HOL

Robert Louis Stevenson

Adventure! Drama! Fantasy! Romance! No, we are not talking of William Goldman and his The Princess Bride; we write of Robert Louis Stevenson! Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are but a few of the works of this Scottish gentleman.

You are invited to solve this Sudoku, sending a Forum PM to myself and Emily Spencer with the solved puzzle. Title your Forum PM "Whole Nine Yards - Stevenson".


graphic is of a Sudoku puzzle
Direct link to image - click

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People who have sent in the solution to this Sudoku -
Lex Green
Hiya Debnath
River Fenwick
Dibyarup James Potter
Adeline Morior
Maeve Madden
Janne Halla

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There are a couple of other things you can do, in addition to (or even instead of) solving this Sudoku puzzle to participate in our March activity.

Reply, in a post below, with one or both of the items listed. (Remember -- send the solution of the Sudoku to me and Emily in a Forum PM! It does not get posted with your write-up and graphic! )

1 - Write about the author, telling us of his life and his work, so we can learn more about Robert Louis Stevenson. Have at least 90 words - your own words - in your write-up.

2 - Create a collage which contains nine separate images for that author representing their life and their work. Post it in here, below, along with your write-up. Be sure that the graphic is 600x600 or less. Please write a description underneath the collage, describing what you have in it, and why it represents Mr. Stevenson's life and work.

Remember, when you complete each part of the week's celebration of an author, you can earn 20 Beans. So if you solve the sudoku, do a write-up and create a graphic, you will earn 60 Beans.

When you post, please keep your post HOL-appropriate.

Everything will be due by the March 31st, 11:59 pm HOL time.

1. The life of Robert Louis Stevenson of Edinburgh, born in 1850, was an adventure equal to the tales he wrote. His family had a history of illness, which sadly fell upon him as well. Defying his family's legacy of engineering, he pursued a writing career despite his health challenges, demonstrating tremendous dedication and passion for this line of work. He traveled Europe and the Pacific, taking in vibrant cultures and exotic landscapes. His adventurous spirit found a soul that matched his own in Frances Matilda Van de Grift Osborne, whom he married in 1880.

2.

Pictured above, top to bottom and left to right, are the books Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Kidnapped, and A Child's Garden of Verses, representing some of his most well-known works. The next roll is of Stevenson's childhood home in Heriot Row, a Californian hotel where he stayed in 1879 that got renamed to "Stevenson House," and Stevenson's house in Bournemouth, all of which represent essential places during his adventures and writing. The bottom row shows a memorial of Stevenson in St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, a bust of Stevenson in the Writers' Museum in Edinburgh, and a statue of Stevenson as a child at Colinton Parish Church in Edinburgh, all of which show his impact as they created memorials in his honor.

1. Write-up:
Robert Louis Stevenson has always been one of my favorite authors, not to mention that he first introduced me to the lifestyle of pirates and sailormen in the era which he wrote about. I have been reading books written by him ever since childhood. My first exposure to him was through the 1886 novel Kidnapped, followed by his first and best known work, which was the 1881 novel Treasure Island. He also wrote the 1886 novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which is about the two personalities of the same person, somewhat like representing the concept of "yin" and "yang". He is also well-known for writing the 1889 novel, The Master of Ballantrae. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 13, 1850. He went on to become a great essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books. He was the only son of Thomas Stevenson, a prosperous civil engineer, and his wife, Margaret Isabella Balfour. Despite his poor health, he received regular schooling, albeit with much difficulty, at Edinburgh Academy and other schools. He entered Edinburgh University at age 17, where he studied to pursue the family profession of lighthouse engineering, but having no interest in it, he negotiated with his father to prepare for Scottish bar instead. He kept working on learning the art of being an author by following models by other authors and imitating them. His first printed work was The Pentland Rising. In July 1875, he got called by the Scottish bar, but never practiced. His frequent journeys abroad, especially to France, formed the basis of An Inland Voyage in 1878 and Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes in 1879 in his travel books. He also wrote essays for various magazines such as "Roads" for the Portfolio in 1873, and "Ordered South" for Macmillan’s Magazine in 1874. He also published Virginibus Puerisque, his first collection of essays, in 1881, although most of his work in this had appeared earlier in the magazine The Cornhill.

2. Collage:

Description:
The image on the top left and centre of the whole collage show Robert Louis Stevenson himself in different stages of his life. The image on the top right shows him in Samoa. The image on the top middle is the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum. The image in the bottom middle depicts Robert Louis Stevenson's display inside the interior of the same museum. The image on the leftmost in the middle is the engraving of Robert Louis Stevenson and his words at a place nearby the Writers Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. The rightmost image in the middle shows the sculpture of Robert Louis Stevenson at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Scotland. The bottom left and bottom right images are obviously the covers in two different ways from different publications of my favorite childhood book by Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island.

#1 – During his life, in September 1876, Stevenson traveled to Grez-sur-Loing, a tiny place in France, to meet with his cousin.

Unexpectedly, it was at this location that Stevenson met the married American Fanny Osbourne and her two kids, Lloyd and Belle. Stevenson was twenty-five years old, and Fanny was thirty-six. Impressed by her personality and story, Stevenson soon after fell in love with her.

Their romance lasted for two years until Fanny had to return to her husband in California. Stevenson, having lost Fanny, embarked on a walking tour through the south of France. His book, Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, was inspired by this trip.

Their story ends happily as Fanny divorced her husband in 1879 and Stevenson and her married in 1880.

Collage:


Imgur Link - Larger Version [1800 x 1800 px]


Write-Up:

In the centre of the collage, we can see a photograph of Robert Louis Stevenson captured by Henry Walter Barnett in 1893. To the left of this photograph, we can see Stevenson posing for a photograph in Samoa in 1890. Just below these photographs, there is a photograph of Stevenson with his family and the Samoan household. Right above the two portrait photographs, there is a photograph of Stevenson with his family in 1893. He is with his wife Fanny Stevenson, his stepdaughter Isobel, and his mother Margaret Balfour. Below this family photograph, we can see the cover illustration of his book, “The Black Arrow”. To the left of the family photograph, there is an image of the cover illustration for his book “The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde”. To the left of that book cover, there is an image of the cover illustration for his book “The Master of Ballantrae”. Right below it, we can see the cover for one of his most famous books, “Treasure Island”. And lastly, we can see the cover for another book by Stevenson, titled “The Bottle Imp”.

Robert Louis Stevenson was born on 13 November 1850, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was christened Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson, however, when he turned 18 in 1873, he changed the spelling of "Lewis" to "Louis", and dropped "Balfour" from his name. Despite suffering from severe bronchial problems throughout his life, Stevenson managed to travel extensively and write a lot. His father, Lewis Balfour, and daughter also had weak chests and needed to stay in warmer climates for their health. The family moved to a damp and cold house at 1 Inverleith Terrace in 1851, which led Stevenson to develop coughing and fevers that persisted until he was 11 years old. After moving to a sunnier place, 17 Heriot Row, when Stevenson was 6 years old, he still struggled with illness, particularly in winter. Even as an adult, he faced health issues that left him very thin. Although people initially suspected tuberculosis, recent assessments suggest that Stevenson may have had bronchiectasis or sarcoidosis.

Stevenson was a prolific letter writer, and his letters (edited by Sidney Colvin in 1899) provide a captivating and vivid portrayal of Stevenson's life. However, Colvin omitted many of the most intriguing letters, combined others, and left out several significant details about Stevenson's emotional life until the complete text of all the letters was available. Fanny Sitwell received Stevenson's letters from Colvin, which are now at the National Library of Scotland. She was not allowed to open them until 1949. The engrossing letters to Charles Baxter, a close friend, were deposited in the Yale University Library.

Some of his most famous works include “Treasure Island”, “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, “Kidnapped”, “The Black Arrow” and “A Child's Garden of Verses”.

In June 1888, Stevenson, along with his family, chartered a schooner yacht named Casco for a healthy and enjoyable journey. However, this turned out to be a lifelong expedition for them as they explored the South Seas. They started with the Marquesas Islands, Fakarava Atoll, Tahiti, and spent almost 6 months in Honolulu. In 1889, they continued their journey by visiting the Gilbert Islands and Samoa, where they stayed for 6 weeks.

While visiting the South Sea Islands, Stevenson made a significant effort to understand the local community and its inhabitants. As a result of his observations, his writings about the South Seas, including "In the South Seas" (1896) and "A Footnote to History" (1892), are very insightful and colourful. He wrote excellent journalism, which was enriched by his perception of the surroundings and environment, as seen in his portrayal of the first landfall at Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas.

He returned to Samoa from a trip to Sydney in October 1890, and he settled down with his family at Vailima, his home in Samoa. There, he enjoyed a highly respected and paternal position among the locals. The Samoan climate was ideal for him, and he lived a productive and active life.

Stevenson passed away on 3 December 1894, not from tuberculosis, but due to a cerebral haemorrhage.

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Images shows from left to right in the first row Stevenson at a young age followed by an image of Fanny his wife and his family. Next row follows up with an image of the Stevenson house in Edinburgh, some of the books that he published and wrote and Stevenson in Samoa. The last row shows the Robert Louis Stevenson statue in Le Bouchet St Nicolas to represent the 12 hike by donkey that he took. Next image is a famous quote by Stevenson followed lastly by an image of a monument that consists of a pair of full-length bronze representations of the characters Alan Breck and David Balfour from Stevenson's novel 'Kidnapped', that can be found on Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh.

Here's the answer to the 'Stevenson' Sudoku puzzle --