Sent to study engineering
Louis's family wants him to be a lighthouse engineer like his dad. He goes to the University of Edinburgh… and skips most of his classes to write.
He picks writing over law
After switching to law and barely passing, Louis tells his parents he's going to be a writer. His dad is furious. Louis goes anyway.
A wild trip to America
Louis falls in love with an American woman named Fanny Osbourne. He sails across the Atlantic and takes a brutal train ride across the U.S. to find her. The trip nearly kills him.
The map that started everything
On a rainy vacation in Scotland, Louis draws a treasure map to entertain his stepson, Lloyd. Lloyd loves it. Louis starts writing a story about the map. It becomes Treasure Island.
Two famous books in one year
Louis publishes Kidnapped (a Scottish adventure) AND The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Jekyll story sells out in weeks.
Off to the South Pacific
Doctors say Louis won't survive another Scottish winter. He sails to Samoa with his family. The villagers call him Tusitala, "teller of tales."
He dies far from home
Louis dies suddenly at 44 in his beloved Samoa. The villagers carry him to the top of a mountain and bury him there.
Worlds He Created
Pirates. Highlands. Two-people-in-one.
Stevenson didn't invent the genres he wrote in, but he did them so well that everything that came after is a copy of his copy.
Treasure Island · 1883
Long John Silver
The one-legged cook with a parrot on his shoulder. Charming. Terrifying. Every fictional pirate since, Captain Hook, Captain Jack Sparrow, is a descendant of Long John.
Jekyll & Hyde · 1886
Two people in one
A kindly doctor invents a potion that turns him into a monster. Today we say "a real Jekyll-and-Hyde" about anyone who acts like two different people.
Treasure Island · 1883
X marks the spot
The treasure map with an X on it? Pieces of eight? Black spots? All Stevenson. He invented the whole vocabulary of pirate stories single-handed.
Wait… really?!
Six surprising things about R.L. Stevenson
His family built lighthouses
The Stevensons designed and built almost every major lighthouse in Scotland. Louis was supposed to be a lighthouse engineer, he just didn't want to.
He walked across France with a donkey
Louis hiked 120 miles through the mountains of southern France with a stubborn donkey named Modestine. He wrote a whole book about it.
He drew the famous treasure map first
The whole story of Treasure Island started as a doodle. Louis drew an island, his stepson asked what was on it, and the book grew from there.
He wrote on his back
Because his lungs were so weak, Louis often wrote while lying in bed, on his back, holding the paper in the air. He still wrote dozens of books.
The Samoans loved him
When Louis died in Samoa, the local villagers spent the night carrying him up a steep mountain to bury him at the top. He was their honored 'teller of tales.'
He was 44 when he died
Louis died young, but he packed enough adventure, writing, and travel into 44 years for several lifetimes.
Good questions, answered
Robert Louis Stevenson FAQ
Why is he called R.L. Stevenson and not Robert?+
He hated 'Robert' and went by 'Louis' (pronounced LOO-iss) his whole life. The 'R.L. Stevenson' you see on book covers was how publishers preferred to print his name.
Why was he always sick?+
Louis had weak lungs from birth, probably tuberculosis. He spent a lot of his childhood in bed, and traveled constantly as an adult looking for warmer, drier weather to feel better.
Did he really live on a Pacific island?+
Yes! In 1890 Louis sailed to Samoa with his family. He bought land, built a house, learned the local customs, and lived there until he died. The Samoans called him Tusitala, 'teller of tales.'
What age is Treasure Island good for?+
Kids from age 7 or 8 can enjoy it. The Worldly version softens the violence and modernizes the language, so younger readers can dive in too.
Is Long John Silver a real person?+
No, Stevenson made him up. But Long John was inspired by Stevenson's friend William Henley, who had one leg. Henley reportedly loved being the model for the most famous pirate ever written.
Ready for an adventure?
Dive in with Robert Louis Stevenson
Start with Treasure Island, adapted to fit your reading level. Free in the Worldly app.