THE VOGUE OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON IN AMERICA, 1880-1900

Dissertation

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

by

Roy Albert Riggs, B.A., M-A The Ohio State University 1953

Approved by:

Adviser TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

I. STEVENSON'S APPRENTICE YEARS, 1873-1879...... 1

II. STEVENSON'S RECEPTION IN AMERICA, 1879-1885* • * 49

III. STEVENSON' S RELATIONS WITH AMERICAN PUBLISHERS, 1886-1894...... 106

IV. STEVELSoN's ChlPICAL RECEPTION IN AMERICA, 1886-189^ ...... 209

V. STEVENSON’S POSTHUMOUS VOGUE IN AMERICA, 1895-1900 260 ii

PREFACE

Within the broad outlines of this study, which

traces the progress of Robert Louis Stevenson's literary

career in America from 1879, when he first appeared on

tne American publishing scene, to 1900, when the pos-

tnumous vogue had Bomewhat run its course, I have en­

deavored specifically to do three things: (1 ) to tell

in cetail the story of Stevenson's business relations

wl tn American publishers; (2) to indicate the reactions

of contemporary American critics to his work; (3) to

recount the rise ana fall of his popularity with the general reading public.

In dealing with Categories Two and Three, I have drawn heavily for source material on the literary period­

icals and the trade publications of the time. For the

facts about Stevenson's business relations with American

publishers I have consulted a large body of unpublished

correspondence that tells the whole story. I have had

free access to, and have permission to quote from, three

sizeable collections of unpublished letters which shed considerable light on Stevenson's American business

affairs. One is the Belneke Collection at Yale University, which contains hundreds of letters, written by Stevenson, lii tils family, and friends, the most important ones from tne standpoint of this study being those written by

Stevenson to Charles Baxter, his boyhood friend, legal adviser, anc literary agent. The second large collection of letters is in the files of Charles Scribner's Sons in New York; these are the business letters wnlch passed between Stevenson and various members of the firm during tne years from 1885 to 1894. Since Stevenson had more dealings with Charles Scribner's Sons than with any other

American publishers, these letters have proved invaluable.

In the Wloener Memorial Library at harvard University is the Stone-ivlmball correspondence with Charles Baxter, a group of letters primarily concerned with tne publica­ tion of Stevenson's posthumous novel, W el r o f H er ml ston .

I am indebted variously to the Yale University Library, to tne Widener Memorial Library, and to David Randall of Scribners for permission to consult these collections of letters and to quote from them.

Roy A. Riggs Columbu s August, 1953 1

STEVENSON'S APPRENTICE YEARS, 1873-1879

- . . about any art, think last of what pays, first of what pleases 1 Robert Louis Stevenson

_ _ Robert Louis Stevenson to Trevor Haddon, June, 1882, Letters and Ml scellanles of Robert Louis Stevenson, New Letters, ed* Sidney Colvin (N . Y., Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920), p. 161.

On August 7, 1879, the steamship Devonla of the

Anchor Line sailec from Jreenock, Scotland, for New York.

Aboard, in a second-class cabin, was a thin, sickly Scots­

man, who, although he could ill afford it, haa paid the

difference between steerage and second-class passage so

that he could have a table to use for writing. Robert

Louis Stevenson, twenty-nine years of age, advocate,

author of An Inland Voyage, Travels with a D onkey in the

Cevennes, and Picturesque Notes on Edinburgh, contributor

of essays and criticism to English literary periodicals

since 1873# w&s on his way to America -- not to seek his

literary fortune but to take a wife.

His friends in London and Edinburgh had done their best to dissuade him from embarking on what they consid­

ered to be this extremely foolish venture. They had 2 advanced strong arguments against his going: he was in poor health; he had little money; his parents, who wor­ shipped their only son, strongly disapproved of the Amer­ ican lady who, besides being of obscure antecedents and questionable morals, was still married to another man.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Stevenson had known of, and had been troubled by, the affair between their son and Mrs. Fanny

U3boume whom Louis had met in France in 1876, but they riau thought that all was over between the two when Mrs.

Osbourne returnea to America in tne summer of 1878. how, unexpectedly, a year later, a mysterious message hac come from tne woman in far-off California, and Louis, ignoring the sentiments of his family ana deaf to the vigorous pro­ tests of his closest friencs, was off to Join her. What incredible folly for him, in his precarious Btate of nealth, to be starting out alone on such an arduous trip for the sake of a woman who was not only married and the mother of three children but was ten years his senior into tne bargain'• The long Journey might very easily be the aeath of him. A few months later Edmund Goese wrote to

Stevenson, recalling "the dismal clammy evening when we bid one another farewell at the c o m e r of Berkeley Square and £ i j betted sixpence with my soul that I should never 2 see your face again." Even if Louis aid survive the

2 Evan Charterls, The Li fe anc Letters of Sir Edmund Gosse (N. Y., Harper and Brothers, 15317$ P* 119- 3 hardships of travel, he might become Involved In an ugly domestic tangle once he arrived In California. Thomas

Stevenson was filled with forebodings of scandal and ruin. "For Sod's sake use your influence," he wrote to

Sidney Colvin. "is it fair that we should be half mur­ dered by his conduct? I am unable to write more about this sinful mad business. . . . I see nothing but des­ truction to hlmBelf as well as to all of u s . I lay all this at the aoor of Herbert Spencer. Unsettling a man's 3 faith is indeed a very serious matter."

3 Belneke Stevenson Collection, Yale University Lib­ rary. In 1951 Edwin J . Beinexe gave his great collec­ tion of Stevenson books and manuscripts to Yale Univer­ sity. Among the items in that collection of keen inter­ est to Stevenson scholars are the letters written by h. L. S. to Charles Baxter, his boyhood friend, and later his legal adviser and literary agent- After Stevenson's ccath, Baxter presented the letters to the Savlle Club in London of which Stevenson had been a member, whence they came into the hands of Mr. Beineke. Although Sidney Colvin included a few excerpts from these letters in the Letters and KIscellanies of Robert Louis Stevenson, he made no extensive use of them. Most of the Baxter let­ ters, which cover the years from 1868 to 1894- and fill twelve folio volumes, have never been published . J . C . Furnas, in his recent biography of Stevenson, Voyage to Windward (1951) > 1b the first scholar to have made crit­ ical use of this material. The letters destroy once and for all a great deal of sentimental nonsense that suc­ cessive biographers of Stevenson, beginning with Graham Balfour, had put into print; at tae same time, the let­ ters give the lie to the sensational speculations of some biographers (particularly those of George S. Heilman and John A. Steuart in the 1920's) about Stevenson's char­ acter and a number of supposed love affairs. Stevenson unburdened himself more freely to Baxter than he did to any other correspondent; consequently, tnese letters fur­ nish many rare glimpses into the author's unguarded thoughts and feelings. In addition, they contain much factual information about his business affairs, including 4 his healings with publishers, that Is available nowhere else. There are also in the Belneke Collection Important letters from Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Stevenson, Fanny Van de Trift Stevenson, her son and daughter (Lloyd Osbourne and Isabelle Strong), Sidney Colvin, W. E. Henley, and Henry «J a me s »

Surely, no good could come of this impulsive behavior.

At the very least, even if none of the other fearea even­ tualities came to pass, Louis' s literary career, which was snowing the brightest kind of promise on the strength of his two recent travel books and his lateBt tales ana es­ says, was bound to suffer. Not that he had as yet achieved any great fame. He had gradually, over a period of six years, built up a limited reputation, in the literary cir­ cles of London, as a pleasing ana talented writer; but he naa made no apparent impression on the general English reading public, nor haa he ever been able to support him­ self entirely by the use of his pen. His father, who, fortunately, was moderately wealthy, had given him liberal financial nelp during the years when he was learning his craft. In leaving England now, he was cutting himself off from direct contact with London ecitorB and publishers

Just wrien nls career seemed to be on tne upswing, while in America, where his name was all but unknown, he had not a single publishing connection.

Nevertheless, Stevenson had decided that the time nad come to stand on his own feet. He was determined to test his ability to earn a living by writing, in 5 anticipation of the day when he might have a wife and 4 family to support- Under the circumstances, he could ex

5 1 " Letters to his Family and Frienas, I, 163- pect no further assistance from his father, and he woula asic for none. But his immediate prospects were not en­ couraging, for up to that time he hao made little effort to be a popular writer; he had consistently placea art above money. From the very beginning he hac set high artistic standards for himself and, in particular, nac been mucn preoccupied with the problem of style. He has told how, for years, he struggled to learn the art of writing by playing "the sedulouB ape to Hazlitt, to Lamb, to Wordsworth, to Sir Thomas Browne, to Defoe, to Hawthorne, 5 to Montaigne, to Baudelaire, and to Qbermann." Through

5 Robert Louis Stevenson, "A College Magazine," Vlrglnlbus Puerlsque, Memories and Portralts (N.-Y ., Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920), p. 212. Unless the use of a different edition is specifically indicated, all references to the Works and Letters of Stevenson are to the 1920 Scribner edition (twenty-five volumes.) persistence and hara work Stevenson finally had achieved a wonderfully smooth and lucid style, which was warmly aomired by his cultures friends ana by discriminating readers of a few literary magazines; but on the basis of his experience with London editors and publishers, he had 6

no reason to suppose that either his name or his style

nac any very high trade value in the literary market

place. Since 1875# when, shortly after passing advo­

cate, he first turned his full attention to literature,

nla annual income from his published writings had ex- 6 ceeaea a hundred pounds in only one year.

J. C. Fumas, in Voyage to W indward (N. 7., William Sloane Associates, 1951), P • 10^, estimates that Stevenson may have averaged as much as L100 a year in­ come from nie writing between tne years 1875 and 18 7 9, but that estimate seems too high. G-ranam Balfour, in x'ne Life of Robert Louis Steyenson (N . Y., Charles Scribner's Sons, 1901), I, l6o, says that Stevenson was paid a guinea a page for the early essays that appeared in the periodicals. Using Balfour's figure aB sun aver­ age, we find by counting pages that Stevenson, from all nis essays, stories, and reviews published in London mag­ azines ana newspapers from 1875 to 1879, earned approx­ imately the following amounts: 1875, ; 1 8 7 6 , L55; 1877, L51; 18 78, LI71: 1879, L27 (up to the time he Bet out for America.) Earnings from his three published books haa been negligible.

Although Stevenson began snowing an interest in lit­

erature and writing when he was very young -- he attemp­

ted his first novel at the age of fifteen, and at sixteen

saw his Pentland Hi si ng t a Page of History, 1666, privately

published -- he came to a professional literary career by

a circuitous route. His father, at first, wanted Louis

to take up civil engineering, which was hie own profession

and haa been that of his father before him. Accordingly,

from 1867 to 1871 Louis attendea Edinburgh University and workea, half-hearteuly, by his own account, towarc a 7

science aegree . however, his real interest even then lay

in learning to write, and he spent much of his time in

performing the imitative exercises that he has described:

Whenever I read a book or a passage that particularly pleasec me, in which a thing was said or an effect rendered with propriety, in which there was either some conspicuous force or some happy distinction in the style, I must sit down at once and Bet myself to ape that quality. . . . And what I thus wrote was for no ulterior use; it was written consciously for practice. It was not so much that I wisneo to be an author (though I wisheo that too) as that I hac vowed that I would learn to write. Tnat was a proficiency that tempted me; anc I prac­ tised to acquire it, as men learn to whittle, in a wager wlth myself.

7 "A College Magazine," pp. 211-212.

Stevenson contributed to, anc. helpec eclt, the four

Issues of the Ed Inburgh University Magazine tnat were

publleheo in the winter and spring of 1871; it may have

been that experience which finally gave him the courage,

on April 8, of the same year, to tell his father of his

extreme dislike for the study of engineering and to ask

that he be allowed to make literature his life's work.

His father, though disappointed, agreed to this proposal, but he made one stipulation: Louis was to take up the

reacing of law and become an advocate so that in the

event ne failed as an author he would have a respectable profession to fall back on. 8

From 18 72 to 18 75 Stevenson was. In the phrase of

nia first biographer, “a law student with literary 8 tastes." Yet it was during those years that the dlrec-

Graham Balfour, The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson, I, 131-

tion his literary ambitions were to take became clearly

cefined. Up to 1873, though he had read prodigiously and

hac labored long and painfully to develop an individual

style, and though he had dreamed vaguely of some day

acnieving literary fame, he hac made no effort to become

a paid author. When ne changed his signature, in 1872,

from hobert Lewis Balfour Stevenson to Robert Louis

Stevenson, he took care to explain his motives to an

old friend:

It is perhaps as well from another point of view, as I am going to land fame wholesale under the same designa­ tion; and as such will probably be the superscription on my tooomb £ ~ slc_7 in Winster Aby, £ ~ sic_/ as well as on the marble tablet, to be let into the front of the house of my birth -- No. 8 Howard Place.

9 Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Charles Baxter, 1872, Belneke Collection.

In 1873 a fortunate Introduction to Sidney Colvin,

Slaae Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge, provec to be a turning-point in Stevenson's life. Colvin was only 9 twenty-nine, six years older than Stevenson, but already he had established a reputation as a critic of literature ana art and as an essayist; he was a person of some in­ fluence and authority in the cultured circles of London, anc a few years before had helped to found the Savile

Club, to which many brilliant men, in various professions, belonged.

It was in the late summer of 1873 that Edith Sitwell, later Colvin’s wife, summoned him to Suffolk to meet a

"fine young spirit" who was visiting there. Colvin has­ tened to obey her summons, and he and Stevenson struck up a firm friendship that was to last until the letter's ceatn. Colvin was greatly taken with Stevenson at first sight;

It neeaed no conjurer to recognize in this very un-academical type of Scottish youth, a Bplrit the most interesting and full of promise, rils social charm was already at its height, and quite irresistible; but inwardly he was full of trouble and self-doubt. If he could steer him­ self or be steered safely through the difficulties of youth, and If he could learn to write with half the charm and genius that shone from his presence and conversation, there seemed room to hope for the highest from him.

10 Letters and Miscellanies of Robert Louis Stevenson, Letters to hij3 Family and Friends^ 1^ 59.

Colvin f um i shec the practical gulaance ana 10 encouragement which Stevenson at that time badly needed •

Equally Important, he brought hie young friend to the attention of several London magazine editors who evidenced their interest in Stevenson by accepting some of his con­ tributions for publication. Of his relationship with

Stevenson, Colvin says:

He /”Stevenson_7 attached himself to me, almost from our first ac­ quaintance, with the winning and eager warmth of heart that was so natural to him, ana I was able to nelp him with lntroauctione to edi­ tors, who were glad, of course, to welcome so promising a recruit, and with such hints ana criticism concern­ ing his work as a beginner may in most cases profitably take from a senior of certain training and experience• ^

11 Ibid ., p . 50 *

For his part, Stevenson fully recognized the debt he owed to Colvin:

• • • this most trusty and noble- minded man. . . paved my way in let­ ters; • • . set before me, kept before me, and still, as I write, keeps b e ­ fore me, a difficult standard of achievement* . • had the tact and wisdom to suffer me to be very much myself; . . . and whilst still hold­ ing before me a standard to which I could never quite attain, neither to damp nor disgust me of the trial.12

12 Quoted in Furnas, op* clt., p. 7Q, from "Memoirs of Himself," The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson. South Seas Edition (N. Y., Charles Scribner1s Sons, 1925), XIII, 291-92. 11

In the months that followed their first meeting,

Colvin introduced Stevenson to P • J. Hamerton ana Richmond

Seeley of the Portfolio, the magazine in which Stevenson'a

first essay, "Roads," was to appear; to George Grove of

Macmillan1a Magazine; to Leslie Stephen, editor of

Cornhlll Magazine, who was to publish a dozen or more of

Stevenson's early essays; to Dr. Appleton, ecltor of the

Academy; and to Walter Pollock, eaitor of the Saturaay

Review. Soon Colvin proposed Stevenson for membership

in the Savlle Club, where he met numerous prominent men

of letters -- among them George Saintsbury ana tne youth­

ful, but up ana coming, Edmund Gosse; there, also, ne re­

newed an acquaintancesnip witn Andrew Lang that had begun

on tne Riviera. One aay when Leslie Stephen went to call

on W. E. Henley, the young poet ana critic, who was in the

hospital for a leg amputation, he took Stevenson along,

Henley and Stevenson became staunch frienos ana a few

years later collaborated in writing several plays.

These events were Important because they helpea to

set the pattern of Stevenson's literary activity up to

tne time ne sailed for America in 1879* Stlmulatec by

his frienaly reception into the London world of Letters,

recognizing that he was faced with a challenge as well as

an opportunity, Stevenson, with Colvin's approval, de- claea to try his hana as a contributor to tne high-class

literary magazines. He would go on reading for the Bar, 12 as his parents wished, but in his spare time he would

try to whip into shape some essays on which he hao been working — one on Koaos anc the spirit of the Road, another on Walt Whitman, and a third on John Knox -- witn a view to possible publication in the Saturday 13 Kevlew, C o m h l l l , or the Portfolio .

13 ■ ■ Letters to his Famlly and Friend s, 1 , 50 .

The essay on Roads was quickly finished, but

Stevenson was a bit doubtful as to Its literary quality.

"I nave finished "Roads" today, ana Bene it off tc you

to see," he wrote to Mrs* Sitwell from Ld inburgh on

September 1^, 1873* "The Lora knows whether it is worth anytning*. -- some of it pleases me a good deal, but I

fear it 1b quito unfit for any possible magazine." Ana

three days later, he wrote, 111 have looked over "Roads" again, ana I am aghast at its feebleness. It is the trial of a very 'prentice hand' Indeed. Shall I ever learn to 14 ao anything well?" Despite these misgivings, he sent the

IV Ibid ., p . 58 . essay off to Pollock, of the Saturday Review, who re­ jected It. He tried Hamerton next, and that editor accepteG and published the essay in the Portfolio for

November, 1873, unaer the name of "L. S. Stoneven.” 13

"Roads" was Stevenson's first paid contribution to a period leal.

Tnat same fall Stevenson* s health broke down, and he was ordered to the south of France for rest and recup­ eration. As sick as he was, he continued his literary work, busying himself with the essay "Ordered South," wnlch was published tne following May In Macmillan* s

Magazin e, and with "Victor riugo’s Romances," which Leslie

Stephen accepted for tne August, 1874, issue of Co m h l l l .

Sack in Scotland In the spring of 1874, Stevenson, de­

termined to honor the agreement that he had made with als father, resumed the study of law. But he still found

time uurlng the next year (ne was admitted to tne Scottish

Bar in July, 1875) to do a considerable amount of writing.

In acdltion to the two essays mentioned above, he pub- lisnea two other essays ana a book review in 1874:

"Lord Lytton*s Fables in Song,"in the Fortnightly Revlew

for June -- a book review which John Morley, the editor, hac asked him to write; "Movements of Young Children," in the August Portfolio ; and "On the Enjoyment of

Unpleasant PlaceB," in the Portfolio for November. In

1875 Stevenson published a tract, two essays, an article, ana a review; An Appeal to the C lergy of Scotland, a pamphlet on the Cnurch Patronage Act of 1874, was published in February; "An Autumn Effect" appeared in the April and hay issues of Portfolio; and Macmillan* s Magazine carried 14 tils essay "John Knox and his Relations to Women" in bepteinber and October; he also contributed an article on Beranger to the Encyclopaedla Brltannlca and a review 15 of tne Works of Edgar Allan Foe to the Academy.

15 See W. F. Prldeaux, A Bibliography of the Works of Robert Louis Sterenson, revised edition, ed . Mrs. Luther S. LivlngBton (London, Frank Holllngs, 1916), pp. 185-187* See also Balfour1s Life of Robert Louis Stevenson, II, Appendix F.

Luring this Bame period, Stevenson was constantly experimenting with various literary forms. He tried hie hana at a novel, wrote more than a dozen short stories, several pieces of criticism, a few book reviews, and some poetry. For a time he was brimming over with en­ thusiasm for his novel of the Italian Renaissance, to be callecWhen the Devil was Well, but consigned it to the fire wnen nls friends expressed a poor opinion of it.

He started a prose poem, wnich came to nothing, and ex­ perimented briefly with French verse forms ana meters.

He proposed to do a series of papers on tne Pamasslene -- de Banville, Coppee, Soulary, and Prudhomme -- but soon abandoned that project. Early In 1875 he waB hard at work on a group of twelve short stories whicn he thought of publishing in book form:

I should get less coin than by going Into magazines perhapB; but I should also get more notice, should I not? ana so, do better for myself In the 15

long run. . . . I am sure I stand or fall by the stories.

16 Stevenson to Sidney Colvin, January, 1875* New Letters, p. 107-

Not one of these stories was ever published; Stevenson destroyed them all, Just as he destroyed much else that

ne wrote in those years, for although he was ablaze with ambition to gain a literary reputation, he wantea tnat

reputation to bear the stamp of "artist," ana he could not ceceive nlmself, when he viewed them critically in

the cold light of day, that these apprentice efforts at

Imaginative writing haa any great merit as literature.

Colvin remarks that 11 in all this experimental writing ne hac neltner the aims nor the facility of the Journal­

ist, but strove always after the nlgher qualities of lit- 17 erature, and was never satisfiea with what he had done."

17 Letters and 111 acellanles of Robert Louis Stevenson. Letters to hi s Fam1ly and Friend s. I, 51.

As a stuoent and budding gentleman-author, Stevenson haa often chafed at the restraint imposed upon him by his small allowance (twelve poundb a year until he was twenty- three) . He might have been more restive hao he not been able to supplement this basic allowance by "a very consis­ tent embezzlement" from his mother. Thomas StevenBon was not stingy: he apparently thought, as many other fathers 16 have thought "before and since, that every young man should learn to know the value of money. If he kept a rather

tight rein on his son's day-to-day spending, he aid not

Btlnt Louis on money for education, books, clothes, travel, medical care, or anything else essential to his welfare.

Consequently, while the latter had sometimes been strapped

for funds (he was notoriously careless and free-handed with money, anyway), he had never known what it was to

be entirely without resources; he had never experienced

the grim restrictions of true poverty; he haa never had

to face the necessity of earning his own way in the world.

Now it is one thing for the young artist to be short

of funds if he can be sure that his check is good at the bank; it is quite another for him to have empty pockets

if he knows that they are not likely to be filled save

through the sweat of his brow. Although Stevenson, in

the mid-seventies, was often at oods with his father, chiefly over matters of religious belief, he never doubted

that he could count on his father's continued financial

support. As he said, in speaking of one occasion when

Thomas Stevenson had come to his rescue, "It was a com- 18 fortable thought to me that I had a father." George

1 8 ------"A College Magazine," op. clt., p. 220.

Glsslng could testify, in the late seventies, to the 17

dilemma facea by the young writer who aspired to be an

artist, but who, at the same time, was dependent upon his pen for a livelihood. He causes the wife of the artistic but insolvent Reardon, in one of hiB novels, to make the

following cola-blooded analysis of the situation:

Art must be practised as a trade, at all events in our time. ThlB is the age of trade. Of course, if one re­ fuses to be of one's time, and yet hasn't the means to live Independently, what can result but breakdown and wretchedness: The fact of the matter is, you could do fairly good work, and work which would sell, if only you would bring yourself to lpgk at things in a more practical w a y . 9

19 George Glssing, New G rub Street (N. Y., E. P. mutton ana Company, n. d .7, p .43•

Stevenson, in his early years as a writer, never had

to face that dilemma. The truth is that, on the whole,

Thomas Stevenson had supplied his son's financial needs witn such good grace that Louis, during the first stage of his leisurely apprenticeship in letters (up to the

time he became his own man, so to speak, in 1875), had never felt compelled to consider potential income from his writing as a serious factor in his plans for a lit­

erary career. He was not completely oblivious to the

economics of authorship, but he was in a position to place art above all other considerations, and he did so.

When Stevenson returned home from France in May, 18

1874* his father raised his allowance to eighty-four

pounds a year, "i only asked for 480 on mature reflec­

tion -- and as I should soon make a good hit by my pen* 20 I shall be very comfortable.11 Stevenson wrote this, no

20 Stevenson to Mrs. Sitwell, May, 1874, Letters to his Family and Friends* I, 85- doubt, in the rosy glow of optimism occasioned by seeing his second essay in print. The mood die not last. For

tne next four yearB, earnings from his Infrequent contri­ butions to highbrow London periodicals remained small.

Graham Balfour thought that Stevenson might have won wide popularity as early as 1874 or '75. had he cared to con- 21 centrate on writing romance. But Stevenson knew what he

21 Balfour, op. cit-.. I, 164. was about. Well aware that in the art of writing he was

still a novice, he preferred to concentrate seriously, for

the time being, on perfecting his style* The essay form was best suited to his immediate purpose. Taking the long view of his career, he was reluctant as yet to step before tne public as a writer of fiction. If he was tempted to try for early fame and a wider audience than he was likely

to reach through the literary magazines, his sense of his own Inadequacy as an artist held him back. He enjoyed 19 writing fiction, but these stories were, after all, poor stuff and not fit for the public eye. "i am plochlng, like a madman, at my stories, and can make nothing of them," he wrote to Colvin in February, 1875; *'my sim­ plicity is tame and dull -- my passion tinsel, boyish, hysterical. Never mind -- ten years hence, if I live,

I shall have learned, so help me God. . . . But it's 22 a long look forwarc."

22 — — Letters to hi a Faml l.y and Fri ends, 1 , 99 •

Prior to 1875 Stevenson tenaed to accept his fatner* s financial assistance pretty much as a matter of course.

He sometimes, in his letters home, expressed regret that his father had to spend so much money on him with no tan­ gible returns on the investment in sight, but he was not inclined to fret much about the situation or to feel that he soon should strike out on his own. If there were times when he was troubled by the ethical considerations involved in nis continued dependency, he seems to have taken com­ fort in the thought that they were not as important as nis artistic alms. The financial debt that he owed to his family would be repaid one day to mankind in art.

Still there were moments of self-doubt when he questioned whether he was Justified in pursuing his private ends -- moments when he was pessimistic about his future as a 20 writer. One catcheB a glimpse of Stevenson’s attitude

toward hiB dependent position in a letter which he wrote

to his mother from France in March, 1874:

This money Irks me, one feels it more than when living at home. However, if I have health, I am in a fair way to make a bit of a livelihood for myself. Now please don't take this up wrong; don’t suppose I am thinking of the transaction between you and me; I think of the transaction between me and man­ kind. I think of all this money wasted in keeping up a structure that may never be worth it -- all this good money sent after bad• I shall be sgriously angry if you take me up w r o n g .

23 Letters to his Family and Friends, New Letters, p. 65*

The winter of 1875“'76 marked the beginning of the second stage of Stevenson’s literary apprenticeship. Then it was that, having completed his legal education and hav­ ing rejected once and for all any notion he may ever have entertained of practicing law, he finally turned his full energies to composition. Months before he became an advo­ cate on July 14, 1875. hie father had promised that he should receive a thousand pounds if and when that event came to pass. This money, paid over after a delay of several months, enabled him to continue striving after the ’’higher qualities of literature" without bothering his head overmuch about their exchange value in terns of poundB and shillings. He could afford to prolong his 21 apprentice period, to take hie own good time in perfecting nis style and in learning to handle the techniques of fic­ tion. The day was to come when, estranged from his family and his money spent, he would learn of the practical pro­ blems faced by the professional author without Independent means; but as long as the money lasted (it was gone by

1879) he could go his own way at his own pace.

The future was "think with inky fingers" in late

1875 and early 1876. Stevenson was busy with an essay on

Robert Bums, and he confided to Colvin that after he finished it he meant to write a critical book on three

Scotsmen -- Ramsay, Fergusson, and Bums. In addition, he had plans in mind for several essays; one on Charles of Orleans, another on Francois Villon, and a third, a 24 descriptive piece, on Fontainebleau. He was also writing

- j . - Autumn, 1875* Letters to his Family and Friends, I, 121-123. some petlts poernes en prose in imitation of Baudelaire.

(This was the period when Stevenson was somewhat under the influence of French literature, particularly the poets and poetry of the fifteenth century, in which he had b e ­ come interested during the summer of 1875 while spending several weeks at the artists' colonies in the Fontainebleau region.) In January, 1876, he mentioned in a letter to nis cousin, Katharine de Mattos, that he was trying his 22 hand at a novel. He didn't think it would be a success, but It amused him and kept him occupied at a time when nls other projects were temporarily at a standstill. The

Important tnlng was to keep busy: "... work Is your only ally against the 'bearded people' that squat upon their hams In the dark places of life and embrace people 25 horribly as they go by."

_ Letters to his Family ana Friends, I# 129-130.

1876 was for StevenBon a year of literary activity ana travel. His publishing record for that year does not reflect the full measure of his industry. To the Academy he contributed a critical review of Salvlni's Macbeth, as well as book reviews of J. Grant Lawson's The Poets and Poetry of Scotland. Jules Verne's Stories, and the comedy of the Noctes Ambroslannae* selected ana arranged by John Skelton. Leslie Stephen, during the year, pub­ lished four of Stevenson's essays in Comhlll Magazine:

"Forest Notes" in May, "Walking Tours" In June, "Virgin!- bus Puerisque, Part I," in August, and "Charles of Orleans"

In December. Another of his essays, "A Winter's Walk In

Carrick and Galloway," appeared in the summer number of 26 the Illustrated London News. Stevenson published nothing

2 6 ------Priaeaux, ojd. clt., pp. 187-188* 23 else In 1876, but he wrote "Some Portraits of Raeburn," which was rejected In turn by Comhlll, the Pall Mall

Gazette, and Blackwood1 a Magazine, did some work on

"An Apology for Idlers," which was not published until the following year, anc started two novels — The Hair

Trunk, or The Ideal Commonwealth, and _In the Wind bound

Arethuaa -- neither of which was carried through to com- 27 pietlon.

27 Balfour, op. cit., I, 169*

The five essays published In 1876 show that Stevenson was making progress as a stylist, although the quality of his writing was still very uneven. Some passages in those essays are firm In texture anc reveal a felicity of phras­ ing that is characteristic of his mature style; but he aau not yet put aside entirely his practice of imitating clstinctive stylists of the past -- "Walking Tours," for example, owes much In style and content to Hazlitt's

"On Going a Journey" -- and occasionally there Is evidence of a painful, conscious straining after literary effect, as In the following:

The wind had made ripples and folds upon the surface, like what the Bea, In quiet weather, leaves upon the sand, There was a frosty stifle In the air. An effusion of coppery light on the Summit of Brown Car rick showed where the sun was trying to look through; but along the horizon clouds of cold 24

fog had settled down, bo that there wae no distinction of sky and sea. Over the white shoulders of the head­ lands, or in the opening of bays, there was nothing but a great vacancy and blackness, and the road as it drew near the ecge of the cliff seemed to skirt the shores of creation and void space. • . . Hard by, a few shards of ruined castle overhang the sea, a few vaults, and one tall gable honeycombed with win­ dows. The snow lay on the beach to the tide-mark. It was daubed on to the sills of the ruin; it rooBted in the crannies of the rock like white sea-birds; even on outlying reefs there woulc be a little cock of snow, like a toy lighthouse. Everything was gray and white in a cold^ and dolorous sort of shepherd's plaid.

28 "A Winter's Walk in Carrick and G-alloway, " Sketches, Critic lams, etc., pp. 134-136.

How that is not bad as description, but it smacks of the amateur; it lacks sureness of touch; the imagery is a bit

too consciously contrived. One feels that Stevenson was here performing a descriptive exercise.

As early as 1874, he had warned his parents that

they must become accustomed to his being much away from home. . . . "I shall be a nomad, more or less, until my days be done. . . . I must be a bit of a vagabond; it's your own fault, after all, isn't it? You shouldn't have had a tramp for a son."2^ Taking full advantage of the

29 Stevenson to his mother, October, 1874, quoted in Balfour, op. cit., I, 164. 25

freedom of movement afforced him by his possession of a

thousand pounds, Stevenson, from 1876 to 1879* was never at home in Edinburgh for longer than three months at a

stretch. More or less independent for the first time in nis life, restless, eager for excitement and new exper­ iences, he entered upon a kind of footloose existence

tnat exactly suited him. With his health holding up pretty well during those years, he was able to lead an active life. He made dozens of trips to London, he spent much time in Paris; he wandered about Scotland, England, and France on foot, sometimes in the company of a friend, sometimes alone; he went on two European Journeys to gather material for travel narratives* He was almost constantly on the move. Some indication of the extent of his wan­ derings may be obtained from a 11Bt which he made out a few years later, showing the towns in which he had slept one or more nlghtB. That record contains the names of two hundred and ten towns — forty-six EngliBh, fifty

Scottish, Beventy-four French, and forty European other 30 than French.

30 Ibid ., p. 150.

It will be noted that the French townB outnumber all the rest* Stevenson spent a great deal of time in France between 1875 and 1879, traveling extensively in the 26

Provinces, and leading a bohemian life In and around Parle*

Especially to his liking was the Fontainebleau atmosphere,

to which he had first been Introduced by his cousin, R . A*

M. Stevenson, In the spring of 1875* To the artists' col­ onies at OTez and Barbizon he returned again and again for

stayB of varying duration. There, In a forest setting of great natural beauty, he could live a free outdoor life, work at his writing, and converse with people wnose inter­ ests were similar to his own* There he received encourage­ ment to stick to the course that he haa laid out for him­

self. There he developed a broader understanding of the problems of literary art. And there he met the woman who later was to become his wife*

It seemed to Stevenson that there was something in the very air of France that encouraged the love of style:

Precision, clarity, the cleanly and crafty employment of material, a grace In the handling, apart from any value in the thought, seem to be acquired by the mere residence; or if not acquired, be­ come at least the more appreciated.31

31 "Fontainebleau,” The Amateur Emigrant, Across the Plains. The Silverado Squatters, p. 17^.

And years later, looking back on hiB experiences at

Fontainebleau, Stevenson was sure that his Intermittent association there with kindred spirits had greatly ad­ vanced his own growth as an artist: 27

lSiiB purely artistic society is ex­ cellent for the young artist. The lads are mostly fools; they hold the latest orthodoxy in its crudeness; they are at that stage of education, for the most part, when a man is too much occupied with style to be aware of the necessity for any matter; and this, above all for the Englishman, is excellent. To work grossly at the trade, to forget sentiment, to think of his material and nothing else, is, for awhile at least, the king's highway of progress. Here, In England, too many painters and writers dwell dispersed, unshielded, among the intelligent bour­ geois. These, when they are not merely Indifferent, prate to him about the lofty aims and moral influence of art. And this is the lad's ruin. For art is, first of all and last of all, a trade. The love of words and not a desire to publish new discoveries, the love of form and not a novel reading of histor­ ical events, mark the vocation of the writer and the painter. The arabesque, properly speaking, and even in litera­ ture, is the first fancy of the artlBt; he first plays with his material as a child plays with a kaleidoscope; and he is already in a second stage when he be­ gins to use his pretty counters for the end of representation. In that, he must pause long and toil faithfully; that is his apprenticeship; and it is only the few who will really grow beyond it, and go forward, fully equipped, to do the business of real art -- to give life to abstractions and significance and charm to faots. In tne meanwhile, let him dwell much among his fellow-craftsmen• They alone can take a serious interest in the childish tasks and pitiful successes of these years. They alone can behold with equanimity this fingering of the dumb key­ board, this polishing of empty sentences, this dull and literal painting of dull and insignificant subject s. 32

32 Ibid., pp. 172-73- 28

Stevenson wrote "Fontainebleau" in 1884, after

Treasure Island, in book form, had proved a success and had given him a certain standing as an "arrived" author.

As an oblique commentary on his artistic development dur­ ing the years from 1875 to 1879* the essay has special

Interest. In retrospect, Stevenson saw that his continued preoccupation with Btyle during the first part of that period marked him as still an apprentice with but an im­ perfect understanding of the complexities of art; but he also saw that before the period was over he had made some

Important beginnings as a creative writer. His own ex­ perience is Implicit in the warning which he serves on the young artist:

The life of the apprentice to any art is both unstrained and pleasing; it is strewn with small successes in the midst of a career of failure, patiently supported; the heaviest scholar Is conscious of a cer­ tain progress; ana if he come not appre­ ciably nearer to the art of Shakespeare, grows letter-perfect In the domain of A-b, ab. But the time comes when a man should cease prelusory gymnastic, stand up, put a violence upon his will, and for better or worse, begin the business of creation.53

35 Ibid., pp. 173-74.

Although 1877 was a lean year for Stevenson from the standpoint of quantity of work published, he took an important step in a new direction when he published his first fiction, the short story "A Lodging for the 29

Night.," which appeared in the October issue of Temple Bar.

His total publications for the year Included, in addition

to the one short story, three essays in C o m h i l l —

"On Falling in Love," "An Apology for Idlers," and

"Francis Villon, Student, Poet, and Housebreaker" -- and

a handful of book reviews in London, a weekly review of

wnlch Henley was than the editor* Not a very impressive

output in volume for a young author intent on building a

professional literary career, but if the record seems to

indicate that Stevenson was not pursuing his vocation with

enthusiasm, the record is misleading. During the summer,

he was complaining to Colvin of being overworked and was

outlining to Mrs. Sitwell at least half a dozen ambitlouB

literary schemes, with the comment "i have a goad in my

flesh continually, pushing me to work, work, work. . . . 34 You see how work keeps bubbling in my iolnd." By autumn

- Stevenson to Mrs. Sitwell, August, 1877, Letters to Family ana Friends. I, 137* he had completed two other short stories, "The Sire ae

Maletroit*s Door" and "Will o 1 the Mill," both of which were published in January, 1878, and by the year's end had written more than half of An Inland Voyage, an account of the canoe trip from Antwerp to Grez that he had taken with Sir Walter Simpson in the late summer

of 1876. Stevenson not only was making steady progress as a stylist and craftsman, he was displaying a quickening interest in the practical aspects of the literary pro­ fession as well, and was seriously considering ways and means of extending his audience, broadening his reputa­ tion, and Increasing his Income. Hence the short stories and the travel book. He had not been paid very much for hie essays up to that time, and, so far as he knew, they had not been widely read. Perhaps the high road to fame lay in writing fiction. I do not mean to imply that

Stevenson was deliberately compromising nis artistic standards in an effort to gain a larger audience and more money -- he was not; the Bhort stories themselves prove that; but he was consciously endeavoring to advance his career by producing the kind of literature that would have greater popular appeal than his essays had ever had. This trend in his thinking is clearly revealed in his corres­ pondence. Having sold one story to Temple Bar, he hoped that he might "count on another market there in the future.

3 5 Stevenson to Colvin, August, 1677, Letters to hie Family and Friends, I, 136 .

And straightway he sent off to the editor a second story which was accepted. To Mrs. Sitwell, Stevenson confided,

"i begin to have more hope in the story line, and that should Improve my income anyway. ... . Vividness and 31 not style is now my line; style is all very well, but vividness is the real line of country; if a thing is meant to be read, it seems Just as well to try ana make 36 it readable*" Here was a shift in attitude fraught with

3 6 August, 1877, Letters to his Family and Friends, !• 138. significance for the future, but it was not attenced by any immediate increase in popularity; his audience was still restricted to the readers of a few periodicals.

However, some of those periodicals traveled a long way from London, and it was about this time that Stevenson received his first fan mail in the form of a letter from a man in Australia, who wrote that he had reao and ad­ mired the Cornhlll essays. Stevenson was delighted:

People who write for the magazines (probably from a guilty conscience) are apt to suppose their works prac­ tically unpublished. It seems unlike­ ly that any one would take the trouble to read a little paper burled among so many others; and reading it, read it with any attention or pleasure* • • . I did not indeed imagine they /” the essays_7 were read, and (I suppose I may say) enjoyed right round upon the other side of the big Football we have the honour to inhabit.37

37 Stevenson to A* Patchett Martin, 1877, Letters to his Family and Friends. I, 139*

Stevenson was anxious to see a book with his name 32 on the cover; he had felt for some time that the publica­ tion of a book would help to make his name better known 38 and would serve to enhance his prestige as an author.

3S Stevenson to Colvin, January, 1875, New Letters, p. 107-

Several attempts at novels had failed. Recently he had abandoned a tentative plan to publish a book of essays when Leslie Stephen advised against it on the grounds that R. L. S. probably wasn't "rich enough for such an ,39 amusement•' But Stevenson was resolved to finish and

39 Stevenson to Mrs. Sitwell, May, 1877, Letters to his Family and Frlends, I, 135- publish An Inland Voyage. Having taken a canoe trip for the express purpose of making "a Jolly book of gossip" from his experiences, he meant to complete the task that he had set for himself. Furthermore, he hoped to make 40 some money from the book.

4o Stevenson to Colvin, January, 1 8 7 8 , Letters to his Family and Frlends, I, 143.

His financial situation was causing Stevenson increas­ ing concern. With his thousand pounds dwindling rapidly away, as a result of hie extensive traveling and free spending, and with only small amounts coming in from his 33 contributions to the periodicals, he was faced with the realization that unless his earning power soon Improved, he would be forced once again to appeal to his father's generosity* To further complicate matters, he was deeply involved with Mrs. Osbourne by the fall of 1877, if not before, and was, perhaps, even then weighing the possi­ bility of their one day being married. In any event, if

Colvin's tentative dating of some posthumously published notes, "Reflection and Remarks on Human Life," is correct,

Stevenson was seriously contemplating the responsibilities 41 of marriage early in 1 8 7 8 . There are other indications

41 See Sketches, Criticisms, etc., p. 6 3 2 . of a growing maturity and of a deepening seriousness in his outlook at that time* One sees these signs, as well as evidence of his emotional state ana of his financial difficulties, in an unpublished letter which he wrote to

Charles Baxter:

. . . I am not so young as once I was; there Is a relish of time in me; I find myself heavy and a little sad-hearted in comparison with the past; and above all, laughter, the old uncontrollable, hyper­ bolical laughter that took you by the mid- rlff and kept you crowing until the tears came into your eyes, is all extinct. We laugh in echo now-a-days. But I don't think the play is at an end, and though nothing can bring back the hour of splen­ dour in the grace, of glory in the flower, I pretend to be a pretty sound and merry liver, after all. I like my work as I y*

never did before; I like my solitary walks in the country; I like a good talk, a pipe of tobacco, a glass of liquor. 0, damn it, no, the pipe is not yet smoked; and I propose to be a better old man than ever I was a young. Cheerily, old man, cheerily. A dull humour is worse than most complaints* And as long as people have their wits and a good heart, and a good digestion, and a tolerably clear conscience, I am for sweeping all these maudlin, piping sentimentalities into the common sewer. We are a little too old for green sick* ness and Wertherism. If we haven't cleared out spirits of that unripe rub­ bish by this time, I wonder how we ex­ pect to die* • * . I am damnably in love and go dear in debt and yours ever/2

Early 1878, Beineke Collection.

And probably at about the same time he was comment­ ing, abit wonderingly, in hiB notebook on certain marked changes in his personal habits:

I remember a time when I was very idle; and lived and profited by that humour. I have no idea why I ceased to be so, yet I scarce believe I have the power to return to it; it is a change of age. I made consciously a thousand little efforts, but the determination from which these arose, came to me while I slept and in the way of growth. I have had a thousand skirmishes to keep myself at work upon par­ ticular mornings, and sometimes the affair was hot; but of that great change of cam­ paign, which decided all this part of my life, and turned me from one whose busi­ ness was to shirk into one whose business was to strive and persevere, --it seems s b tnough all that had been done by some one else. . . . I was never conscious of a struggle, nor registered a vow, nor seemingly had anything personally to do 35

with the matter* I came about like a well-handled ship* There stood at the wheel that unknown steersman whom we call God. ^

5T 1 Reflection and Remarks on Human Life*" Sketches, Critic Isms, etc *, p. 6 3 3 .

Stevenson's new Industriousness and firmness of pur­ pose were reflected In the quantity of work that he pub­ lished In 1878* Two books, An Inland Voyage and

Picturesque Notes on Edinburgh, seven essays, and ten short stories (Including the seven connected tales called 44 "New Arabian Nights") were published during the year.

55------Stevenson contributed to at least one London period­ ical In every month except February. Following Is a month by month listing of his publications In 1878: January: "Will o' the Mill," (short story), C o m h l l l ; "The Sire de Mal^trolt1s Door," (short story), London. March: "Crabbed Age and Youth," (essay), C o m h l l l . April: "Aes Triplex," (essay), Cornhlll. 'A Plea for Gas Lamps," (essay), Lond on * May: An Inland Voyage, (book), London, Kegan Paul & Trench; "Pane’s Pipes," (essay) , London, May 4; "El Dorado," (essay), London, May 11. June: "New Arabian Nights,' (the first of seven connected tales, all of which appeared in Lond on between June 8 and October 26); "Picturesque Notes on Edinburgh," (the first of a series of descriptive sketches published in Portfolio. June through December). July: "The English Admirals," (essay), C o m h l l l . September: "Child's Play," (essay), Comhlll. October: "The Gospel According to Walt Whitman," (essay). New Quarterly Magazine • November: "Providence and the Guitar,'* (Bhort story), London, November 2 -2 3 . December: Picturesque Notes on Edinburgh (book), Edinburgh, Seeley & Company. Stevenson also wrote during the year, in collaboration with Henley, the play Deacon Brodle. which was not printed until 1880, as well as a few verses which were later pub­ lished in Underwoods (1887). 36

See Prldeaux, ojg. cit., pp. 189-192. See Balfour, o£. cit., II, Appendix F.

Stevenson's 1878 income from all his publications AS was something less than two hundred pounds. His high

£ 5 See Footnote 6, p. 5* Evidence of the accuracy of this estimate may be found in Stevenson's own statement that up to the time Treasure Island was published in 1881 "I had never yet paid my way, had never yet made two hundred pounds a year." "My First Book -- Treasure Island." Treasure Island, p . xvl. hopes that An Inland Voyage woulo prove a popular success were not realized. Despite a cordial reception by the critics, the book did not sell, and Stevenson let the 46 copyright go for twenty pounds. Although his total

5S------Malcolm Elwln, The Strange Case of Robert Louis Stevenson. (London, MacDonald, 1950), p. 130. earnings in 1878 were three to four times greater than those of any previous year, they were not sufficiently large to cover his expenditures, for Stevenson had grown accustomed to tossing money about with a free hand. In less than three years he had managed to run through more than a thousand pounds. Much of the money had been spent

In travel and foolishly extravagant living, but some of it had gone to friends anc relatives in the form of gifts and loans. Colvin, Henley, Bob Stevenson (who had dissi­ pated his own patrimony) and the letter's sister Katherine 37 were among the beneficiaries of Louis* s generosity, all of them receiving sizable loans which Stevenson apparently made with never a thought of asking repayment* Further­ more — though the early biographers never mention this delicate fact — Stevenson not only contributed to Fanny

Osbourne's support while she was his mistress, he con­ tinued to send her money after she returned to California*

Expenses Incident to his relationship with that lady were considerable in 1876 and 1879* In June of the former year,

Stevenson wrote to Charles Baxter from the Hotel Mirabeau in Paris:

* * * I only write to ask a service, one hundred quid must be h a d . You choose any Interest. But send me nece­ ssary papers to sign at once to above address. Oroa bless you. This is the last twenty days of my passion. 'Twill then be over for good. They are steep. Ever yours in the wust case as his handwriting attesteth. '

w Unpublished letter, Belneke Collection.

When Fanny returned to America with her children in

August, 1878, she seems to have left Stevenson with the understanding that she would seek an Immediate divorce from Samuel Osbourne, "i am glad the trial is so early,"

Stevenson wrote to Baxter on September 11; "supporting so big a family, and all in different quarters, leads to 48 expenses, I promise you." But for some unknown reason 38

^ — Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection* the divorce was not quickly forthcoming- Perhaps Fanny had a change of heart after she arrived home, or per­ haps Osbourne was unexpectedly opposed to giving up his wife, even though he had treated her very shabbily.

(His later behavior suggests that he may have wanted

Stevenson to pay him to approve the divorce action.) At any rate, months dragged by without a final decision hav­ ing been reached* It Is Impossible to say just how heavy a drain Fanny placed upon Stevenson's purse during the year after she returned to America, but that he die make contributions to her support Is clear enough. In May or June, 1879, for example, he Instructed Baxter to send twenty pounds "in the most compendious form" to Jacob

Van de drift (Fanny's father's name), Rlversice, 49 California.

59 Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

In the meantime, Stevenson, In serious financial straits for the first time in his life, was doing his best to earn enough money so that he could finance the divorce and launch his own marriage. As the result of a bitter falling out with his family over his love affair with Fanny Osbourne, he could not turn to his father for 39 the necessary funds. Thus, in large measure, Stevenson* s intensified literary activity in 1 8 7 8 and 1 8 7 9 stemmed from his determination to prove that he could support himself. He had made a "wager with the world to carry 50 on my affairs at my own expense, if I can." Early in

50 Stevenson to his mother, 1878, The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, ed. Sidney Colvin, South Seas Edition (N. Y., Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925), I* 326,

1879 he wrote to Henley; "There 1b nothing strong enough to express this winter horror and depression in my own romantic town. But I'll stick to It. I must Slave, save, save, three hundred and fifty poundb must be made and laid 51 ere I breathe freely."

51 - Quoted in John Connell, W. H. Henley (London, Constable, 194-9), P* 87*

While Stevenson's versatile performance in 1878 drew high praise from his literary friends, nothing that he proouced in that year caused any excitement among the general reading public: his descriptive, reflective, and critical essays and his curious tales that were largely devoid of action and love interest had no popular appeal.

Among the London literati his prestige was growing steadl- ly, but outsiae that restricted group his name meant little or nothing. He was in good standing with a few periodi­ cal editors who were willing to pay him regular rates for 40 his tales and essays, hut he was In no sense a star contributor* Many of his offerings to the magazine

London appeared anonymously, and all the Comhlll esBays , except for the first one (which was not iden­ tified at all), were signed, only with his initials, and they were sometimes mistaken for those of the editor*

It was Leslie Stephen's practice to print the full names of only his most eminent contributors; a few vrlters of second rank were identified by their initials, and the rest were not identified at all. It is no doubt signi­ ficant that this magazine, which published more of

Stevenson's early work than any other, was suffering from a steadily shrinking circulation. At the time

Stephen took over as editor in 1871, the circulation was twenty-five thousand; when he was forced to resign in 1882, it was down to twelve thousand, and the maga- 52 zine was operating at a loss. The literary tastes of

52 Noel Gilroy Annan, Leslie Stephen (London, MacGibbon and Kee, 1951)» P« 76.

Comhlll' s middle-class audience obviously did not coin­ cide with those of the editor, and the fact that Stephen admired the gracefully written essays of R. L. S. coes not for a moment mean that a large majority of the sub­ scribers to the magazine followed his example.

Lond on. the weekly review to which Stevenson contributed frequently in 1878# was tottering on the brink of failure# ae it had been ever since it was founded by

G-eorge Glasgow Brown, with the backing of the Conservative

Party# in 1876. Originally intended to be primarily a political organ, the magazine under Henley's editorship took on a strong literary coloring, with Henley himself writing many of the verses ana much of the literary criti­ cism that appeared in its pages. Andrew Lang was an occa­ sional contributor, and Stevenson, because of his friend­ ship with the editor, found in the journal a ready market for both fiction and non-fiction. Lond on gained some re­ cognition in literary circles, chiefly because Henley#

Lang, ana Stevenson were associated with it, but its lit­ erary contents, like those of Comhlll, were simply not attunec to the popular tastes of the time. Never a going concern financially, it limped along with a small circu- 53 latlon for three years anc then expired. The failure

55 See Connell, op. c l t .. pp. 80-85. of Stevenson's stories ana essays to reverse# even tem­ porarily, the downward trend in the circulation of these two magazines may be taken as an indication of the lack of popular interest in his writing.

Stevenson's first book also was greeted by public apathy, but if the author was disappointed at the failure 42

An Inland Voyage to sell on the hook stalls, he had no reason to complain of the critical reception accorded the hook. The reviews were uniformly favorable. On June 8,

1878, Stevenson wrote to his mother from Paris:

About criticisms, I was more surprised at the tone of the criticb than I sup­ pose any one else* And the effect it has procuced in me is one of shame. If they liked that bo much, I ought to have given them something better, that's all. and I shall try to do so. Still, it strikes me as odd; and I don't understand the vogue. It should sell the thing *54

5 4 ------Letters to his Family and Friendb , 1, 146•

Among those wno read and liked the book was George

Meredith; he addressed a cordial letter to Stevenson wnom he knew casually:

. . . I have been fully pleased. The writing is of the rare kind which is naturally simple, yet picked and choice. The eye on land and people embraces both, and does not take them up in bits. I have returned to the reading end Bhall again. Ihe reflections wisely tickle, they are in the right good tone of philosophy Interwrought with humour.

Meredith found only a few minor flaws. He objected to the preface because it struck him as being "thinly in

Osrlc's vein" and to the final page of the narrative which was "out of tone with the spirit of the book."

One passage reminded him strongly of the style of Pickens.

But he was careful to make clear that he considered these ^3

to be trivial faults* "But see what an impression I have

of you when these are the sole blots I discover by my

lively sensations in the perusal* • • • Run to no ex­

cess in writing or anything. I hope you will feel that 55 we expect much of you."

55 ~ 1 June 4, 18 78, Letters of George M e real th, collected ana edited by his son £N . Y . , Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912), I, 289*

Stevenson, while pleased by the chorus of praise

from the critics and from his frienos, could not believe

that he had accomplished anything of major importance.

In September, when he was preparing to set out on a walk­

ing tour of the Cevennes in order to get material for a

similar book, he wrote to his mother: "i read Inland

Voyage the other day: what rubbish these reviewers did

talk*. It is not badly written, thin, mildly cheery, and 56 strained. Selon mol."

— E|g Letters to his Family and Frl ends* I, 147*

Throughout the late months of 1878 ana the early

months of 1379 Stevenson continued to write steadily,

although Fanny's inability to report any progress in her

efforts to settle her domestic affairs subjected him to

Increasing emotional strain. Returning from his walking

tour in October, 1878, he settled down to write 44

Travels with a Donkey In the Cayennes. which was completed

and in proof by the following March. Then, in "Lay

Morals," a lengthy treatise which was not published until

several years after his death, he explored his ethical

position in relation to Fanny, hie parents, and the world, and reaffirmed his Intention to lead his own life in his own way. "Truth of Intercourse," a slighter esBay in which ne proclaimed his love for Fanny and indirectly chided his parents for their lack of sympathy and understanding, was published in the May issue of Comhlll . In June, Kagan

Faul ana Company of London published Travelb with a Donkey in the Cayennes. A b in the case of An Inland Voyage, reviews were laudatory, but sales were extremely disa­ ppointing. Stevenson wrote to hiB cousin Bob regarding the book:

My book is through the press. It has good passages. I can say no more. A chapter called "The Monks," another "A Camp in the Dark," a third "A Night among the Fines." Each of these has, I think, some stuff in it in the way of writing. But lots of it is mere protestations to F., most of which I think you will under­ stand. That is to me the main thread of interest. Whether the damned public — But that's all one.5 '

57 Quoted in Balfour, 0£. clt.. I, 191.

Sometime in May Stevenson traveled down to London, where he spent several days with G-eorge Meredith; then 45

he went over to France for a month's stay at C a m a y la

Ville. Returning to London at the end of June, he applied

to the ealtor of the Times for some type of Journalistic 58 employment* It seems likely that he had by then decided

_ g Ibid., p. 1 9 3 •

to go to America and that he may have hoped to defray

part of his expenses by sending back travel letters to

the newspaper. But whatever the proposition was that he

made to the Times, It was rejected. The exact circum­

stances which prompted Stevenson's decision to Join Fanny

in California cannot be known. Evidently she had written

aim that she was in poor health ano hac made a request

for money. Whether or not she had asked him to come to

her 1b a matter of conjecture. In any event, Stevenson

confided to a few close friends -- Henley, Bob Stevenson,

Baxter, Colvin, and Oosse — that he meant to go to America

and marry Fanny, if her divorce could be arranged. To a

man, these friends were strongly opposed, but all their

objections were to no avail; Stevenson's mind was made up. He had very little money — probably less than a nunored pounds. A short story and an essay that he had

on the stocks would bring in something; perhaps he could gather enougn material on the trip to make a book or a lengthy article. It was agreed that If he ran short of 46

funds he was to call upon Baxter for assistance* After

a brief visit with his parents, to whom he revealed nothing of his plans, and after a final trip to London

to wind up his personal affairs, he traveled north again

to Grreenock and boarded the Pevonla. His state of mind, as he set out on his risky adventure, is best Bhown in

the letter that he wrote to Colvin a few hours before the ship docked in New York:

At least, if I fail in my great pur­ pose, I shall see some wild life in the West. . . • But I don't yet know if I have the courage to stick to life with­ out it* /~a definite understanding with Fanny?_7 Man, I was sick, sick, sicx of this last y e a r .59

59 The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, South Seas Edition, I, 350-351.

In sailing off to America to get married, Stevenson was, in effect, writing finis to the first phase of his career. The "unstrained and pleasing" days of the appren­ tice period were over; the time when he coulo afford to play the role of the talented amateur and the gentleman author was past. Henceforth he must pay attention to the trade aspects of literary art. Up to that point in his career, he had published three booxs, some twenty-five essays, eleven tales, ana a dozen or so book reviews.

His style had been praisea in the literary coteries of

London, and some of England's most prominent men of letters 47 regarded him as a writer from whom great things might be expected in the future. His forte had been the essay, but recently he had shown definite skill in handling the snort-story fonn. Altnough he had a mania to write a novel and haa tried ten or twelve times to write one, none of his efforts had been successful. So far he had not been able to muster the stamina for the long flight. 60 "it is the length that kills." He had hoped that his

"My First Book -- Treasure Island," Treasure Island, p. x. short stories would catch on with the British public, but, having made no attempt to cater to popular tastes in fiction, he scarcely can have been surprised when the stories failed to attract much attention.

Stevenson very early came to hold the conviction that the first aim of art is to please. At first, in the youthful days when he was learning hlB craft, he had written to please himself; later he had written, with growing confidence and skill, to please his highly cul­ tured and critical friends; in the future, under the pressure of economic necessity and from choice, he would write to please the masses, but in so doing he would try to retain a certain amount of artistic integrity* Within a few years he would achieve fame, popularity, anc rich financial rewards; he would be praised by the critics anc 48 eagerly read by the multitudes; ecitors and publishers would vie with one another for the privilege of publisning nis works; his extensive wanderings in search of health would be followed with keen interest on both Bioes of the

Atlantic, ana his name would become synonymous with ao- venture and romance. But in 1879 fame still lay in the future, and in America, whither he was bound, an obscure, sick, and almost penniless author, the name of Stevenson meant little more than did that of the lowliest emigrant wltn whom he sang Scottish psalmB anc the "bastard doggrel

/” sic_/ of the music-hall" during the voyage. 49

STEVENSON’S RECEPTION IN AMERICA, 1879-1885

A man were more than human, If he did not sometimes complain of the way In which things go in the States-^

__ Stevenson to Charles Scribner, Marcti 12, 1885# unpubllsheo letter, Scribner office file.

Early In 1879, a few months before Stevenson set

foot in America for the first time, there appeared anon­ ymously In a New York newspaper two stories of Paris in

tne time of Francois Villon entitled "A Looging for the 2 Night" and "The Sire de Maletroit's boor." Following

- ~ — Edmund Clarence Stedman's Stevenson Memorial Address, Crltic , XX.VI (January 12, 1895)# 3U.

an ancient, if not honorable custom of the American pub­ lishing trade, the editors had simply reprinted the stor­

ies from a London magazine -- without asking Stevenson1b

permission, without paying him, without even acknowledging

his authorship. The thefts of those two stories may well

have been the first acts of piracy committed at his ex­

pense in America; they were far from being the last. From

then until 1891, when the United States Congress passed

the International Copyright Law, Stevenson was to suffer 50 deprecations at the hands of American publishers who could not legally be restrained from stealing his work.

Since the cases of piracy increased in direct proportion to his American popularity, the largest number occurred in the late eighties, but before then there had been some unauthorized reprints of his early books. These early reprints, if they did not benefit Stevenson directly in a financial way, performed a useful function that is too often overlooked -- they introduced him to the American public, prompted his firBt Important critical notices in

America, and helped pave the way for later profitable business arrangements with scrupulous editors and pub­ lishers •

During the years under consideration in this chap­ ter, Stevenson, along with other more eminent British authors, was often a victim of the anarchic conditions tnat had developed in the American publishing trade in the late seventies with the appearance of the cheap

"libraries." Far several decades prior to that time, legitimate American publishers had been able to compen­ sate partially for the lack of an international copy­ right law by conducting their dealings with foreign authors anc publishers (chiefly British) and by regulat­ ing their foreign reprint activities in accordance with the principles of an unwritten ethical code known aB

"courtesy of the trade." Briefly, this code required 51 publishers to recognize one another's prior rights in foreign literary property and to refrain from encroach­

ing upon them. Whan an American publisher Introduced a

British author (with or without his permission) in the

American market, he gained, so far as many of his compe­

titors were concerned, the exclusive privilege of pub­ lishing that author's books in America. The author him­

self had nothing to say about the matter; he was helpless under the law. This working agreement among American pub­ lishers tended to promote orderly handling of the foreign

reprint business, to reauce publishing risks by curbing competition, and to encourage the fair treatment of for­

eign authors, whether from moral or selfish con si aerations •

Tne system was not perfect, of course* Some publishers never pretended to abide by the agreement; others inad­ vertently or deliberately violated it upon occasion, but for a time it served its purpose fairly well.

As long as the "courtesy of the trade" agreement was widely honored, the established British author wltn a sizeable American following stood to profit -- and often did profit very handsomely, indeed -- from the publication of h i b books in America. There were advantages to be gained on both sides from friendly cooperation and fair dealing between British author and American publisher. The latter,

for example, frequently found it expedient to pay gener­ ously for advance sheets of a new book by an author whose 52 name had been demonstrated to possess sales value- The publisher could then advertise the book to the trade well

In aavance of the date when It would be published simul­ taneously In England and America, secure In the knowledge that he alone would reap the immediate benefits of his advertising. And If the pirates kept hands off, the chances were good that he would realize a substantial profit on his Investment- The author, for his part, looked upon Buch a payment aB a windfall and was eager to remain on good terms with the publisher who made It,

In tne hope that similar transactions might be arranged

In the future.

The sums paid by American publishers for advance sheets of new British books varied according to the pub­ lisher' s generosity and the author1s reputation and pop­ ularity. As might be expected, famous novelists fared best. Personal Recoilections of Mary Somerville, the

English mathematician and astronomer, brought only one hundred and five pounds from Roberts Brothers of Boston 3 in 1373. but Anthony Trollope was accustomed to receive

- Raymond L- Kllgour, Messrs. Roberts Brothers. Publishers (Ann Arbor, University of Michigah Press, 1952), p. 126. ------flve hundred pounds for advance sheets of his novels.

5 Publishers' Weekly. XV (June 21, 1879), 700. 53

Harper Brothers paid William Black elx hundred pounds for

Jreen Pastures ana Piccadilly, and a new novel by Wilkie

Collins was worth a like amount to the same firm. 3-eorge

Lliot, whom Stevenson once memorably described as "a high, but -- may we not add? -- a rather dry lady," was at the peak of her prestige in the mid“seventies when the Harpers laid out the very respectable sum of seventeen hundred 5 pounds for advance sheets of Danlel Deronda.

_ _ . J . Henry Harper, The House of Harper (N • Y., Harper and Brothers, 19127, P* 556.

There were other ways in which the British writer could tuin an honest dollar in the country where his rights were not protected by law: an arrangement might be made for the payment of royalties, or he might receive a bonus when sales reached a certain figure, for not in­ frequently the American publisher deemed it sound long- range business practice to establish and maintain cordial relations with the author wnoBe book he may have reprinted initially without so much as a by-your-leave. Consider the Roberts Brothers1 treatment of Jean Ingelow, for example. In 1863 Thomas Niles of RobertB Brothers ordered a copy of Miss Ingelow's Poems from London and reprinted the book without her permission or knowledge. It caught on Immediately, twelve editions being called for in the first year; by the end of five years twenty-five thousand 54 6 copies had been sold. With "courtesy of the trade11

g------Kllgour, oja. c lt.j pp. 17-18 • prevailing, Roberts Brothers found themselves In the happy position of being the sole American publishers of a pop­ ular booK. Furthermore, since they had introduced Miss

Ingelow in America, they could claim the right to publish any other books that the authoress might produce in the future. Having thus gained control over the publication of her works in America, RobertB Brothers could well afford to share their profits with Miss Ingelow, in orcer to assure her future cooperation. She accepted their offer to pay royalties, and in the years from 1865 to 1879 she received from Roberts Brothers over eighteen thousand dollars, representing total royalties on a number of books, plus an occasional bonus which the publishers saw fit to 7 pay. This business arrangement obviously worked to the

7 Publishers1 Weekly, XVIII (August 28, i860), 236. advantage of both author and publisher. Miss Ingelow's books were among the steadiest money-makers on the

Roberts Brothers' list, and the author certainly had no reason to complain of her treatment at the hands of publishers who were not legally bound to pay her a single cent • 55

But such arrangements were possible only so long as no cut-throat competition developed, and when, In 1874,

Messrs. Donnelly, Grassette, and Loyd of Chicago brought out the first cheap reprint In the Lakeside Library

Berles, they started a trend In piracy that soon made

"courtesy of the trade" an empty phrase and threw such confusion Into the ranks of the legitimate publishers that sheer self-interest forced them to oiganize and to lend their combined support to the movement for inter­ national copyright.

The publishers of the Lakeside Library were careful to stay within the law, but they carried on their opera­ tions with a complete disregard for business ethics. Any literature not protected by copyright that had proved Its popularity or had given eviaence of becoming popular was grist for their mill. They reprinted many old fictional favorites, British and American, but their speciality was the quick exploitation of new British books that had re­ cently been published In comparatively expensive editions by reputable American publishers. By keeping their pub­ lishing costs low, the Chicago pirates could afford to sell their meanly printed, paper-backed editions for as little as ten or twenty cents. The legitimate publishers, who had invested in quality paper, binding, and printing, and whose expenses may have Included payments for advance sheets as well as considerable sums spent on advertising, 56 found themselves at a serious disadvantage. They could not reduce their prices and still make a profit, yet the sales of their books suffered from the competition of the cheap reprints. To make matters worse, the Lakeside

Library soon had numerous imitators: the Seaside Library, the Norman L. Munro Library, and the J. W. Lovell

Library -- to mention only a few -- all dedicated to piracy, all designed to exploit the growing marxet for cheap literature.

The rapid degeneration of business ethics, under the impact of large-scale piracy, ultimately resulted in a situation where there was no longer any honor among thieves. Even publishers of high reputation were guilty of practices that were morally, if not legally, question­ able. As competition grew keener, the Harper Brothers started their Franklin Square Library in self-defense, hoping, by reprinting on themselves, to beat the pirates at their own game. But when the Harpers expanded their

Franklin Square serleB to include popular foreign books from the lists of other publishers, they laid themselves open to charges of piracy, even though they were always careful to make token payments to the authors whose books they reprinted .

The coming of the cheap "libraries" meant the end of "courtesy of the trade." It also meant the end of many of the mutually profitable relationships that had 57 existed between honest American publishers and popular

British writers. With no foreign book safe from piracy,

American publishers were understandably reluctant to make large payments for advance sheets. The possibility of unrestricted competition reduced their profit potential when they published a new British book. Even if a book gave promise of becoming highly popular, a quick flood­ ing of the marxet with cneap reprints could ruin the sale of the original American edition. The authorized pub­ lisher, therefore, no longer gained any particular ad­ vantage from the purchase of advance sheets. The pub­ lishing trade Journals of the late seventies contain many complaints from British writers who suddenly found themselves deprived of a source of revenue that they had come to count upon. Not all their opportunities for maxing money in America vanished with the breakdown in "courtesy of the trade": the sale of serial rights to American mag­ azines could frequently be arranged; some publishers con­ tinued to pay royalties to eminent writers; but very often in the late seventies and eighties, because of the ruth­ less activities of the pirates, British authors received little or nothing from the publication of their books in America.

In view of the prevailing conditions, it is scarcely surprising that Stevenson's early books should have been published in America without profit to him. When he landed In New Y otk. on August 18, 1879* he found hie

Travels wlth a Donkey In the Cevennea on sale In the book stores. Roberts Brothers had brought out an Ameri­ can edition In June, the same month in which the first

English edition was published in London by Regan Paul.

Just how Roberts Brothers got hold of tne book is not clear. Raymond Kilgour conjectures that P. G. riamerton had introduced Stevenson to the Boston publisners and that the American edition appeared with the author's 8 approval. Kilgour apparently bases his speculation on a

g - — ------See Messrs. Roberts Brothers, Publishers, pp. clt., p. 1 7 2 . remark that Stevenson made in a letter written to hiB mother in October, 1878: "P. G. himself promised to help me in my bargains with publishers, which, Bald he, and

I doubt not very truthfully, he could manage to much 9 greater advantage than I." Actually, there is every

Letters to his Family and Friends, 1, 149 * reason to believe that Stevenson never had been in touch with RobertB Brothers and that he knew nothing of their action until he purchased a copy of his own book in New

York. If he previously had been in correspondence with them and had authorized the publication of Travels with 59 a donkey, he scarcely would have written to riamerton In wovember, 1879, from California, as follows: "Could your recommendation Introduce me to an American publi­ sher? My next book I should really try to get hold of nere, as Its Interest Is International, and the more I am in this country the more I understand the weight of 10 your influence." It Is possible that Roberts Brothers

10 ' Letters to his Family and Friend s, I, 180. obtained advance sheets, or an advance copy of the book, from Regan Paul without Stevenson's being consulted, vmat prompted their interest in tne book is a mystery.

Early in May there had been an announcement In Publishers'

Weekly that "Mr. Louie Stevenson, an English traveler, whose first book, An Iniand Voyage, recounted his exper­ ience as a traveler by a canoe on French rivers, has changed hie mode of locomotion, and Is now about to relate 11 his Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes." In its May

— Publishers' Weekly, XV (May 3, 1879), 518.

24th Issue, the same Journal informed the trade that

Roberts Brothers would have ready on June 1 "an amusing account of a vacation trip by Robert L. Stevenson," and on June 7, tne announcement was made that Roberts

Brothers had juBt published "Travels with a Donkey in 60

tne Cevennes, "by R. L. Stevenson, an Englishman, who is 12 both a good traveler anc a s00^ writer."

12 Publishers* Weekly, XV (June 7, 1879), 615*

Regardless of how the book came into the hands of

Roberts Brothers, it is certain that they paid Stevenson 13 no money. But even if Travels with a Donkey cost them

13 On March 8 , 1886, Steven Bon wrote to Charles Scribner, acknowledging receipt of a handsome draft: "I find myBelf in a difficulty how to express all that I feel. X can best do so by telling you (in confidence) that beyond a few dollars from Messrs. Henry Holt and Company and cer­ tain sums that I recently (in despair) demanded for ad­ vance sheets, I have never up to now received one red cent for any book of mine in the States-" Unpublished letter, Scribner office file. nothing, tneir edition probably returned them little, if any, profit, because the book was no more successful in

America than it was in England. Very few copies were sold in either country. As late as 1882, Roberts Brothers still carried the title on tneir Bummer list, but not a single new edition had been called for, nor had any cheap reprints been published — the pirates evidently did not consider it worth their while to steal the book. American critics, for the most part, ignored it altogether. An exception was the reviewer for the Nation, who wrote a brief but friendly notice: 61

This is one of the pleasantest of outdoor books, an excellent descrip­ tion of the places and people the trav­ eler saw In the little-known and pic­ turesque Cevennes, and an amusing nar­ rative of the adventures he met with In his twelve days' Journey- • • • He is communicative, almost familiar, like one (to use his own illustration) who writes a letter to friends, sure of thelr good-will and their Interest in himself.14

IS ------AAVII (June 19, 1379), S23*

Stevenson's adventures in tne Cevennes were tame compared wltn those that he met with in America In 1879

and 1880. The story of his experiences has been well

told by himself and repeated with embellishments by num

erous biographers; the bare details read like the Im­

plausible plot of a third-rate novel.

Stevenson disembarked in New York on the evening

of August 18, 1879, In the midst of a summer downpour which continued, almost without a lull, for the full

twenty-four hours that he was in the city. He gained

his first impressions of America while riding through

the streets, seated on a pile of straw In the bottom

of an open baggage-wagon. He and a fellow-traveler, wno had been in New York before, sought lodging for the night at a "humble hostelry" called the "Reunion House" on West Street, where the overnight rates were twenty-

five cents. His companion slept in the bed, and 62

Stevenson spent a sleepless night on the floor* Of the

next day's events he says:

Of my nightmare wanderings in New York I spare to tell• I had a thousand ano one things to do; only the day to do them in, and a Journey acrosB the conti­ nent before me in the evening. It rained with patient fury; every now and then I had to get under cover for a while in order, so to Bpeak, to give my mackin­ tosh a rest; for under this continued drenching it began to grow damp on the inside. X went to banks, post-officeB, railway-offices, restaurants, publishers, /f~my itallcs_ 7 boox-sellers, money-changerb, and wherever I went a pool would gather about my feet, ano those who were care­ ful of their floors would look on with an unfriendly eye. Wherever I went, too, the same trad te struck me; the people were all surprisingly rude and surpris­ ingly kind. . . . In a very large pub- lisalng ana book-selling establishment, a man, who seemed to be the manager, re­ ceived me as I had certainly never been received in any human shop, indicated squarely that he put no faith in my hon­ esty, and refused to look up the names of books or give me the slightest help or information. . .15

15 The Amateur Emigrant, p . 9 0 .

During the course of that busy day, Stevenson called

at the editorial offices of The Century in an effort to

sell the manuscript of his tale "The Story of a Lie" that

he had finished on the voyage. He talked only with a clerk, who gave him no encouragement, and did not bother

to leave the manuscript. Years later he playfully accused

Richard Watson Gilder of having been the clerk who turned 63 16 him out* but G-iloer denied the charge.

_ William Webster EllBworth, A Golden A«e of Authors (N. Y., 1919), P. 27-

Stevenson's cold reception in the offices of New

York editors and publishers apparently convinced him that nls prospects of selling any work in America were dim; nearly a year passed before he approached another eastern

editor, then he sent W . D. Howells a handful of poems and inquired whether they would not be suitable for the

Atlantic Monthly.

On the evening of August 19, Stevenson, wearing a knapsack on his back, carrying in one hand a small valise and in the other a railway rug containing the six volumes of Bancroft's Hi story of the United States, crossed over to Jersey City and climbed aboard a westbound emigrant train. Eleven days later, after a trip that would have tried the endurance of a stronger man, he arrived in

Oakland, California, shabby, feverish, and underweight, looking, as he was told, "like a man at death's door."

He found Fanny, her son Lloyd, and her sister Nellie living with an old Mexican family in Monterey; Fanny's daughter Belle had recently eloped with a young artist named Joe Strong, who, years later in the Pacific, was to be a sore trial to Stevenson. Fanny's news was dis­ appointing: she had not yet filed for a divorce from 64

SamuelOsbourne; perhaps she had not even made up her mind

to seek one* Stevenson, who had been counting on an early

marriage, was considerably cast down to find this state

of affairs. On September 9# he wrote to Charles Baxter:

Address me c/o Joseph D. Strong, Monterey, Monterey County, California. This Is not a letter, for I am too perturbed. You may use my name on the letter and say where I am, giving my father two or three dayB to tell it the first (I went over here for lit­ erary purposes in order to write up emlgracy.) I am still thirty pounds to the good. You had better send me fifty of that hundred. . . . My news is nil. I know nothing. I go out camping, that Is all I know; today I leave, and shall lie but three weeks in camp; I shall send you a letter from there with more guts than this. And now say good bye to you, having had the itch and a broken heart

17 Unpublished letter, Belneke Collection.

A few days later, while he was camping out alone

up in the Coast Line Mountains, Stevenson1s health broke

down completely, and he nearly died. Two ranchmen, an

old bear hunter and a captain from the Mexican War,

found him lying under a tree in a stupor; they took

him In and nursed him until he was well enough to return

to Monterey. Stevenson knew that he had had a close call.

In reporting his experience to Gtosse, he said: "I was pretty nearly slain; my spirit lay down and kicked for

three days. „1Q 65

IB Letters to his Family and Friend a, I, 173"174-.

By mid-October he was making a slov. recovery, and

Fanny had made up her mind to go ahead with the divorce.

In a letter to Baxter, marked "private confidential,"

Stevenson reported the latest developments and deolared tnat

. . . in coming here, I did the right thing; I have not only got Fanny patched up again In health, but the effect of my arrival has straightened out everything. As now arranged there is to be a private divorce in January, after the girls are married; and yours truly will himself be a married man as soon thereafter as the law and decency permit. The only question is whether I shall be alive for the ceremony. You know that all last year I was sorely worried; this Journey, the dreadful anxiety I was in for a month after my arrival and the continual necessi­ ty to work when I am scarce able for It, are all having their marks upon me. First, I ran for a fever; then I was supposed to have started a decline; now my face Is elegantly covered with burning raw spots* I can just do some work and lie on a bed after it, and though I have some appetite, I cannot digest. Still, as far as It has gone, It has been an upward grade, and witn care, I believe I shall pull through.19

19 October 15* 1379, unpublished letter, Belneke Collec tion.

Surprisingly enough, he was working steadily and had been ever since arriving in California, except for the week or two when he was too sick to life a pen. By 66 the end of October he had written about half The Amateur

Emigrant, had drafted seventy pages of a novel, A Vendetta in the West, and had completed and sent off to Henley a long story "The Pavilion on the Links," which he ad­ mitted to be "carpentry"s "Dibbs and speed are my mottoes. . . . 0-od prosper it, poor 'Pavilion'.' May it bring me money for myself and my sick one, who may 20 read it, I do not know how soon."

20 Stevenson to Henley, October, 1879, Letters to his Family and Friends, I, 176.

It was Stevenson’s desperate need for money that kept him writing when he was so ill that often after he had finished a page he had to lie down and rest before he could find the strength to begin another. "I hope soon to have a greater burthen to support, and must make money 21 a great deal quicker than I used." His father, bo far,

— Ibid., p . 177• had not forgiven him for chasing off to America after a married woman, but In November Louis was in such dire financial straits that he swallowed his pride and appealed to his parents for help. On November 29, he wrote to

Baxter: 67

If no money has been sent by my people In answer to that telegram, please send me h5Q as before* I am sicx both at heart and in body toaay and you must excuse this note* I have done towers of work since I have been here; and I am not afraid for the next twenty months at least. By the beginning of January, if my health holas out, I should have made about the worth of fa500 since I started on this Journey; it is true I shall have spent falAO or thereby (not so much) but then the Journey is made.

22 Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

In placing a value of three hundred pounds on the work that he would have completed by the end of the year,

Stevenson was assuming that all of it woulo be published, ne frankly admitted that much of what he had written since leaving England was not deathless prose, but he was not prepareo for the barrage of criticism that Henley, Colvin, and Josse fired at him . They had been quick to pronounce

"The Story of a Lie" Inferior work when it appeared in the October issue of New Quarterly Magazine; they found fault with "The Pavilion on the Links," which Leslie

Stephen considered good enough for Cornhlll ; and they fairly showered abuse on the first part of The Amateur

Emlgrant. Their motives were good, no doubt, and some of their criticisms were Just, but that trio had formed a cabal to show Stevenson the error of his ways and to persuade him that he should return home at once, with 68

or without a wife. And in their determination to make

him see the light, they bombarded him with letters which

were neither fair nor tactful. Henley makes his attitude

perfectly clear in a letter that he wrote to Colvin in

February, 1880:

Don't defer expostulation because he is ill. On the contrary, it is absolutely necessary that he should be brought to see that England and a quiet life are what he wants and must have if he means to make -- I won't Bay a reputation — but money by literature. We shall pass off all he1 s done, but I won' t answer for much more. Come back he must and that soon. Married or unmarried -- Je m 1 en flche » . . . You may expect that Louis will resent our criticism of his last three works. * . but I think it right that he should get them: et avec a confident expression of hope for the future, and as confident a predic­ tion that Monterey will never produce anything worth a damn. ^

23 beineke Collection. Published in Furnas, op. cit., pp. 168-169*

Some of his friends' sharpest criticism reached

Stevenson at the time when his fortunes were at tneir

lowest ebb. In December, although still weak and suffer­

ing from pleurisy, he was working as a reporter for the 24 Monterey Californian at a Balary of two dollars a week.

25 Stevenson to Colvin, December, 1879, Letters to his Family and Friends, I, 183. 69

Then* to add to his financial difflculties, Sam Osbourne stopped supporting Fanny ana her son* and Stevenson had to take on a new responsibility. On January 9* i860, he Instructed Baxter to sell his books and foxvard the proceeds: "l am let in for heavy expenses for perhaps another couple of months; it is very unpleasant; but once that is over, life will go cheaper. I have three people to support and perhaps four* instead of one or 25 two." Stevenson had been looking to The Amateur Emigrant

25 ' ' Unpublished letter* Belneke Collection. to bring in some badly needeo cash; it is no wonder he was bitterly disappointed to be tolc by Colvin that the vvork lacked merit and was likely to injure his reputation if published. Furthermore, he felt that the tone of

Colvin's criticism waB unduly harsh: "Frankly, Colvin," he wrote* "do you think it a good plan to be so eminent­ ly descriptive* and even eloquent* in dispraise? You rolled such a lot of polysyllables over me that a better 26 man than I might have been disheartened." Stevenson

January* 1880, Letters to his Family and Friends* I, 192. summed up his reaction to the sharpshooting from London in a letter to Baxter: 70

I was a little morbid a month or two ago, being far from well, and in the receipt of a correspondence that would have ta^en the starch out of Marie Tapley. People rolled letters onto me like boul­ ders, and then ran away and pelted me with notes, like road metal* I feared to open an envelope, there was sure to be some damned torpedo or, at the least, some Waterloo Cracker, that would singe my whiskers.2?

27 February 22, 1880, unpublished letter, Belneke Collec tion.

In replying to Colvin and Henley, Stevenson tried to make clear that he was wording under pressure and that his first concern was to earn enough money from his writing to support himself and his dependents. His goal was modest enough: he thought that he could manage to stay afloat on two hundred pounds a year (he had made nearly that much in 1 8 7 8 # but in 1 8 7 9 , because he had not been able to work steadily, his total earnings had 28 amounted to only one hundred and nine pounds.) Even

2 8 ------Stevenson to Colvin, January 10, 1880, Letters to his Famlly and Frlends, I, 190. though his literary friends did not think very hignly of

"The Story of a Lie" and "The Pavilion on the Links," those tales had been quickly accepted in London for periodical publication. He had written The Amateur

Emigrant in the hope that it would make a successful 71 book, and he aeked Colvin to try to find a publisher who would agree to pay royalties beginning with the first copy sold. The work must be disposed of quickly, or 29 "By Cod, I'll starve here." At about the same time, he

29 ‘ Stevenson to Colvin, December 26, 1Q79, Letters to his Family and FrlendB, 1, 187• inquired of Colvin whether it would not be possible to bring out a collection of his short stories that had been published previously in the magazines, and he discusseo with Henley the feasibility of publishing a book of essays.

It is notewortlv that during those months in Cali­ fornia, wnen he was 111 and practically destitute,

Stevenson made no real effort to establish publishing contacts in the East. He did write the one letter to riamerton asking for an lntrocuction to an American pub­ lisher wno might be interested in The Amateur Emigrant, but nothing came of his request. He contlnuec to send everything that he wrote directly to London -- to Colvin, to Henley, to Leslie Stephen, or to some other periodical eoltor with whom he was personally acquainted. Under the circumstances, he doubtless felt that his work could be disposed of more quickly and easily in publishing circles wnere his name was well known. Thus, even wnile he was living in poverty in America, he still looked to England for income; and when, in speaking 72

of his stories, he said, "the public must be educated to 30 buy mine or I Bhall never make a cent," he meant the

50 Stevenson to Colvin, December, 1879, New Letters, p. 1 2 6 .

English public.

As though to demonstrate to his critics that he had

not lost his stylistic skill, he completed during the

winter two essays, "Yoshida Torajiro" and "Henry David

Thoreau: his Character and Opinions,11 both of which he

sent to Leslie Stephen. The first was published in the

March Comhlll and the second in the June issue of the

same magazine. These essays served to silence tne com­

plaints of Colvin and Henley, but Stevenson was conscious

that his Interests were changing, and he made it quite

clear to them that he Intended to concentrate on fiction

in the future:

I know my mind is changing; I have been telling you so for long; and I suppose I am fumbling for a new vein. Well, I'll find it. . . . I know I shall do better work than ever I have done be­ fore; but, mind you, it will not be like it. . . . There shall be no more books of travel for me. I care for nothing but the moral and the dramatic, not a Jot for the picturesque or the beauti­ ful other than about people.51

31 Stevenson to Colvin, January, i8 6 0 . Letters to his Family and Friendb. I, 192-194. 73

He assured Henley, "you need not be uneasy about my work;

I am only beginning to see my true method. . . . You 32 know I was a Story-teller Ingrain." And to Oosse, he

32 February, 1880, Letters to his Family and Frlends, I, 194-195. wrote, "I believe the class of work I might yet give out 33 is better and more real and solid than people fancy.1

33 Lee ember 8 , 1879, Letters to hib Family and Friends. 1 , 1 8 6 .

In Karen, Stevenson fell ill again, and for six weeks "it was a toss-up for life or death." This time

trie coctors found positive symptoms of consumption, the disease that was thenceforth to plague him until he set­

tled in Samoa ten years later. He was convalescing in

April, under Fanny* s care, when his father, who only two months before had been threatening disinheritance, finally relented and cabled that he might "count on two hundred 34 and fifty pounds annually." That cable was a godsend

35“ Stevenson to Colvin, April, 1880, Letters to his Family and Frlends. I, 200. to Stevenson; his immediate financial cares were re­ lieved, and a steady future income was guaranteed. Now that he could afford to think once more of his reputation, 74

he Instructed Colvin to recover the proof sheets of

The Amateur Emigrant from the publisher. That work,

which had been so roundly condemned by his friends, was

never published In his lifetime.

Stevenson and Fanny Osbourne were married in San Francisco on May 19* 1880. Having been advised by the doctors that a stay In the mountains would hasten Louis's

recovery, the newly wedded couple spent their honeymoon at the abandoned raining town of Silverado, high up on

Mount Saint Helena of the California coast range. Stevenson later described the country and related their

experiences in a book called The Silverado Squatters.

A two-month sojourn in the mountains aid wonders for his health, anc by late July he felt well enough to undertake the long trip back to England. On August 7, 1880, Stevenson, with his wife and step-son, sailed from New

York for Liverpool.

In one way, his American adventure had been a complete success; in bringing Fanny Osbourne to the altar at last, he had accompliehed what he set out to do. But profession­ ally Stevenson had made little progress during his year

in California. Although he had kept doggedly at his writing, even when he was in wretched health, he had publlshea only two tales and two essayb in London period­

icals. In America he had published nothing except a couple of short articles in the San Francisco Bulletin 75

for which he had been paid at that newspaper's regular 35 rates. At the end of the year, he was no better known

35 Balfour, op. c it *. I, 202.

in American publishing circles than he had been on the

day of hiB arrival in the country. His failure to cul­

tivate the acquaintanceship of editors and publishers in­

dicates clearly enough that he entertained no particular

hopes of advancing his career in America. After his ini­

tial rebuffs in New York, he ignored the eastern periodi­

cal market until shortly before he sailed for home, when

he wrote to W. D. Howells, who was then editor of the 36 Atlantic Monthly. There was a cordial exchange of letters,

35 In Houghton Library, Harvard University, there are two unpublished letters from Stevenson to Howells, written in 1880. I quote them here for the light they throw on the early relationship between the two men:

Calistoga, California £~no date_7 w. D. Howells, Esq. Dear Sir,

Allow me to introduce myself. My friend and best of editors, Leslie Stephen, told me a while ago, you were about to give him a story, and offered to write and present me; but I thought I might save .him that trouble and me that delay. I am a seven years old Comhlll contributor, which in our unstable England is a venerable literary age; and I am besides the author of several little books, one of which, Travels with a Donkey, was gently let down, probably with your own hand, in a recent Atlantic. I hope to be some day in Boston, when I may be so fortunate as to meet you. -Ever since the Lady of the ArooBtook. I have held you 76

in the best literary esteem; and few people, I am sure, await the end of your new story with greater sympathy; till I have seen the end , I am not so base as to offer you any further compliment or the least pretense of an opinion. I have been for some four months Inhabiting the Immediate borderland of death. I was unable to write any prose. I amused myself with verse, my heart softened to these children of the sick room. My wife -- no less impartial a Judge -- fancied they had merit. In short, ray dear Mr. Howells, it is what is commonly called "the old story." You are an editor, and so you will not des­ pise me. Should any of the pieces please you, pray res­ pect the pseudonym; I have some real blushes for this branch of literature. Should they appear to you the rubbish that perhaps they are, there was more loss, as we Scotch folk say, at Sherrifmuir, and I shall at least have had an opportunity of presenting you my confratemal sympathy. Robert Louis Stevenson

17 Herlot Row Edinburgh, Scotland / no date__7 W. D. Howells, Esq* Uear Sir,

A kind of combination of hurries drove me straight through from California to Scotland, and prevented me from making Boston by the way. Here I am then, or rather as In the famous epitaph, not here at all, but somewhere else which I do not mention, as I shall be gone again long ere this reaches you; and here I must remain for a while. May I hope for proofs? I am one who never was yet correctly printed, even under the supervision of a Bynod of intelligent friends. My mind is not sympathetic with that of the average printer. I believe I have not written to you since I saw the end of Undiscovered Country« It more than fulfilled my expectations* Believe me, dear sir,

Yours truly,

Robert Louis Stevenson

and HowellB accepted a poem that Stevenson had written

during his recent serious illness. That poem, which 77 begins "Not yet, my soul, these friendly fields desert," was his first paid contribution to an American magazine."

37 Atlantic Monthly, a LVI (October, 1880), 459-60.

Nearly three years were to psbs before he made his next

sale to an American editor.

In the meantime, he was writing essays and short

stories for English perioaleals and had completec and pub­

lished, in serial form, hie first full-length narrative, 38 Treasure Island, for which he was paid about thirty pounds.

33 - Stevenson to Henley, September, 1881, Letters to hi a Family and Friends , 1, 260 .

When that tale of piracy and adventure appeared in Young

Folks (October, 1881, to January, 1882), under the pseudo­ nym of "Captain S-eorge North," it aroused little interest

among the readers of the magazine, and some of his literary

frlendst who were ever concerned with his reputation, pro­

fessed to be shocked that Louis should stoop to hackery.

Stevenson, however, was through playing the gentleman-

author. Finding It impossible to support hie family on

his allowance and the small amounts that he received from

his regular periodical offerings, he waB out to gain a larger audience and to earn more money by whatever means came to hand. When Henley told him of the slurring re­ marks that were being made In London about his flyer in 78 boys* literature, he proceeded to set the record Btraight:

To those who ask me (as you say they do) to do nothing but refined , high-toned bejay-bedamn masterpieces, I will offer the following bargain: I agree to their proposal if they give me falOOO, at which I value mon possible, and at the same time effect such a change in my nature that I shall be content to take it from them instead of earning it. If they can­ not manage these trifling matters, by 3od, I'll trouble them to hold their tongues, by G-od. . . . I wi11 Bwallow no more of that gruel. Let them write their damn masterpieces for themselves ano let me alone. . . . I am ever yours, the infur­ iated victim of his early books, who begs clearly to announce that he will be so no longer, that he did what he has done by following his nose to the best of his ability, and, please Q-od Almighty, will continue to pursue the same till he die.39

39 Quoted in Furnas, o£. cit., p. 197, from a letter, Stevenson to Henley, in the National Library of Scotland

Although Stevenson had no way of knowing it at the time, he had stumbled upon the path that would eventually lead to popularity. Ironically enough, when Treasure

Island was published as a book in December, 1883, more than one critic hailed it as a masterpiece. Andrew Lang, for example, declared that, except for the Qdysse^and

Tom Sawyer, he "never liked any romance so much."

“5o Stevenson to his mother, November, 1883, Letters to his Famlly and Friends, 1, 348 •

While Stevenson, in the three years following his 79 return from America, was gaining steadily in prestige among the critics, editors, and publishers of London -- despite the grumblings of certain of his friends over

Treasure Island -- and while he was making some headway in overcoming the Indifference of the English public, a few pirated editions of his books were causing faint stir­ rings of intereBt among editors and publishers on the other side of the Atlantic. In the late fall of 1881,

Edmund Gosse, in his capacity as London agent for the

Century, suggested to Richard Watson Wilder that he pub­ lish in his magazine an essay on Benjamin Franklin that

Stevenson was planning. Though Gilder was cool toward that idea, he countered with a proposal that Gosse duly passed on to Stevenson, who was then living in France:

I have been in correspondence with my New York friends about you, and they wholly agree with me that you ought to be secured hard and faBt, and towed with the other Immortalb down the golden river of the C entury which used to defy meta­ phor by calling itself Scribner* But what the editor says regarding my first proposition is this: -- "He would have to say something remarkably fresh about dear old household divinity Franklin to Justify him in tackling that exhausted subject." Well, I admit that there is a good deal in that. Now, they propose that I ask you to write an article on the Course of the Thames, to be copiously illustrated . That would, of course, be most delight­ ful, but could hardly be managed at Davos. Will you write me as sober and business­ like a letter as you can contrive, and let me know what you are at work upon, anc what you could propose for us of a 80

bright and fresh kind. Our pay is L2 a page, but when we get hold of a tip-top swell like you we can manage L3 10s* a page. Which is, I think, pretty decent.^

_ 4 1 November 7, 1 8 8 1 , The Li fe and Letters of Sir Edmund Posse, pp. 146-1?7•

Stevenson had no work in hand at the moment that he considered suitable for the Century, but, after further correspondence, he agreed to collaborate with PoBse in writing a series of papers on famous murders -- Pilder having indicated that such a series would be acceptable 42 to him. For some unexplained reason, this scheme was

52 —— Stevenson to Posse, December 26, 1881, New Letters, P- 157. never carried out, and Stevenson did not appear in the pages of the Century for another two years. Neverthe­ less, the above letter is important as evidence that his name and reputation were becoming known in the American publishing trade•

Such evidence multiplied in 1882. In March,

Publishers* Weekly announced that "Mr. Louis Stevenson, the well-known essayist, is at work on a critical blogra- 43 phy of William Hazlitt." The following month Scribner

^ 3 /LvI (March 4, 1882), 222. 81

and Wei ford brought out an edition of Familiar Studies

of Men and Books, which had been published by Chat to and 44 Winaus, of London, in March. Next, Roberts Brothers

^5 Publishers1 Weekly, XaI (April 15, 1882), 404.

reissued their edition of Travels with a Donkey in the 45 Cevennes. New Arabian Nights, published by Chat to and

------Publishers' Weekly, xxi (May 27, 1 8 8 2 ), 475*

Wlndus in August, was soon pirated in New York by George

Munro, his Seaside Library edition selling for twenty 46 cents. Henry Holt and Company, in November, published

45------Publishers' Weekly. aXII (October 28, 1882), 574.

a dollar edition of the same book in their Leisure Hour 47 Series.

5? Publishers1 Weekly. a a I I (November A, 1882), 606,

These pirated editions called forth numerous favora­ ble reviews in the periodicals. Typical of the notices that greeted Familiar Stuo1es of Men and Books was the one in the Critic ;

Mr. Stevenson is known in America as the writer of two delightful books of travel -- An Inland Voyage and 82

Travels with a Donkey In the C evennes. Readers of the P ortfolio will remember that he contributed to It a series of 'Picturesque Notes on Edinburgh, 1 worthy to rank with Mr* Lang's charming essays on Oxford. The present volume ought to Introduce him to a wider constituency in this country, for It contains -- mingled with a little caprice and prejudice -- some of the finest and sharpest criti­ cism that has seen the light in England within the past decade. . •

While the reviewer professed to see the influence of

Carlyle, Thackeray, Emerson, and Thoreau In the book, he was quick to point out that he did not consider this a flaw, for "these varied teacherB have sent forth a 48 scholar of marked originality."

4 5 ------II (September 9, 1 8 8 2 ), 236-57*

The most important criticism of Stevenson that had yet appeared in America was written by H. C. Bunner for the Century . William Webster Ellsworth tells how he was dispatched by Bunner one noon-time to "'get a book In the Seaside Library called The New Arabian Nights by a 49 new man named Stevenson.'" Bunner read the book with

49 A Golden Age of Authors, pp* 27-28. enthusiasm and reviewed it in the tones of a critic who has made an exciting literary discovery:

A few months ago an English book made its appearance In this country, handicapped 83 with the name of 'New Arabian Nights.1 It was, for a time, no more warmly wel­ comed than might have been the 'New Rabelais,' or 'Robinson Crusoe* with all the modern Improvements. Then, by and by, one or two of the chorus of indolent re­ viewers glanced at the first page, read the second, and of a sudden found them­ selves bolting the rest of the book, and finding stomach for it all, even as in boy­ hood they swallowed the Indigestible 'Radcliffe.' But this new feast had a fine literary smack to it, and it assimi­ lated readily to the mental system. These reviewers found a chance to say of the book a good word in a particular way to the pub­ lic, and a good word In a particular way to their friends, and 'New Arabian Nights' passed from hand to hand until it came about that a large and steadily widening circle of readers waB asking If Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson had written any more books like this, or If he were likely to write more. For 'New Arabian Nights* turned out to be no new 'Arabian Nights* at all; but a very different and surprising something which is much more easily read at full length than described in a few wordB. * . . £~There follows a discussion of the stories themselves*J Anyone who reads 'the NightB1 and the four stories that are bound with them must be struck by the author's versa­ tility, his power of picturesque descrip­ tion, his skill in drawing character with half a touch, and his all pervading humor. Yet it seems to us that the qualities we have indicated do not give the key-note of Mr. Stevenson* s genius, or whatever one may please to call a faculty one of the most original that we have met since the appear­ ance of Bret Harte* The new author has a power that is strongly akin to the dramatic. He Juggles with his readers and with his characters. He dresses up a puppet and tells you it is a man, and you believe it, and hold your breath. Then he holds up the stripped m&nnekln and smiles maliciously. With him, men and ideas are but literary properties, to be used as he sees fit, for this or that effect. • . . 84

It is worth noting here that the two French storlee mentioned above /~"A Lodging for the Night" and "The Sire de Maletroit's I)oor"_7 seemingly owe their being to Theodore de Banville's "G-rlngolre." They are not thefts; they imply reversion to the fundamental ideas of the Frenchman's work and a recreation from its bases. This is neither blameworthy nor unnatural, for Mr. Stevenson is, as we all have found out now that we have made his acquaintance, a critic and scholar, an essayist, and a traveler, wnose brilliant and original work has made him only a local reputation these many years. . . .50

50 The Century Magazine, XXV (February, 1883), 628-29*

This review muBt be given credit for helping to create the beginnings of an American audience for Stevenson.

After all, the Century was one of the most respected and 51 widely circulated periodicals of the day; Bunner enjoyed

51 The circulation of the C entury was about 125*000. That was the figure given in the Christmas Number of Publishers' Weekly, 1880. L. Frank Tooker says that 125,000 was the normal circulation In 1884, after which a series of articles on the Civil War sent it climbing upward to a peak of 250,000 in 1886. See looker's The Joys and Trlbulatlons of an Edltor (N. Y ., 1 9 2 3 ), p . 3O6 . a certain reputation as a critic, and his enthusiastic notice must have aroused some Interest in Stevenson's work. A month later, R. L. S. rather extravagantly announced to his father, "I am besieged by demands of 52 work from America." In the absence of other evidence, 85

52 March 17, 1 8 8 3 , Letters to his Family and Frlend a, I, 307. one Is forced to conclude that Stevenson made that state­ ment on the strength of a single letter that he had re­ cently received from Richard Watson 0-llder, who, until

3unner‘s review stirred his memory, apparently had com­ pletely forgotten his earlier correspondence with Gosse about the desirability of towing Stevenson "with the otherimmortals down the golden river of the Century."

On February 6 , 1883, the eaitor wrote to dosse:

By the way, has it ever occurrec to Stevenson to do a Chaucer series a la Arabian Nights? Can you get a story from him for us? Is he not the “new man" you told me about when we were walking cown towards the Park after the Athenaeum Club? He has a delicious humor. Will he keep It up -- respect his talent -- and have a career"? I find that he knows some of my American artist friend s.53

53 Letters of Richard Watson G ilder, ed. Rosamond Gilder (Boston, The Riverside Press, 1916), p. 120.

Apparently, Gllcer had not paid much attention to

Stevenson's work up to that time, and in the light of this letter to Go b b s , the one which he addressed to

Stevenson on February 17 has a rather hollow ring:

Mr. dosse has no doubt already conveyed to you our editorial greetings and aspirations. 86

I cannot keep from adding a more personal word, feeling that I have some nearer acquaintance with you than even through your books -- on account of some of our common friends among the young American artist community* late of France. A lot of us younger men and women have had a kind of revival -- love-feast and exper­ ience meeting over your books lately. I would blush to tell you how much we think of them. "My wife and I" are taxen by them not merely on account of their human and artistic charm and force, but for certain characteristics -- such as the camping-out passion which we share with the author of Travels wlth a Donkey. May we not hope that you will let us see some of your handwriting -- especially of the fictitious sort -- wl£h a view to publication in the magazine?^

W I bl d., p. 121.

Instead of a story, Stevenson sent along The Silverado

Squatters, and was very much surprised and pleased when

Jrllcer offered him forty pounds for the American magazine rightb . The Squatters was published in the Century in

November and December, 1883*

To Stevenson, who had never looked upon America as the land of literary opportunity, that forty pounds was, in his phrase, "a heavenly thing." In the ten years that had passed since he sold his first essay to the P ortfolio, he had never, in any single year, earned more than two hundred pounds. Increasingly, since his marriage, he had been galled by the necessity of accepting help from his father. Now, suddenly, the future was looking up. 87

FirBt, Cassell and Company had offered him a hundred

pounds, "a hundred Jingling, tingling, golden, minted

quid,11 for thehook rights of Treasure Island ; and now,

on the heels of that offer, came this check from G-llder.

Stevenson, in his letters, expressed a cautious optimism:

"it does look as 1 f I should support myself without

trouble in the future- If I only have health, I can, I

thank Grod . It is dreadful to he a great hig man, and not 55 he able to buy bread. 0 that this may last1-'

55 Stevenson to his parents. May 5, 1883, Letters to his Family and Friends, 1, 311 •

To Edmund Oosse, he wrote:

The tAO or, as I prefer to put it, the 1000 francs, has been such a piercing sun-ray as my whole grey life is gilt withal. On the back of it I can endure. If these good days of Longman and the Century only last, it will be a very green world, this that we dwell in and that philosophers miscall. I have no taste for that philosophy; give me large sums paid on the receipt of the MB. and copyright reserved, and what do I care about the npn-beent? Only I know it can't last.-*6

55 May 21, 1883, Ibid., p. 315.

If the forty pounds from G-ilder seemed to augur well

for Stevenson's financial prospects in America, the sums coming in from London editors and publishers were proof 88 that he was making some progress in England. Although, at first, he tended to regard the sale of Treasure Island as a piece of rare good luck (he thought a hundred pounds 57 was far more than the novel was worth), the offer by

57 Stevenson to Henley, Summer, 1 8 8 3 , Ibid ., p. 525*

Chatto and Windus of a like sum for the book rights to 58 The Sllverado Squatters convinced him that his financial

58 Stevenson to Colvin, May, 188 3 , New Letters, p. 172. fortunes were truly on the rise. At about the same time,

James Henderson, editor of Young Folks, asked him for 59 another adventure serial, and Stevenson obliged by dasning

59 Stevenson to Henley, May, 1883* Letters to hlB Family and Friends, I, 3 1 6 .

7he Black Arrow, a mediaeval "tale of tushery," which ran in Young Folks from June tnrough October, 1883*

Unlike Treasure Island, this latest novel from the pen of "Captain Q-eorge North" turned out to be highly popular 60 with the readers cf the magazine*

gQ— ------Stevenson to Colvin, November, 1 8 8 3 , New Letters, p . 184. Stevenson made several other contributions to London periodicals in 1883: Longman1s Magazine carried “The

Treasure of Franchard,11 in April and May, and "Across the

Plains" in July and August; two short pieces "A M o d e m

Cosmopolls (San Francisco)" and "A Note on Realism," appeared in the Magazine of Art, which Henley was then 61 editing. At the end of the year, Stevenson made the

See Balfour, op. cl t., II, Appendix F. following report to his father:

The year closes, leaving me L50 in the bank, owing no man nothing, blOO more due to me in a week or b o , and bl50 more in the course of the month; and I can look back on a total receipt of fa465 os. 6a. for the last twelve months. . . . When I think of how last year began, after four months of sicknesB and idle­ ness, all my plans gone to water, myself starting alone, a kind of spectre, for Nice -- snould I not be grateful? Come, let us sing unto the Lord 1

52 ~ January 1, 1884, Letters to his Family and Friends, I * 358.

It will be noted that four-fifths of that money had come from English editors and publishers.

In 1884 and 1885, Stevenson was handicapped by sickness, and his professional income dropped off slightly he earned about four hundred pounds in each of those years, the bulk of his income Btill being derived from 90

the British market* He sold nothing to American periodi­ cals during those years, although he received several

requests for contributions that he was unable to satisfy,

for one reason or another. He toyed with the notion of writing a Berles of travel papers for the Century, to be based on a trip down the Rhone Valley, but continuing

ill health forced hirn to abandon that project.

LlpplncottB proposed that he make a voyage among the

Greek Isles and write up his experiences for the magazine, 63 but again he had to beg off because of his health. The

55 Stevenson to Henley, October, 1883, New Letters, p. 183*

editor of the short-lived Manhattan also had asked in vain 64 for a contribution.

^ ------Stevenson to W. H. Low, October, 1883, Letters to his Family and Frlend a, 1 , 336.

In 1884 and I885 Stevenson received little money

from the publication of his books in America. Earlier, he had taken note of the activities of the pirates in a letter to Will H. Low, an American painter and illustra­ tor whom he had known since the Fontainebleau days:

I am pleased that Mr. Gilder should like my literature; and I ask you par­ ticularly to thank Mr. Bunner (have I the name right?) for his notice, which was of that friendly headlong sort that 91

really pleasee an author like what the French call a "shake-hande." It pleased me the more coming from the-States where I have met not much recognition, save from the buccaneers, and above all from pirates who misspell my name* I saw my book advertised in a number of the Crltic aB the work of one R* L. Stephenson; and I own, I boiled. It is so easy to know the name of a man whose book you have stolen; for there it is, at full length, on the title-page of your booty. But no, damn him, not he1. He calls me Stephenson. These woes I only refer to by the way, as they set a higher value on the Century n o t i c e . 6 ^

65 October 23* 1883* Letters to his Family and Friends, I, 3 M .

Curiously enough, after the flurry of piracy at

Stevenson^ expense in 1882, hie books were almost com­ pletely ignored by the pirates for the next three years.

Perhaps they were discouraged by the poor sales of the earlier reprints* In the meantime, Robertb Brothers of

Boston had published several of Stevenson^ books, having, in most cases, obtained authorization, either from

R. L. 3. himself, or from the British publishers who owned the book rights. It was probably in the summer or fall of 1883 that Stevenson had his first contact with Roberts Brothers, directly through personal corres­ pondence, or indirectly through Cassell and Company, to whom he had sold the book rights for Treasure I siand .

In June of that year Roberts Brothers published An Inland 66 Voyage, apparently without permission, since Stevenson 92

~6b Publishers1 Weekly, \AIII (June 2, 1883), 6258. mentioned a little later that he had received a copy of the book “sent to me from the StateB by semi-repentant 67 publishers." In September, Roberts Brothers announced

67 Stevenson to his father, June 15, I8 8 3 , The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, South Seas Edition, II, 135- 136“: that Treasure Island would be Included in tneir forth- 68 coming list of “New Juveniles."

6S Advertisement In Publishers' Weekly, >LAIV (September 22, 1 8 8 3 ).

Although the London edition of Cassell and Company was not published until December, and the Roberts Brothers edition did not come out until February, this advertise­ ment means that the American firm had already completed arrangements by September to publish the book. According to Kilgour, Roberts Brothers agreed to pay Cassell and

Company two hundred and fifty dollars for the stereotype plates and the electrotypes of the illustrations, and further agreed to pay fifteen per cent copyright on the cloth-bound volumes and five per cent on a paper-bound issue -- if one became necessary in order to meet the 69 competition of the pirates. 93

69 Messrs. Roberts Brothers, PubXIshere, pp. 200-201.

Since Stevenson had Bold Treasure Island outright to Cassell and Company, he probably took no part in these negotiations -- at any rate, he received none of the money.

He did, however, correspond with Thomas Niles of Roberts

Brothers, during the fall of 1883, about the publication 70 Thi® Silverado Squatters. While that correspondence

70 In a letter to W . H. Low, Stevenson says^ "I have told RobertB to send you a copy of the book / The Silverado SquatterB 7 when it appears." December 13, 15^3, Letters to hib Family and Friends, I, 353* has not survived, the gist of it is indicated in a letter thatStevenson wrote to Niles in January, 1885:

Dear Mr. Niles: I wrote to you on the occasion of the Silverado Squatters aB near as possible to the following effect: that as it had pleased God to endow me with a sense of humour, I should never enter with you into the discussion of any points of busi­ ness. I asked for no explanation, nor can I at all remember that any was offered. I cannot conceive that any explanation would affect the difference I regret to continue to observe in our views of these affairs. From that date, I determined to offer you my books only where it was convenient, and only on receipt of a proper sum for the advance sheets. This plan is simple, very plain, not I think unjust to you and notice­ ably more profitable to myself than the one on which you seem prepared to act. I can remember entering into no engagement 94

with you except one: that one I kept; you had, as I engaged, the Silverado Squatters for nothing, and I fail totally to see what engagement remains, or what "relationehip" there is to be dissolved. I am not aware of any particular "disaffec­ tion"; I simply, as a man trying to live by his pen, prefer dealings in which I gain, to dealings in which I positively lose. . . . I deplore the fact that you have lost by me; but I wish to point out to you in conclusion that the loss was neither caused nor accomplished by any gain to me. It was caused, I must sup­ pose, by the difficulties of my litera­ ture, which I lament, and which I shall continue to do my best to remedy. Am I to understand from the concluding paragraph of your letter that you wish to withdraw your offer for the sheets of Otto? I am not suggesting this; I shall carry out that bargain, on my side, with pleasure; but as your language is capable of being so understood, I think it only fair that you should make your meaning explicit.'^

71 The Letters of Robert Loula Stevenson. South Seas Edition. II, 240-251.

It was Niles* misfortune that he failed to cultivate

Stevenson's good will and, consequently, lost him to

Scribners at the moment when he was on the threshold of great popularity. In the fall of 1884 Niles had offered the magnlfleant sum of twenty-five pounds for advance 72 sheets of Prince Otto -- not a very generous or flattering

72 Stevenson to Andrew Chatto, October 3, 1884, Letters to his Family and Friends, I, 390. offer to make to the author of Treasure Island, which 95

recently had been greeted with such high praise In crit­ ical circles; but, In fairness to Niles, It must be said

that his firm had not had much luck with Stevenson's books.

Roberts Brothers had published Travels wl th a Donkey,

An Inland Voyage, The Silverado Squatters, and Treasure

Island, and not one of the four books had been a marked

financial success. In England, five thousand copies of

Treasure I eland were sold in the first year after publi­ cation; during the same period Roberts Brothers disposed 73 of no more than fifteen hundred copieB. In view of his

73 ” hllgour, op. clt., p. 201. past experience ana the possibility of piracy, Niles' reluctance to inveBt heavily in Prince Otto is under­ standable, but in later years he must have looked back regretfully to the time when he had the chance to tie

Stevenson hard and fast to Roberts Brothers and failed to take advantage of his opportunity.

One can scarcely blame Stevenson for being dissatis­ fied with the existing state of affairs in America; but, on the other hand, he had not shown himself to be very astute in his dealings with publishers. He had been slaw to realize that money sometimes could be made from the sale of advance sheets; and on several occasions, in dis­ posing of his books to English publishers, he had neglected 96 to reserve the American book rights, thereby c&releBsly depriving himself of opportunities for additional pro­ fits. Characteristically, when he received Niles' offer for advance sheets of Prince Otto, Stevenson had to in­ quire of Chat to and WinduB whether or not he was entitled 74 to the money, under the terms of his contract with them.

75 - ■ “ Letters to hi a Family and Frlends, I, 390.

Niles apparently believed, or professed to believe, that he had staked out a claim on all of Stevenson's books; but Stevenson certainly never Intended that his relationship with Roberts Brothers should become perma­ nent. He felt that they had treated him, from the begin­ ning, in a very niggardly fasnion, and during the course of his acrimonious correspondence with Niles, he had developed an active dislike for, and distrust of, that gentleman. It was, therefore, an easy matter for Charles

Scribner's Sons to win Stevenson over with an attractive offer for the American book rights to A Child' s Card an of Verses. In turning his back on Roberts Brothers, once and for all, Stevenson had a final word to say about Thomas Niles: "About Prince Otto, Niles haB paid me for the sheets, but I much fear he means to play dog in the manger. Our relations have been strained on my side far some two years, on his for nine months; 97

and I take him to be an angry man without much sense of 75 humour

75 Stevenson to Charles Scribner, January 18, 1886, Unpublished letter, Scribner office file.

The Roberts Brothers editions aoubtlesB contributed

to the early growth of Stevenson's critical reputation in America- They served to bring him to the attention of a few critics and discerning readers; but Travels wl th a Donkey, An Inland Voyage, and The Silverado

Squatters made little money for the publishers, because

Stevenson was still a relatively obscure writer and be­ cause the books had bellettristlc rather than popular appeal• Treasure Island put Stevenson on the road to popularity, but it was not an immediate best seller. 76 Sales mounted very gradually in the first few years, and

76 Following the original printing of 1,000 copies and an additional printing of 500 copies in 1084, Roberts Brothers 1 b sued 2500 copies in a paper-bound edition in 1885* Sales picked up slightly in 1886 and 1887. Alto­ gether RobertB Brothers had sold 18,000 copies of the book up to 1898 when the firm was taken over by Little, Brown, and Company. See Kilgour, 0£. clt., p. 201. it was not until after Dr. Jekyll and M r . Hyde had made

Stevenson famous in 1886 that Treasure Island began to 77 sell in large numbers in pirated editions. 98

77 Treasure I siand appears on Frank Luther Mott's list of all-time best sellers -- a list of twenty-one books, each of which has Bold over two million copies in the United States. By the time of Stevenson's death in 1894, sales of Treasure I si and had reached a total in six figures. Since then, dozens of publishers have had the book on their lists. One New York house has sold over half a million copies; two others have sold at least a quarter of a million each. See Golden Multitudes, The Story of Best Sellers in the Uni ted States^ N . Y., The Macmillan Company, 19^71, p. 160.

Most American critics gave T reasure I si and a friendly reception, but none went so far as to call the book one of the world's great romances, as Andrew Lang had done in

England. The reviewer for the Nation thought that

Stevenson deserved a vote of thanks for having eschewed long descriptions of storms and ship wrecks, for

. . - one storm at sea is very like another, every manner of ship wreck has been described over and over again. . . . Notwithstanding tnls disregard of the conventional rules which orcinarlly govern the construction of the nautical yam, Mr. Stevenson has written a book which has not a single dull or uninterest­ ing line from the commencement of the opening chapter to the end of the last.^°

7S------/LOCVIII (April 3 , 1884), 301-302.

The reviewer for the Critic described Stevenson aB a traveler who had written about life in the American

West: 99

Yet for all our Knowledge of his talent for leading ue Into out-of-the-way aaven­ tures, we could scarcely have preolcted this, hie latest and most extraordinary peregrination. We are not quite sure whether Treasure I siand was written In the interest of a revival of the once votive offering to the shade of 'Kingston or of Ballantyne the brave. Or Cooper of the wood and wave,' or whether the author purposes to electrify the enervated and super-refined taBte exhibited by the present generation in its choice of fic­ tion: In any case, his book is not likely to go begging for readers. We might characterize it as being a BUblimed sea y am, ana furthermore admit that, while the events narrated in it strlxe ub as not less Improbable, not less sanguinary, than those to be found in any volume of the Boy's Own Library, the airy grace and cleverness of the author's style wheedle us out of all sober objection to the subject- matter. . . . When Mr. Stevenson allows himself to take breath, and to rest from the broil and carnage in which hie pirateB Involve him, he is the same faithful delinea­ tor of nature that we have known hi in to be in other latitudes. He makes us see and hear the whirring clouds of startled birds, and the sea-llons sunning themselves upon the rockB; aromatic airs reach us aB we lie at anchor; or we feel the island tremble, to the green heart of it, with the con­ tinuous throb of waves.'9

79 IV (March 8, 1884), 111.

The chorus of approval was not quite unanimous.

There appeared in the Dial an obtuse piece of criticism based on an old and simple formula: a story is only as

good as the moral lesson it teaches:

Mr. Stevenson's romance of Treasure I aland is a tissue of highly improbable incidents 100

which do not for a moment throw a apell of reality around the reader, and yet constrain him to acknowledge the skill with which they are worked up. The author shows considera­ ble strength of invention in unfolding the plot and delineating the characters which are lifelike and well sustained. But be­ yond this exhibition of hlB power in the line of fiction, there is no appreciable good accomplished by the book. It is a picture of the roughest phases of sea life. The effort to recover a pirate's buried treasure from a desolate lBland in the mid ocean, by a couple of gentlemen whose fol­ lowers comprise cutthroats, mutineers, and a sprinkling of honest mariners, is neither dignified nor edifying. It will be relished by adventure-lovi ng boyB, but whether it will be wholeegme reading for them is more than doubtful. 0

B o ------V (May, 1884), 1 9 .

Q-enerally speaking, American reviews of Stevenson's books, up to 1885, were favorable, but routine and per­ functory. Except for Bunner's article in the Century, there had been no careful critical analysis of his work.

The reviewers for the periodicals almost universally praised his style, his imagination, his humor, his versa­ tility; but they did not treat the appearance of a new

StevenBon book as a major literary event. Each new book was well received; each added something to his slowly- growing reputation; but none caused the critics to throw their hats in the air; none created anything like a sen­ sation with the public. There was a continuing tendency to regard Stevenson as primarily a travel-writer and 101

essayist long after lie had turned BeriouBly to fiction

In an effort to Increase his auclence In England. It

was not until 1885 that American critics began to ubs

a few superlatives In describing Stevenson's talents

as a teller of tales.

Until he became associated wltn Scribners, Stevenson

probably had not received more than a hundred pounds all

told from American editors and publishers. Forty pounds

from Gilder for The Silverado Squatters, twenty-five

pounds from Niles for Prince Otto, "a few dollars" from

Henry Holt for More New Arabian Nights, a token payment

from Howells for one poem -- that was all. No wonder he

deplored the copyright situation'. No wonder the gener­

osity of the Scribners made such a strong impression upon

him1.

Will Low was responsible for bringing Stevenson

and Scribners together. In January, 1885, StevenBon wrote to Low enclosing sheets of A Child1 s Garden of

Verses, the collection of poems that he had been work­

ing on Intermittently since 1881, which Longman's, Green,

and Company was preparing to bring out in London.

Stevenson asked Low if he would care to illustrate the book and gave him a free hand in placing it with an 81 American publisher. Low was not in a position to supply

Letters to hi s Family and Friends, I, 391*393• 102

the illustrations, but he submitted the poems to Scribners,

who promptly offered to publiBh them in book form and to 82 pay Stevenson ten per cent royalties. Such generous

3 2 ------Abstract of contract, Scribner office file.

treatment from an American publisher was something en­

tirely new in Stevenson's experience, and he was quick

to express his gratitude. The letter that he addressed

to Scribners on March 12, 1885* marked the beginning of

a mutually profitable relationship which was to last for

eight years:

Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons

Dear Sirs,

I have received from Mr. Low the termB to which he has consented on my behalf; but I think it only right that I should thank you in person for so liberal an offer. A man were more than human, if he did not sometimes complain of the way in which things go in the States; but I have the greater pleasure in recognizing conduct so handsome ae yours. The best acknowledgment in my power, to submit to you the sheets of the next book that I have at my disposal, I Bhall not fail to make. Believe me, dear Sirs, yours truly, 93 Robert Louis Stevenson

Unpublished letter, Scribner office file.

Just the day before the arrival of Low's letter containing the Scribner offer for A Child* a harden of 103

Verses, Stevenson had sold advance sheets of More New

Arabian Nights, which he had written In collaboration with his wife, to Henry Holt and Company for a nominal sum. He was sorry that he could not let Scribners have that book, but, In explaining the situation to Low, he reaffirmed his Intention to let them have first chance at the American rights on his future books: "However, for the future, you ana the sons of the deified Scribner are the men for me. Really they have behaved most hand­ somely. . . . Ah, If we had that copyright, I do believe 84 It would go far to make me solvent, 111-health and all."

5 4 ------i4arch 13* 1885, Letters to his Family and Friends, I, 419.

At the end of 1885, Stevenson could look back on a year that had seen hlB reputation take on a new luster.

The fact that the Scribners were eager to gain his good will was in Itself proof of hi b growing prestige. He had published. In England and America, three new booxs --

P rince O tto, More New Arabian Nights, and A Child 1 s

Q-arden of Verses -- all of which had been praised by

English and American critics. The Nation called his book of poems "fresh and delightful and sure not to disappoint the large constituency of children who have enjoyed his Treasure Island; while It has a literary 85 quality that will also hold his elder readers." 104

&5~~ XXXX (June 18, 1885), 504.

The reviewer for the Dial assured his readers that

More New Arablan Nights stamped Stevenson "as one of the most delightful of story tellers pure and simple." In a day when fiction 1 b painfully concerned with introspec­ tion and psychological analysis, said that reviewer, it

Is a pleasure to turn to "the refreBning art of the 86 raconteur." Another critic thought the same book proved

56 ~ ~ ~ VI (September, 1 8 8 5 ), 121. that Stevenson'b "literary skill is unsurpassed by that of any story teller of the present day. . . . f ~More

New Arablan Nights 7 should have the effect of giving a wider extent and firmer basis to a reputation that Is 87 already very high."

5 7 — Critic, V (June 27, 1 8 8 5 ), 304.

Obviously, Stevensor was rapidly becoming an Important author in the eyes of American critics. If his fame as a story-teller was not yet widespread, It waB surely growing. At the close of the year, the stage was set for the appearance of the book that was soon to make his name a household word In America. 105

One night in the fall he had wakened from a dream to find himself In possession of the central idea for a story dramatizing the duality of man's nature- After writing the first version of Dr. J ekyll and M r - Hyde

In three days of feverish activity, he angrily threw the manuscript into the fire when his wife complained that he had mishandled the allegory. He rewrote the story, revised

It, and saw it through the printers -- all in the space 88 of ten weeKe. Advance sheets were sent to Scribners,

gg - — ~ Stevenson to F. to. H. Myers, March 1, 1886, New Letters, p. 212. and early in January the book was placed on sale both in 89 England and America. The publication of Dr. Jekyl1 and

The Scribner edition was the first edition: it was published January 5, 1886; there were twelve hundred and fifty cloth copies and three thousand paper-bound copies. The English edition was not published until January 9- See Scribner Firsts, 1846-1956 The American publication of Jexyll and Hyde was announced in Publishers' Weekly, XXIX (January 16, 1886), 69.

Mr. Hyde marked the beginning of a new phase in Stevenson's career. He was on the high road to popularity at last. 106

STEVENSON'S RELATIONS WITH AMERICAN PUBLISHERS, 1886-1894

I tell you I do dislike this battle of. the dollars, I feel sure you all pay too much here in America; and I beg you not to spoil me any more. For I am getting spoiled: I do not want wealth, and I feel these big sums demoralizing,!

X------Stevenson to E, L. Burlingame, February, 1888, Letters to his Family and Friends, II, 112,

1886 was the year in which Stevenson finally

"arrived" as a popular writer of adventure and romance.

In England and in America the Strange Case of Dr. J e k y l i and Mr, Hyde was a solid critical and commercial success.

Published in January, without any particular fanfare, the book quickly caught the fancy of discriminating and casual readers alike, A weird tale with a fantastic plot and a moral theme, a dramatic allegory of good and evil that supplied the text for scores of sermons, Jekyli and Hyde set tongues wagging everywhere.

The London periodical reviews were laudatory, but the press and the clergy provided the publicity that made the book popular. An enthusiastic notice in the Times, on January 25* 1886, helped to stimulate interest; other newspapers, following the lead of the Times. praised the novel in editorials and reviews; the Cauon of 3t • Paul's

preached a sermon based upon it, and sales began to soar.

7/ithin six months, nearly forty thousand copies had been 2 sold in England alone*

2 *------Balfour, o£. cit., II, 17*

In America Dr. Jekyli and Mr. Hyde received generally

good reviews in the periodicals and was widely acclaimed

in the newspapers as an exciting and significant book. 0 Although the novel failed to impress the critic for the

Dial (he called it a "ghost story" appealing to a "depraved

sort of imagination"), he had to admit that it "occupies the imaginations of a good many people at the present P moment." (One is inclined to suspect that this was the

5------

VI (March, 1886), 301. same astute critic who once had condemned Treasure Island on moral grounds.) Another reviewer was more perceptive.

He noted that the work combines "a French grace of execu­ tion with a distinctly Saxon ethical method." It reminded him of Hawthorne in that "it offers both art and ethics in a remarkable union. We commend it to that celebrated personage the 'Jaded novel reader,' and still more to those serious people who will read none but noteworthy novels." 108

n ------:---- Critic, VIII (February 6, 1886), 68*

The book sold well right from the start* The pirates were quick to recognize its possibilities: a week after the Scribners published their authorized edition, priced at a dollar, George Munro placed on sale, in his Seaside 5 Library series, a paper-back edition selling for ten cents*

Publishers' Weekly* XXIX (January 23, 1886), 95* 6 By early March Scribners had sold fifteen thousand copies.

6 Critic* VIII (March 6, 1886), 124.

Two months later a new pirated edition, this time in the

Norman L. Munro Library, forced Scribners to meet the cheap competition, and they issued a twenty-five cent paper ed­ ition* At the same time, Roberts Brothers, who had pub­ lished Prince Otto the previous November, tried to cash in on the sudden interest in Stevenson by publishing reprints 7 of four of his books*

An Inland Voyage * Travels with a Donkey* Treasure Island* and Prince Oito. These were all paper-'bound books priced at fifty cents" See Publishers* Weekly. XXIX (May 29, 1886) 699.

It is clear from all the activity in the trade and from 109

the amount of space devoted to Stevenson and his latest

book in the periodicals and newspapers that he was very

much the literary man of the hour* Some anonymous person

took the trouble to count the newspaper reviews of Jekyli

and Hyde and discovered that there had been one hundred

and seventy-two of them. The book also had furnished the 8 text for a score or more of newspaper editorials. The

— s...... Memorandum in the Scribner office file.

Critic carried a long biographical sketch, of 3teve.ii.son

(reprinted from the English Book Buyer) cuid a description

of his physical appearance, in order to give its readers

"a glimpse of one of the most interesting literary men of 9 ‘.he day.” Richard Watson Gilder, noting Stevenson’s rising

9 ------Critic, VIII (March 6, 1886), 118. popularity, trotted out his old proposal that Stevenson should make a Journey down the Rhone Valley and write an 10 account of his experiences for the Century, but R. L. S.,

3 3 ------Gilder to Gosse, March 24, 1886, Letters of Richard Watson Gilder, pp. 121-122. though tempted, declined because of his frail health.

The Scribners, meanwhile, were doing their best to 110 keep him happy. He was very grateful when they sugges­ ted a royalty agreement on Dr. Jekyli and Mr. Hyde, and when, in March, he received a royalty check for eighty pounds, he was moved to express his gratitude publicly and, at the same time, to comment generally on Anglo- American publishing relations, a subject on which he had come to hold some very definite opinions. In a letter to the Academy, published March 20, he analyzed the situation in terms of his own experience:

Skerryvore, Bournemouth March 15, 1886 To the editor:

Will you allow me to say a word or two on this question of American rights and wrongs? Authors should be careful to under­ stand the bargains into which they enter with English publishers, and either strictly reserve American rights or see that they receive an equivalent. It is a mistake to suppose that, in the worst of cases, America brings nothing. There is always a little money to be got for advance sheets. I have known it to be near a third of what the author could raise (in money down) at home; and this is too great a consideration to be let slip. In most cases, the author will do best to sell the advance sheets to some Amer­ ican publisher, and then forget that such a book existed. There is, in the States, as at home, a difference in publishers. At a time when so many scalded authors rush into print with their complaints, I think it no more a pleasure than a due to name Messrs. Charles Scribner’s Sons. I have had but one year's dealings with Ill

this firm; but it would be hard to ex­ press my sense of their good faith and generosity, A word to English publishers. I have known them to dispose of advance sheets (without accounting) when the book was burthened with a royalty to the author. I am no lawyer, but I make bold to say this practice is indefensible; and if brought before a judge, would lead to white faces. The proposal (made by an American) of a system of stamp is one of those radi­ antly simple things that offend such as live in darkness. It will not be accepted yet awhile; but there is no colourable reason against it. It could not hurt the publisher in any fair business; and if he disliked the proposal, it is either from conservatism, or — In the meanwhile, let us try to get our own copyright law amended, and wait, with such civility as we can muster, for the States to follow in our wake. We lie bare to robbery, and we do well to be annoyed; but our American brethren are but imperfectly protected, and a little generous ardour to improve their cade will do ours no harm. 11 Robert Louis Stevenson

— n ------Copy of the original letter in the Scribner office file.

Even before the furor developed over Jekvll and Hyde, Stevenson was hard at work on a new novel, Kidnapped, which he intended, in the beginning, to be a boy's book in the Treasure Island vein. Ever mindful now of his American interests, he asked the Scribners if they would like to handle the novel after its publication as a serial 112

in England. He gave them only the barest notion of the

subject matter: "I think it better and the public will probably like it more than Treasure Island# It is laid in 174-9 and deals with Kidnappers and Jacobites and wild 12 Highlanders all about Scotland." Without having seen a

1 2 ------Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Scribner, January 18, 1886, Scribner office file. page of manuscript, the Scribners agreed to publish Kid­ napped under a royalty arrangement. Their prompt ac­ ceptance of the half-written novel on those terms was at once a tribute to Stevenson's growing fame and to their own shrewd sense of publishing values and popular taste. They realized, what Stevenson was slow to learn, that Dr. Jekvll and Mr. Hyde was winning him a vast new audience and that a new adventure novel from his pen, following hard on the heels of his recent success, would be a good bet to become popular. Stevenson himself, as he progressed with his writing, grew less certain that Kidnapped would please the public (Colvin. Henley, and 13 Fanny also had their doubts;; for his intention changed

T} ------Stevenson to his father, March, 1886, Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 29. as he wrote. The two main characters, David Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart, came alive, and he suddenly found him 113

self striving to lift his potboiler to the level of serious literature* The final result was an uneven novel which, in Stevenson's words, was "one part alive, one part merely galvanized*" Later critics have tended to agree with that estimate of the work* But broken-backed as it was, Stevenson felt that he had to publish it be­ cause "Byles the butcher was plainly audible tapping at 14 the back door*"

Pf------:------Stevenson to T* 7/atts-Dunton, September, 1886, Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 48.

Scribners gave the book a rousing send-off with a full-page advertisement in Publishers' Weekly which must have stirred up a lively interest in the trade: If "all mankind love a lover," all boys (of from 12 to 60) love almost as much a boy hero of the type of Davie Balfour in Mr. Stevenson's book. To be "kidnapped and cast away" and "to suffer on a desert isle" are both of them things which promise the best kind of story; but when we know in advance that David's adventures afterwards bring him among wild Highland clansmen and Jacobite refugees, and that Mr. Steven­ son can tell these experiences both by sea and land like nobody else since the author of Robinson Crusoe. we may be sure that Kidnapped will W read through at one sifting by every true boy (of the above named ages) into whose hands it falls* Crowded with action and daring, with wild mountain life, and pluck and loyalty of the good unquestioned kind, Davie's relation is as manly as it is stirring. Mr. Stevenson draws his villainous kidnappers, his rough sailors and Highlanders with that wonderful 114

vividness and truth that makes everything he touches so real; but the air of his book is as healthy and fresh as the High­ land air itself; and false flavored sensa­ tionalism of the later sort cannot live in it* The advertisement also announced that "the 21st thousand of Dr. Jekyli and Mr. Hyde is now ready. A book which “ 15 should be kept in stock in quantity."

1 5 ------Publishers' Weekly. XXX (July 3, 1886), 2.

Scribners published Kidnapped on July 15 in a dollar cloth edition and in a paper edition priced at fifty cents. Overnight the book became a best seller. It was a smash hit with all classes of readers, with the critics no less than with the general public. Some critics believed Kid napped to be Stevenson's highest achievement to date. Said one, "It is a roman d *aventure — not in the manner of Dumas, but realistic in the spirit of Defoe; and it contains, I am pleased to think, a certain amount of work which surpasses in humanity and the capacity of producing 16 emotion, everything Mr. Stevenson has yet done." On July

T5------Critic, IX (July 17, 1886), 31.

26, Arthur Scribner wrote to Charles Scribner enclosing a clipping doubtless taken from a trade publication: Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson's recent books have had remarkable duccess in this country. 115 Of his story, Dr. Jekyli and Mr. Hyde« 22,000 have already "been sold, and tHe book is now selling at the rate of 1,0C0 every week. . . . It is estimated that the notices and editorials, printed in the American papers alone, contain over three times as many words as the volume itself. Mr. Stevenson's new story, Kidnapped, was published on July 15th, and the first edition of 10,000 copies has al­ ready been exhausted by Messrs. Scribner, the author's American publishers.*7

— IT------Scribner office file. Arthur Scribner wrote at the bottom of the clipping: "I am sorry to say this is a little previous but I hope it will be true before long."

Nearly ten thousand copies in ten daysl No wonder

the pirates descended on Kidnapped en masseI By August 18 14, there were three cheap pirated editions on sale.

IB------* Publishers' Weekly. XXX (August 14, 1886), 202* The piraies were Norman L. Munro, J. W. Lovell Oompany, and George Munro. All three editions were paper-backs selling at twenty cents.

Within the space of a little more than six months, two novels had gained for Stevenson a large popular follow­ ing in America. At the same time, Dr. Jekyli and M r . Hyde and Kidnapped had enhanced a critical reputation that al­ ready was very high. In America, as in England, the press and the pulpit had much to do with the upsurge of popular interest in Jekyli and Hyde. The widespread, spontaneous publicity given the book through the media of mass commun­ ication brought it to the attention of thousands of readers who had never heard of Stevenson before; and the fact that a pirated copy of the novel could be purchased for as little as ten or twenty cents no doubt encouraged many people to read it who might not otherwise have done so. Entertained and edified by Jekyli and Hyde. Stevenson*s new audience turned eagerly to Kidnapped and to his other works of fiction, all of which were readily available in cheap reprints. Proof of his sudden, tremendous popular­ ity is to be found in the total number of editions of his books, authorized and unauthorized, that were published in 1886. Scribners published authorized editions of Dr. Jekyli and Mr. Hyde and Kidnapped. Roberts Brothers issued An Inland Voyage. Travels with a Donkey. Treasure Island, and Prince Otto. The three leading pirates, George Munro,

J. V/. Lovell, and Norman L. Munro, each published cheap reprints of the following books: Kidnapped. New Arabian Nights. Prince Otto. Treasure Island, and The Dynamiter. In addition, George Munro published a ten-cent paper edition of An Inland Voyage. This means that there were at least twenty-two separate editions of various books by Stevenson available on the market; and there may have been other piracies t.at were not reported in Publishers' 19 Weekly.

i s ------Publishers * Weekly, XXXI (January 29* 1887)* 171 By the summer of 1886, then, Stevenson enjoyed a great and growing popularity, for which the press and the pirates were in part responsible; but because the pirates paid him nothing for the privilege of publishing his books, the financial returns from America, for the time being, re­ mained comparatively small. The Scribners were paying

royalties on Dr. Jekyli and Mr. Hyde and Kidnapped. but the cheap reprints cut into the sales of the more expensive Scribner editions, thus depriving the author and the legit­ imate publisher of profits that would have been theirs had there been an international copyright law in effect — so the argument went, and it was certainly valid. But there is another point to consider: one cannot know whether Stevenson would have achieved so great a popularity in so short a time had it not been for the activities of the pirates. It may well be that in helping to create a mass audience for his work they served him better than he knew; for total sales provide the ultimate yardstick by which editors and publishers measure the commercial value of an author, and Stevenson, on the basis of his proven popu­ larity, was shortly able to command high prices from * periodicals, from newspaper syndicates, and even from book publishers. The pirates, therefore, may have contributed indirectly to Stevenson's later financial success, even though, as a result of their operations, he collected less royalties for the time being. 116

In July, 1886, the Scribners announced that they would begin publishing at the end of the year an illus­ trated monthly magazine of general literature. Edward L. Burlingame was to be the editor, and already he was lining up manuscripts. Some unpublished letters of Thackeray were to form the piece de resistance of the non-fictional mate­ rial in the first few issues, and Burlingame wanted a serial novel from Stevenson to lend prestige to the fic­ tion department. Stevenson was willing to undertake the novel, but he refused to guarantee an early delivery. It was at this point in the negotiations that Burlingame wrote to Charles Scribner: In my next to last letter to Stevenson (the very last was the one remitting i£0 for Kidnapped a/c), I said, as you will see in my letter book, that v/e would try to give him some idea of terms for the serial pn re­ ceiving from him a notion of its intended length. His last letter, with outline of chapters, etc., was evidently written in reply; and I think — especially as he is now so thoroughly satisfied in all ways — that we should not let too much time pass with­ out communicating with him again to tell him (1) about what we propose to pay and (2) that we fully understand his unwillingness to bind himself to an exact time, and while relying on his efforts to give it to us this Pall, we will use it whenever done. (I do not under­ stand that there is any real doubt about this latter point in his mind; but in his last there was a slight tone of anxiety lest his lack of definite date should disconnect our plans, which makes me think it best to say something of the kind. In all respects he takes the matter as fully arranged; but we must show that we keep up our interest, and give him the immediate spur that the knowledge of definite terms will naturally be. I take him to be that kind of 119

mam, and perhaps needing things set to over­ come his tendency to put off.} . . . The table of contents he sends shows that the story can hardly run less than eight or ten months; — I should believe in trying to make it eight — at say 12 to 15 PP of the magazine per number. Ity idea is that we can pay him on our rate scale of general prices from $1500 to $1800 — preferably tihe latter — for the whole serial publication (perhaps making the payment in several installments) and the usual book royalty later.

5 7 5 ------——— Unpublished letter, August 14-, 1886, Scribner office file.

Based on the regular rate-scale of the magazine, the price that Burlingame proposed to pay for the serial rights to the novel was not particularly high, consider­ ing Stevenson's critical reputation and the popularity of his recent books; but the amount would have seemed generous’ to the author who had never made half so much money from any similar deal in England. Through this correspondence with Burlingame, Stevenson learned that the American periodical market offered opportunities that he had not previously dreamed of. He did not yet fully realize the extent to which his fame was spreading in America, but he was becoming conscious of the fact that his name was worth money to American magazine editors. That Burlingame expected a new novel by Stevenson to Attract subscribers is shown by the advertisement that appeared in the Illustrated Christmas Number of Pub­ lishers * Weekly. The main purpose of the new magazine, 120

Scribners announced, "will be to bring together not

only good literature, but literature of lasting value. . . . In fiction there will be many notable attractions. The publishers expect to begin during the present year the publication of a striking novel, which has been ar­ ranged for with Robert Louis Stevenson who will also contribute a shorter story to an early number." Actually, Stevenson contributed to the magazine during the first year of its existence a short essay, "The Manse" and a long poem, "Ticonderoga." The novel was delayed by Stevenson's own serious illness and by the final illness and death of his father. As a result of their negotiations in the summer and fall of 1866, there developed between Burlingame and Stevenson a very cordial relationship that was to last for half a dozen years, and the latter found in the new Scribner1s Magazine a lucrative outlet for much of the fiction and many of the articles and essays that he was yet to write. Public interest in Stevenson and his work continued to mount in the months following the appearance of Kid­ napped . He was rapidly becoming the literary idol of England and America. Many vulgar American readers were no doubt gratified to learn from the newspapers that this colorful wftiter of exciting adventure stories was greatly admired by the literary highbrows. The critics were never done singing his praise. He was compared to the master 121

writers of the past — to Poe, to Hawthorne, to Defoe, to Scott, even to Shakespeare. To read and enjoy Steven­ son was to demonstrate good literary taste. R. H. Stoddard wrote an appreciative article for a newspaper: If there is any writer of the time about whom the critics of England and America substantial­ ly agree, it is Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson. There is something in his work, precisely what it is not easy to say, which shapes itself before the mind's eye while reading, and which refuses to be forgotten long after the book which revealed it has been closed and put away. There are two stories in the volume containing his New Arabian Nights; both night adventures, the more powerful o n e a n adventure of that scoundrel and man of genius, the poet Villon, which seared themselves into our recollection years ago, and which are as vivid there now as some of the terrible things in Shakespeare.

5 T ------Critic, X (March 12, 1887)« 120. Reprinted from the Mail and Express.

"M B I — 1 11 I ■ I ■■ ■ M H .l The Merry Men, and Other Tales (Scribners), published in February, 1887* was greeted by the critics with loud applause. Even the Dial, which sometimes in the past had carried lukewarm or critical reviews of Stevenson's books, this time printed a flattering notice by William Merton Payne: Several volumes of short stories, by ap­ proved masters in the art of writing them, claim our attention this month. Mr. Steven­ son's volume occupies the first place among them* The versatility of his art has never before as fully appeared in a single volume as it does in that called The Merry Men. Here we have stories and sketches In a number of perfectly distinct manners, and each one of them is a masterpiecapof its kind, both in style and treatment. 122

22------VII (April, 1887), 292.

It was during this period that certain myths began to develop. The American press, acutely conscious of the news value of Stevenson's name, began to indulge in senti­ mentality, if not in downright fantasy. Stevenson was pictured as a gallant invalid, who penned his great ro­ mances while lying on a bed of pain. Here was a man who cheerfully and courageously rose above his handicaps, and his high accomplishments in the face of great odds should be an inspiration to more fortunate people. The author was as much to be admired as his books. The Philadelphia Press played up this angle: It seems almost incredible that the most humorous, volatile and optimistic of living English writers should do almost all his writing on an invalid's couch; and yet The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Kidnapped. an2T"FrTnce Qp-bo are ^Ke work of a writer whose greatest strength would be but weakness to the average man, and whose state is oftenest one of abject debil­ ity. Those thoroughly joyous out-of-door books, Travels with a Donkey and An Inland Voyage. are merely the records of a valetudinarian's vain journeyings in quest of health. Those of us who can only do good work when we are in good condition, and our surroundings are comfortable, would be overcome with a feeling of shame if we could look in upon the sick man of Skerryvore propped up in bed, and writing patiently and persistently with fingers scarce strong enough to hold a pen, yet without putting so much as a syllable of complaint or despondency into any of his inimitable tal#s. ^ 123

— 53------:------Reprinted in the Critic. X (March 19* 188?), 14#,

Here fiction was mixed with fact to produce a picture of Stevenson that he himself scarcely could have recognized, but it was one, nevertheless, which took strong hold on the public imagination in America, His romantic odyssey in search of health, which began a few months later and which led him finally to settle on Samoa, strengthened this popular conception of Stevenson as an indomitable invalid. During the last few years of his life, he was, in the public mind, a hero as romantic as any he ever created in fiction. In the spring of 1887, Stevenson became the central figure in a controversy over piracy, publishing ethics, and the copyright problem that caused considerable journal­ istic comment in England and in America. On March 11, Harper Brothers advised Stevenson that they had published in their Franklin Square Library The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables and in addition (in one volume) Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Treasure Island. In acknowledgment of this action, they had in­ structed their London agent, James R. Osgood, to pay Stevenson twenty pounds. They added that they already had paid Roberts Brothers for the privilege of including 24 Treasure Island in the volume* 124

— a?------:------Copy of the original letter, Harper Brothers to Stevenson, March 11, 1887* Scribner office file.

To this letter the outraged Stevenson replied as follows:

Skerryvore, Bournemouth March Jl* 1887 Messrs. Harper and Brothers Fleet Street, London Sirs, I have to acknowledge your cheque for twenty pounds which I forward to Messrs. Charles Scribner*s Sons, to whom I believe the reparation is more justly due than to myself, I have the honour to be your obedient servant Robert Louis Stevenson

P.S. I shall place our correspondence at the disposal of the editor of the Times.O

Copy of the original letter, Scribner office file.

The same day Stevenson sent the check (along with copies of both letters) to Scribners, telling them to dispose of it as they saw fit. He suggested that they might keep it and pay him the same percentage as he re­ ceived from the sale of his books, under the terms of his royalty agreement with them. He then wrote a letter to the London Times enclosing the Harpers* letter and his reply. All three appeared in the Times on April 2. In his letter to the editor, Stevenson said, 125

S i r , I should "be obliged, if you could find a corner for the enclosed correspondence, every fresh scandal helping on the cause of international copyright. I have to add a word of commentary. Since I have been in the hands of Messrs. Charles Scribner*s Sons I have received a sub­ stantial axinual sum from my books in the United States, and Messrs. Harper, by this act of piracy, and above all by printing my three most popular works in one, cut off this income at the root. The fact that they paid Messrs. Roberts and Company, who appear to have consented to this act of spoliation, and that they say nothing of Messrs. Scribner, who either were not consulted or have most properly refused, will be duly appreciated by readers on both sides of the Atlantic. I am, your obedient servant, Robert Louis Stevenson

2 5 ------Clipping from the Times. Scribner office file.

Other British journals applauded Stevenson*s action.

The Pall Mall Gazette. on April 2, accused the Earpers of

"very sharp practice," which was inexcusable on moral grounds. According to Pall Mall. Stevenson had done the wisest thing possible in giving wide publicity to the matter. The Harpers might have acted -within the letter and the spirit of h.e American law, but the law was

"outrageous" and "ludicrous," and publicity might help to arouse sentiment against it.

The Scotsman, on April 4-, printed a long article on the legal and moral aspects of the case. The writer for that journal praised the spirit of Stevenson's note to 126

the Times: * . . . nothing could have been happier than the rebuke conveyed by the selection of the word 'reparation' to describe the act* Indeed the feature of the present case, which makes it rather more scan­ dalous than others of like character, is that it has inflicted a wrong not merely on an English author, but also on an American publishing house of the highest standing, which has tried to deal fairly by the foreigner* Even in this view of the case, however, there is room for a glimmering of hope* Nothing is so likely to hasten the adoption of international copyright as the rivalry and the suffering of American publishers'. Already the compe­ tition in reprints has been carried to such a pitch that many houses would welcome international copyright in their own in­ terest and for their own defense.2/

2 7 ------Clipping from The Scotsman* Scribner office file.

The Boston Transcript * on April 23, carried a very different version of the affair — one which placed the Roberts Brothers in a much better ethical position. After accusing the English papers of presenting only one side of the story, the account went on to explain that Roberts Brothers had purchased Treasure Island from Cassell and Company who owned the book rights. The Boston publishers, therefore, had done no wrong in accepting payment from Harper Brothers, and the latter firm had shown good faith in paying Stevenson for Kidnapped and Jekyll and Hyde; . . . The Scribners and the Harpers being business rivals, it would seem that the taste displayed by Iflr. Stevenson was very 127 questionable. Mr, Stevenson. . • appears to overlook the fact that the Harpers are not bound to pav him one cent, and that the check was sent simply as an earnest of their good will to English authors and their desire to deal liberally with them, the absence,of an international copyright to the contrary notwithstanding. Mr. Steven­ son is also strangely oblivious to the fact that he has no rights whatever in Treasure Island, having parted v/ith them to Cassell and Company, Y/hile Roberts Brothers have paid Mr. Stevenson royalties and the Harpers h^ve sent him a gratuity, neither firm is protected thereby from the compe­ tition of the publishers of cheap 'libraries* who find his works very profitable since Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde came out. Recog­ nition of alltEese facts might have been expected to temper the edge of Mr. Steven­ son's criticism of American publishers. As a matter of fact, the present case is but a repetition of the old story, the English assumption that only English authors suffer from the absence of inter­ national copyright. English newspapers are discreetly silent when the piracy of Ben llur is mentioned.

This is a diversionary attack which is not very im­ pressive. One suspects that the writer of this piece had been in touch with Thomas hiles of Roberts Brothers since that firm comes off so well in the presentation of the argument. The claim that xioberts Brothers had paid royal­ ties to Stevenson was not true. But the correspondence and the various newspaper articles show the complexity of the problem. Here stand three American publishers and an

English author, all in poses of aggrieved innocence, pointing accusing fingers at one another. There is no question that the Harper Brothers were within their legal 138 rights when they published Stevenson's three most popular novels, on two of which he was receiving royalties from

Scribners, in one cheap volume; but ethically they were on very shaky ground, even though they had satisfied their own sense of honor by making token payments for the works that they hul taken over. Certainly Stevenson and Charles

Scribner's Sons suffered financial loss because of the

Harper Brothers' action. That the Harpers, in turn, were at the mercy of the cheaper "libraries" merely adds to the irony of the situation. It was this kind of cut-throat competition that finally produced an overwhelming sentiment among major American publishers for an international copy­ right law. And the wide publicity given cases such as this helped to influence public opinion in favor of a law.

Charles Scribner discussed the copyright problem, particularly as it concerned Stevenson, in an article that appeared in the Publishers' Weekly;

The want of an international copyright is working a great injury to publishers as well as authors in the matter of foreign works. For instance, there is Mr. Stevenson's Merry Men, which we were selling at fifty cents, and for each copy sold we allowed the author fifteen per cent. But the sale of the work is virtually dead, so far as we are concerned. You have observed that one firm of publishers now sells Mr. Stevenson's works in one volume for twenty cents. Any firm in this country can do the same thing, and no other publisher can reasonably find fault that it is done, under existing statutes. Mr. Stevenson is nov/ getting nothing, and this is particularly hard upon him, for he is not a rich man, and pens 129

most oT his work on his couch* as he is an invalid. But with six editions of his work in the field here, he can get no royalty on the sales, enormous as they are, for Stevenson's works are now the most popular here of all living novelists. And this very popularity is assisted in large measure by the cheapness of his works, for the want of an international cbpyright law makes possible the publication of four of Stevenson's novels in one volume, all for twenty cents. You can readily per­ ceive that a sale thus rendered large through the want of statutory protection tends to shut out home products through the very cheapness of the article, thus not only depriving the British author of his dues but interfering v/ith the sale of American novels.^®

23------XXXI (April 2, 188?), 489.

Stevenson rather hoped the Harpers would defend them­

selves in print so that he would have an excuse to take

another crack at them; but the; prudently remained silent,

end he finally, on the advice of the Scribners, accepted

the "conscience money" and lot the matter drop. Even in

the face of the terrific competition offered by the pirates,

sales of the Scribner editions must have held pp pretty well, since Stevenson, on May 3% acknowledged receipt of 29 a royalty check for one hundred and forty-seven pounds.

^ ------Stevenson to Scribner, unpublished letter, Scribner office file.

In that same month a different form of piracy turned up when Deacon Brodie, the melodrama which Stevenson had 130

written in collaboration with Henley, was presented at

'.Vallack's Theater in New York. And on May 11, Richard

Mansfield opened successfully in Boston in T. R. Sullivan's

dramatized version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

2 0 ------Critic, X (May 14, 1887), 244.

In May, also, Stevenson's father died. Under the_ _

terms of Thomas Stevenson's will, Louis came into posses­

sion of three thousand pounds, the balance of the estate

going to his mother. When a lung hemorrhage struck him

down in July, and his physicians advised a change of

climate, Stevenson decided to spend a winter in Colorado,

which had become famous as a resort for tuberculosis

sufferers. On August 21, he sailed for New York aboard

the Ludprate H i l l . a semi-freighter carrying a consignment

of apes and horses. With him were his wife, his step-son, his mother, and a servant, Valentine Roch.

A celebrity's welcome awaited him im New York.

Reporters were at the dock-side, along with his old friend

Will Low and E. L. Burlingame; his arrival was front-page news in all the New York papers. At the Victoria Hotel

on Broadway, where rooms had been reserved for the party by Charles S. Fairchild, a millionaire friend of John

Singer Sargent's,. other reporters were waiting for inter­ views. The Herald for September 9 quoted Stevenson's 131 plea that Americans buy only the authorized editions of his hooks and his words of praise for Henry James'

latest novel.

All the excitement was too much for Stevenson, who was suffering from a heavy cold, and the Fairchilds whisked him away to their estate at Newport, Rhode Island.

There he had a chance to recuperate and to write a few letters. He was plainly surprised by all the fuss that had been made over him in New York. "My reception here was idiotic to the last degree," he wrote to Colvin.

"It is very silly, and not pleasant, except where humour enters; and I confess the poor interviewer lads pleased -51 me.M> And to Henry James: "America is, as I remarked,

-31 ■ " ------■ ■ ------" September, 1887. Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 72. a fine place to eat in, and a great p?_ace for kindness; but, Lord, what a silly thing is popularity I I envy the cool obscurity of Skerryvore. If it even paid, said

Meanness 1 and was abashed at himself."^

3*2

Ibid. • p . 74.

A week or two later, when Stevenson returned to New

York, he discovered that popularity did pay, and handsomely, i too. Offers poured in upon him — some at figures that 152

staggered his imagination. Joseph Pulitzer, through

Sam McClure, offered him ten thousand dollars a year to write a short weekly essay for the New York World.

Stevenson refused, first, because he feared his health

might break down and prevent his fulfilling the contract;

second, because he thought that no writer was worth that

much money. The Scribners were anxious to pa;, him thirty- five hundred dollars for twelve monthly essays to be

published in their magazine. Their offer he accepted,^

— — ------— -^Stevenson to Colvin, end of September, 1887. Ibid., p. 74-. See also S. S. McClure, My Autobiography (IT! 7., Frederick A. Stokes Company, lyl^T* pp. Idh-lo^. It is evident from Stevenson's letter to Colvin that McClure was in error in saying that he informed Stevenson of the World offer in October, when he visited the author in the Adirondacks.

announcing to all his friends that he had become a bourgeois,

a "salaried party. . . . I am like to be a millionaire if this goes on, and be publicly hanged at the social revo­ l u t i o n . " ^

3$------:------Stevenson to William Archer, October, 1887* Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 82.

Upon learning that he could find in the Adirondack

Mountains the dry, cold climate that he was looking for,

Stevenson abandoned his plans to spend the winter in

Colorado and instead took a house at Saranac Lake. In 133

October, shortly after the Stevensons had settled down

at Saranac, Sam McClure, who knew the value of a "name"

as well as anyone, turned up v/ith several attractive

propositions. First of all, he was prepared to pay "a

good price" for permission to serialize in his newspaper

syndicate The Black Arrow, that "tale of tushery" which

Stevenson originally had written (under his pseudonym

of "Captain George I-lorth.1*) for Young Folks magazine.

The novel had never been republished because Fanny, who

disliked it so much that she could, m ver read it through ,

believed that it might injure Louis's reputation. However,

McClure was nothing if not persistent, and Fanny was

finally persuaded to withdraw her objections to its publi­

cation in American newspapers. The romance (minus the

first five chapters) was syndicated under the title The

Outlaws of Tunstall Forest and earned more money for

McClure than any other novel he ever published in the newspapers• •'The change in title was designed to fool

— 5 5 ------McClure, o£. cit., p. 187. the pirates into believing that this was a new work.

McClure was trying to prevent the appearance of the story in book form before it had run its course as a serial.

Apparently his subterfuge was successful.

When McClure learned that Stevenson was planning to 154 write two adventure novels — one a sequel to Kidnapped, the other to be called St. Ives — he promptly offered to pay eight thousand dollars for the American serial rights to either story. McClure says that when he named this figure Stevenson "blushed and looked confused and said that his price was fe800 ($4000), and that he must consult his wife and Will Low before he made any agree­ ment." According to McClure, Stevenson went on to say that he didn't believe any novel of his was worth eight thousand dollars and that he wouldn't dream of accepting so much if it were not for a plan he had in mind that would require a great deal of money to carry out. He wanted to charter a yacht and ro on a long cruise.^

5 5 ------Ibid., p. 188.

If McClure's version of the interview is correct,

Stevenson must have undergone a swift change of heart, because on November 1 he wrote the following brief letter: Dear Mr. McClure,

The next story I finish of the same character as Kidnapped. I shall place in your hands, as soon as it is done, for American serial publication only, without regard of course to oook rights or serial publication elsewhere, for the sum of ten thousand dollars. Yours very truly,

Hobert Louis Stevenson^ 135

Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

That letter must have been something of a shock to

McClure, in view of Stevenson’s earlier reluctance to accept as much as eight thousand dollars, and he'apparently balked at paying the higher figure. On November 16,

Stevenson informed Charles Baxter that he had been offered eight thousand dollars for the American serial rights on his next story. ^

Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 84.

Stevenson had always been careless about business matters, and these negotiations with McClure soon plunged him into very deep waters, for a few weeks previously he had written to the Scribners, "On all my books that I can, I willingly give you the control." ^Already he had

5 9 ------Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Charles Scribner, Scribner office file. been forced tc add one reservation:

. . . By the way, when I gave you the complete control of lay books, I forgot two things, a promise and a half promise to Mr. McClure. The promise was to let him have three of the papers from my next volume (of which you should by now be getting the proofs) to put in his newspapers. The half promise was (if I should find it feasible) to overhaul 136

for him an old and very bad story of mine for the boys' paper, which has never appeared unaer my name hitherto

2TO------Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Charles Scribner, October, 1887» Scribner office file.

When Scribners objected to McClure's having three essays from the forthcoming book (Memories and Portraits) for his newspaper syndicate, Stevenson replied: "I hope

I can avoid the essays with McClure, and have written to him to withdraw from the arrangement': by ranging the promise to give him the story /The Black Arrow7 absolute, 4-1 I think he will be pleased to agree." McClure v/as pleased

51------Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Charles Scribner, October 26, 1687» Scribner office file. to agree, and the Scribners were inclined to overlook that slip on Stevenson's part. But when, less than a month later, R. L. S. was forced to confess that McClure had extracted a promise that he should have the serial publication of Stevenson's next adventure novel, Charles

Scribner was thoroughly angered, and for a time a serious breach threatened to develop in the hitherto cordial

St evens on-Scribner re1at ionsh ip.

Stevenson v/as all apologies in the letter that he wrote to Charles Scribner on November 20: 137 Heaven help me, I am under a curse Just now, I have played fast and loose with what I said to you; and that, I beg you to believe, in the purest innocence of mind. I told you you should have the power over all my work in this country; and about a fortnight ago, when M'Clure /“sic 7 was here, I calmly signed a bargain for the serial publication of a story You will scarce believe that I did this in mere oblivion; but I did; and all that I can say is that I will do so no more, and ask you to forgive me. Please write to me soon as to this.

w s ------Letters to his Family and Friends, II, 85-86.

Charles Scribner was not inclined to pass off lightly this misconduct on Stevenson's part, and he said so in plain terms. A few days later the author asked Burlingame to intercede with Scribner "to try to get him to see this neglect of mine for no worse than it is: unpardonable enough, because a breach of an agreement; but still pardonable, God knows, without design and since most sincerely regretted." ^Scribner, however, remained angry,

S 3 ------Ibid., pp. 86-87* and Stevenson in the next few weeks wrote a series of letters to the publisher which, since they have never been published and since they show the resolution of the difficulty, I quote in full: Saranac Lake (received by Scribner Deeember 2, 1887) My dear Mr. Scribner,

In this very painful affair, I must however trouble you with a few expla­ nations. 1st. There is no talk of my writing this story at present, and no thought of it. So that it can do you no harm at p r e s e n t • 2nd. The story in my eye was the sequel to Kidnaoped. which I scarce think you would* want for your magazine. 3rd. I made no defense of my conduct. There is 'no point of view' for you to deplore or to combat: simply a piece of neglect on my part, which I once more ask you to pardon. And now I wish to ask you something further. My memory is so -bad, and I show myself in all particulars so care­ less, that I wish to advance with all caution now. Am I bound in any explicit way, and if so how, and to what extent, to your magazine? Please consult my letters which I have not here, and let me know, and I will do my best to keep the engagement, whatever its nature. This affair has been a last and very bitter lesson to me, and I will never again commit myself to any bargain what­ ever, for I have neither the attention nor the memory' that should enable me to come out of a bargain with honor: hence­ forth, if I have work ready, I will sell it, and no more. I trust you may be able to forgive me and to take a more lenient view of my attitude which is bad enough, God knows, and yet not so bad I think as you describe i t . And believe me, with kind regards,

Yours very sincerely,

Robert Louis Stevenson

Saranac Lake (received by Scribner December 6, 139

My dear Mr. Scribner,

Alas, I have to begin again upon this painful business. Only one thing in your last pleases me: you show a want of memory, which I hope may incline you to be more lenient to the same fault in me* So far from requiring to apologize to you about The Black Arrow, you will find (if you look back at my correspondence) that I only made that bargain definitely v/ith Mr. McClure in order to change another to which you had objected. So forthat you would scarcely blame-me. But I find I have suffered myself to drop into my usual slipshod way of correspondence; and you ma; very possibly not h ve remarked, or not have understood, my reference to the matter. The other affair is an agreement to give Mr. McClure the serial rights for America of the first story I shall write in the manner of Kidnapped, with a par­ ticular eye to the sequel' to that story, and with no limitation in as to date — perhaps from thoughtlessness, I never conceived of a nature in the least to injure you; and from perfect oblivion, it did not occur to my mind, until some days after, that it v/as contrary to the general agreement entered into only the other day. This is the head and front of my offending; and I am well aware it gives you the right to call me slippery. But it is also the tail and the behind of it; and I can only beg you once more to view it leniently. You should not perhaps forget that as soon as I remembered it, I hastened to denounce myself; and (if you will look at my letter and my memory does not fail me) in quite unvarnished terms. I have to thank you for the books which came to hand all right. Till today (Saturday) there is no word, however, of Virginibus Puersque or Memories and Portraits. The hanging""Judge came, too, duly. Believe me to be, in spite of my misdeed,

Yours sincerely,

Robert Louis Stevenson 140

Saranac Lake (received by Scribner December 15* 1887) My dear Mr. Scribner, Please do not suppose me annoyed; depressed I will not say; but when the fault is wholly upon my side, you may depend upon me not to be so small as to grow irritated v/ith those whom I have annoyed. I believe, in­ deed, you wrote more than you quite meant at first; I cannot think it was more than I had merited — but of a somewhat Draconian reading of the law. I was still unaware, as totally oblivious that you were to have my first story. But you shall have it, ana that v/ith neither love nor bargain broken. I trust this may be all that is necessary;■and I wish I cculd creep back into your respect: I am not .vithout hope of it either. Yours sincerely, Robert Louis Stevenson If you are pleased, I am. And I shall now write without further reference on my side. Please, for God's sake, understarid this: I mean, a truce to apologies: but if you have any reclamation to make, make it at once, and. if possible, it shall be made good. R. L. S.

Saranac Lake (receive:; by Scribner December 20, 1887)

My de.r Mr. Scribner,

I have already written Mr. Burlingame mostly in the matter of The Master of Ballantrae as the new tale is finally christened. And now I find I have some­ thing I must write to you. You say McClure is eloquent: Well, yes I have a great liking for the man, and I own to my high esteem: to the proof, these enclosures. 141

/McClure had v/x*itten offering to release Stevenson from the agreement that had nettled Scribner. j The first certainly came quite unsolicited: only that he gathered from my letter I had gone beyond my right -- probably also from his talk v/ith you; and I take the liberty of sending it, because I think you will agree v/ith me it is very handsomely done, and because I hope it may incline you to my view of the second extract, (I cut av/ay the rest of the letter as it concerns some private business details which I daresay Mr, McClure would not like to be made public.) This Black Arrow which he is going to handle for me in the papers, is not half so bad as I had fancied or I am the more deceived. I have no doubt Mr. McClure v/ould let you have a sight of it -- I mean the part now in his hands: and if you are to take it in book form, as I hope you will, it occurs to me you might concern yourself v/ith the pictures. First of all, because I should have more confidence in your taste; and second because there v/ould plainly fall to be a division of expense which should (I should think) be faced at once. . .

Yours sincerely, j;/i Robert Louis Stevenson

' m ------Unpublished letters, Scribner office file.

Thus Stevenson was able gradually to work himself back into the good graces of Charles Scribner while re­ maining on friendly terms v/ith Sam McClure. He had com­ mitted a serious, an almost incredible, blunder; but it v/as to his credit that he hau been quick to admit his offense, once he v/as aware of it, and that he had done everything in his power to set matters straight. That Scribner's initial reaction to the situation should have been one of anger and indignation is understandable. Not only had Stevenson recently given Charles Scribner's Sons full control over the publication of his works in

America, he had promised over a year previously to write a serial novel for the new magazine, and the forthcoming novel had been used as bait to gain subscriptions. R. L. many times had expressed his complete satisfaction with his treatment at the hands of Scribners; therefore, his casual breach of these agreements must have struck the head of the firm as rank ingratitude -- if not something far worse• There was nothing underhanded about Stevenson's behavior. He simply was temperamentally unfitted to handle business details, and as his affairs became more complicated, with his growing popularity, he found him­ self, for a time, constantly in hot ;vater with one publisher or another, owing to his failure to understand and to abide by the terms of contracts that he had made. There was, for example, the question as to who owned the American book rights to Familiar ftudies of Men and Books, the volume that originally had been published by

Chatto and Windus of London in 1882, and which had been published in America in May, 1887* by Dodd, Mead and Company. Scribner, who had been attempting to buy up the American rights to all of Stevenson's books, asked him whether Dodd, Mead and Company had his permission to publish the book and whether that firm was paying him royalties. Stevenson answered both questions in the negative, but then he recalled that he had neglected to reserve the American rights at the time he sold the book to Chatto and Windus. It developed that Dodd, Mead and Company had purchased the American rights from Chatto and Windus. The deal was perfectly open and above board. Once again, through sheer carelessness, Stevenson had deprived himself of an opportunity to pick, up some extra

money on one of his books. When the Scribners, in 1887* bought the American rights to Familiar Studies from Dodd, Mead and Company, they, with their customary generosity, insisted on ipaying Stevenson regular royal­ ties so that his oversight was not as costly as it might 45 have been. x

— 3_5 ------

Two unpublished letters, Stevenson to Charles Scribner, one not dated, the other dated October 26, 1887* Scribner office file.

Far more serious was Stevenson's failure to reserve

the full American rights to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. After receiving regular royalty payments from Scribners for over a year and a half, he suddenly made the sad discovery that he should have, been sharing his royalties 144

fifty-fifty v/ith Longmans, Green and Company, the London publishers of the book. This intelligence came to him in the form of a letter from C. J. Longman, written

October 10, 1887s

Bear Mr. Stevenson:

By the agreement between us, any profits derived from the sale of early sheets, stereotype plates, etc., from America were to be divided between us. The arrangement with Scribners was made by us, and Scribners ought to have accounted to us, not to you. Our American manager was quite right in asking Messrs. Scribner for an account. That is the fact of the matter. As however it appears that Scribner misunder­ stood it and has paid you the royalties, we have no desire to call upon you to refund our share. The book has been very successful here, and in view of that success we are quite willing to resign l to you our share of the American proceeds. . . Tfg------Unpublished letter, Scribner office file.

Stevenson v/as considerably upset by this communication.

His correspondence shows that, at first, he scarcely could credit the validity of Longman's claim (he wrote a letter . to Charles Baxter asking him to check the wording of the original agreement); but once convinced that he, not

Longman, was in error, he took immediate steps to arrange a settlement. He asked Scribners for a statement of all royalties paid him on Jekyll and Hyde and requested them to pay Longman half of all future royalties on the book.

Stevenson obviously felt that his honor had bnen called 145

into question by Longman. In a letter to Scribner, he referred to "the very bitter annoyance under which I am

fool enough to be now suffering," and he added, "I am,

I am sorry to say it, a very proud man: and I feel this

Jekyll muddle with ridiculous sharpness."^

2*7“ ------Unpublished letter, dated October 27, 1887, Scribner office file.

The Scribners refused to become involved in the

affair; they suggested that they continue paying the whole royalty to Stevenson and that he deal personally with Longman. So the matter was finally arranged. Early in November, Stevenson wrote to Charles Scribner:

Jekyll, truly it is a most irritating business; cut what can we do? The Longmans have me by this oversight of mine, a thing I cannot possibly explain, and as you saw they have cleared their own feet and bound mine, by making the offer to let me off in terms which no gentleman could accept. I entirely acquit them of any purpose of the sort; it v/as but a lack of taste; and so the more bitter, and, in its effect upon my mind, the more final. It is true we could cpite them, and that effectually by your ceasing to pay me royalties; but then I should lose my share, and should still require to pay up their share of what I have already re­ ceived and spent, so that on the whole it is I who should suffer.4°

---2-g------Unpublished letter, received by Charles Scribner, November 11, 1887* Scribner office file. 146

These unpleasant incidents, caused entirely by his

own carelessness, weighed heavily on Stevenson's mind

in the fall of 1887* He confided to J. A. Symonds that he had been "terribly cut up with business complications" and that he found it difficult to sleep. "It is hard to be told you are a liar, and have to hold your peace, and think, 'Yes, by God, and a thief, too 1' "^Determined

Zj^ December 6, 1887, Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 90. to avoid similar trouble in the future, Stevenson soon thereafter appointed Charles Baxter, who already was handling his private business affairs, to be his literary agent in England. Stevenson continued to deal personally with Scribners, and, on the surface at least, their cordial relationship v/as quickly and completely restored.

However, there is an indication in a letter from R. L. S. to his wife (probably written early in December when

Fanny was in New York) that he was dissatisfied with the royalties offered by the publishers on certain of his books:

The books Burlingame says have gone to C. W. S. ^ " T h e books referred to were doubtless Memories and Portraits and Virginibus Puerisque. both published by Scribners in tecemSer. 7 He Bur 1 ingame__7 sticks to 10 per cent; well, it may be so: but it is queer and (all things considered) mean. However, I believe next year's 147

accounts will probably be collected on the 15 p. c. principle; I shall make no suggestion and leave it to them to have full credit for the change, if they choose to make it. . .

— 55------Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

This complaint and the statement quoted at the be­ ginning of this chapter show an apparent contradiction in Stevenson's attitude toward the publishers from whom the bulk of his American income was being derived. On the one hand, he felt that they were not giving him a fair share of the profits on some of his books; on the other, that they were pacing him far more than the magazine articles were worth -- or, to put it another way, that they were pacing him for the magazine articles far more than was good for him as an artist. During the three months that he had been in America, Stevenson, under the tutelage of McClure and Scribners, had learned to appreciate the commercial value of his name. His enthusiastic reception and the lure of big money had thrown him a bit off balance. He had willingly resur­ rected an old potboiler for McClure's newspaper syndicate; and, against his better judgment, he had accepted the

Scribners' lucrative offer to become a regular contributor to their magazine. Almost immediately he was sorry that he had agreed to write for the Scribners: the thought 146

of a recurring deadline haunted him; he loathed the

necessity of writing under pressure; and he feared that

the work produced under such conditions would he inferior. Still he had to be practical. Ever since his arrival

in America, he had been toying with the notion,of char­ tering a yacht for a long cruise, and obviously such a

venture would require a great deal of money. So Stevenson

was torn two ways: as a professional writer, he was

perfectly willing to take advantage of his newfound

earning power; as an artist, he chafed at restrictions. On several occasions, he expressed regret to friends in

England that he ever had committed himself to Scribner1s

Magazine. In December, 1887* he wrote to Mrs. Fleeming

Jenkin: You will have heard, I dare say, that they made a great row over me here. They also offered me much money, a great deal more than my works are worth: I took some of it, and was greedy and hasty, and am now very sorry. I have done with big prices from now out. Wealth and self- respect seem, in my case, to be strangers.51

51 Letters to his Family and Friends, II, 93-

A few da;> s later Stevenson informed Colvin that he was not especially well pleased with his first three Scribner articles, although the fourth, "Pulvis et Umbra," he felt he had "pulled off after a fashion. . , • The other three papers, I fear, bear many traces of effort, and the- 149 ungenuine inspiration of an income at so much per essay, and the honest desire of the incomer to give good me asure for his money."^

52 Ibid., p. 100.

Often enough in the past, when he could command only a guinea a page for his contributions to London literary periodicals, Stevenson had wished for a large audience and a decent income from his writing. Now that he had ooth he scarcely knew whether to be pleased or apologetic, for, to some extent, he still shared with his intellectual friends a suspicion that popularity is a snare for the artist. When Sam McClure visited England, he was puzzled by a tendency on the part of Henley, Colvin, and others to make light of Stevenson's literary accom- plishments and to belittle his American success. 53 ^

5 3 ------McClure, ojg. c i t ., p. 195*

Personal jealousy was involved, no doubt, but these friends and critics were also sincerely distrustful of popular taste, whether British or American; they believed that

Stevenson, in writing romances and boys* books, was pros­ tituting a talent that should have been reserved for higher things; and when the unlettered American public acclaimed the very books which they had pronounced to 150

be unworthy of the author, they were more than ever convinced that they had been right in the first place.

As a professional literary man endeavoring to live by his pen, Stevenson had tried for years to come to terms with the public without sacrificing his artistic integrity, but he had never held a very high opinion

of the literary tastes of the masses. His own experience had taught him that good work is not always the most

successful. "What the public likes," he wrote to Gosse, "is work (of any kind) a little loosely executed; so

long as it is a little wordy, a little slack, a little dim and knotless, the dear public likes it; it should (if possible) be a little dull into the bargain. I know that good work sometimes hits; but, with my hand on my 54- heart, I think it is by an accident.""^

5 ? ------January 2, 1886, Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 14.

But Stevenson did not agree with Henley and Colvin that he should ignore popular taste and stick to producing cultural caviar. His conviction, painfully arrived at, was that the artist owes it to himself as a man to pay his own way, and in order to do that he must give the public what it wants. In a "Letter to a Young Gentleman who Proposes to Embrace the Career of Art," one of the essays written for Scribner's Magazine. Stevenson advances 151 this argument which bears directly on his own case:

The consciousness of how much the artist is (and. must be) a law to himself, debauches the small heads. Perceiving recondite merits verp hard to attain, making or swallowing artistic formulae, or perhaps falling in love with some particular proficiency of his own, many artists for­ get the end of all art: to please. ■ It is doubtless tempting to exclaim against the ignorant bourgeois; yet it should not be forgotten, it is he who is to pay us, and that (surely on the face of it) for services that he shall desire to have per­ formed* Here also, if properly considered, there is a question of transcendental honesty. To give the public what they do not want, and yet expect to be supported: we have there a strange pretension and yet not uncommon, above all with painters. The first duty in this world is for a man to paj his way; when that is quite accom­ plished, he may plunge into what eccentricity he likes; but emphatically not till then. Till then, he must pay assiduous court to the bourgeois who carries the purse. And if in the course of these capitulations he shall falsify his talent, it can never have been a strong one, and he will have preserved a better thing than talent — character. Or if he be of a mind so independent that he cannot stoop to this necessity, one course is yet open: he can desist from art, and follow some more manly way of life.-^

— 55------The Amateur Emigrant. Across the Plains. The Silverado Squatters, pp. 284-2&5•

To please the public while maintaining his own artistic integrity — that was Stevenson's aim. Critical acclaim and popularity were proof, in 1887, that he had succeeded in striking a happy balance; but with American popularity came a challenge in the form of big offers from,periodicals 152 and newspapers. Accustomed to being paid at the ordinary low rates by British Journals, Stevenson found the propo­ sitions of McClure and Scribners extremely attractive, and yet he was wary of accepting them. Could he take advantage of these offers without compromising his stand­ ards? Could he write regularly for pay and still please himself? That was the question which troubled him. The deal with Scribner1s Magazine supplied the answer. He soon regretted that he had accepted the Scribner offer, because he came to feel that he had sold his independence; ("I am condemned to write twelve articles in Scribner1s Magazine for the love of gain," he wrote to his old friend Miss Adelaide Boodle.)^^He had placed himself in the

5 5 ------Letters to his Family and 1'riends, II, 104. position of a hired Journalist whose duty it was to pro­ duce a monthly article acceptable to the editor, end he fretted under the restrictions imposed by this necessity. Still, having made the contract, he was determined to earn his pay. Once when Burlingame questioned the appro­ priateness of an essay that Stevenson had struggled over, he meekly supplied another, commenting, "I write these to please you, not myself, and you know a main sight better than I do v/hat is good. "-^Stevenson was not fond 153

57------February, 1888, Ibid., 111-112. of his bargain, but doubtless there was some consolation in his being able to say, several months after he made it,

"I still triumphantly support the whole family here on my American earnings alone! This is brave work, isnae i t 71 1 58

------Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Baxter, January 2, 1888, Beineke Collection.

And there was after all, despite his misgivings, no reason for him to apologize for the quality of those essays. "The Lantern-Bearers," "A Chapter on Dreams,"

"Pulvis et Umbra," and "A Christmas Sermon" are still read and admired. As for their reception at the time of their appearance in Scribner1s Magazine. a writer for the Buffalo Courier must have expressed the general sentiment when he wrote, after the series came to a close,

Every reader who has followed him ^"Stevenson_7 through the last twelve months will regret that the most inter­ esting guest which the magazine has entertained may not be expected in his accustomed place. . . We bid him good- by reluctantly. His novel will not take the place of our after dinner chats, any more than letters may console us for an absent friend.59 154

^ ------Reprinted in the Critic, XIII (December 15, 1868), 306.

’While Stevenson, during his months at Saranac, was receiving from Scribners and McClure some practical in­

struction in the economics of American publishing, public

interest in the man and his work continued high. V/hen

Dr. Jekyll and kr. Hyde opened in mid-September at the

Madison Square Theater with Richard Mansfield in the

starring role, the cash receipts on the first night were

so large as to be almost without precedent in the history 60 of that theater. The play was a hit and had a long run,

53------Critic, XI (September 17, 1887), 142. and Mansfield, though he was not legally bound to pay royalties, sent Stevenson a monthl,, check for the rest of the season.

5 ! ------Critic, XII (March 24, 1888), 145.

Stevenson's presence in the country touched off a new wave of publicity in the newspapers, and this, in turn, stimulated the sale of his books. The Scribners, striking while the iron was hot, in October, 1887, brought out new issues of Kidhapped (illustrated, SI.25), The

Dynamiter. New Arabian lights. and More lew Arabian Nights. 155

The last three boohs were published, in cloth editions, priced at a dollar, and in paper editions, selling at 62 thirty cents* In December the Scribners published cloth

52------Publishers1 Weekly* XXXII (October 29, 1887), 599- editions of Memories and Portraits and Virginibus

Puerisque

5 3 ------Publishers1 Wee k l y * XXXII (DeceiLber 10, 1887), 915*

Meanwhile the pirates had not been idle during the year* The most brazen act of piracy, of course, had been committed by Harper Brothers when they published Kidnapped *

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Treasure

Island in one volume selling at twenty cents. The Merry

Men had been pirated by Harper Brothers, George Munro,

J. W. Lovell Company, and Homan L. Munro. Rand, McNally and Company, of Chicago, had issued Dr. Jekyll and Mr.

Hyde in their Globe Library series. At the year's end,

J. W. Lovell Company and George Munro published ten-cent editions of The Misadventures of John Hicholson: a

Christmas Story which Stevenson had written for Cassell's fJL Christmas Annual.

See Publishers1 Weekly. Vols. XXXI and XXXII Since the success of the freebooters depended upon their accurate Judgment of popular taste in literature, the discrimination which they showed in picking and choosing among Stevenson’s works is significant. Their prosperity- hinged upon their ability to sell cheap books in large numbers, because the profit margin on the individual copy was very snail; therefore, they were careful to reprint only those books which they thought would have wide popular appeal. To examine the lists of books pirated in the

'eighties is to learn something about American midule- class reading tastes of the time. In the case of Stevenson, the complete record of piracies (insofar as it is contained in Publishers * Weekly) shows clearly that of all his work only the fiction attracted a mass audience. Almost with­ out exception, the leading pirates published all of his romances, adventure novels, and collections of shorter tales; but the essays, the travel books, and the poetry they left pretty much alone. This fact is important to an understanding of Stevenson's wide-ranging appeal.

Although he was read and admired by highbrows and low­ brows alike1, the various classes of readers vare not all attracted by the same qualities in his work. To critics arid cultured readers he might be, among other things, a superb stylist in the best English tradition, a literary artist of amazing versatility, a writer who "re-erects the sovereignty of genius and the power of^human 157 originality• "^To the less discriminating masses he was

5 5 ------Critic, X (April 16, 1887), 188.

an uncommonly entertaining story-teller who, in his later

years, embodied in his own person and experience all the elements of high romance and adventure. It was McClure who showed Stevenson how he might make his dream of a chartered yacht cruise become a

reality. The voyage from England to America, on which Stevenson's health had picked up wonderfully, had whetted his appetite for life at sea. In writing of that trip to Colvin, he expressed his gratification at having been able to recapture his zest for living: "So long it went excellent well, and I had a time I am glad to have had; really enjoying my life. There is nothing like being at sea, after all. And 0, why have I allowed myself to 66 rot so long on land?" And to his cousin Bob Stevenson

66 September, 1887$ Letters so his Family and Friends. II, 72. he w r o t e : I have got one good thing of my sea voyage: it is proved the sea agrees heartily with me, and my mother likes it; so if I get any better, or no worse, my mother will likely hire a yacht for a month or so in summer. Good Lord* What fun! Wealth is only useful for two things: a yacht and a string quartette. For these two I will sell my soul. Except for these I hold that Js700 a 158 year is as much as anybody can possibly w a n t ;. . . I was so happy on board that ship, I could not have believed it possible. . • I had literally forgotten what happiness was, and the full mind — full of external and physical things, not full of cares and labours and rot about a fellow's behavior. My heart literally sang; I truly care for nothing so much as for that.

5 7 ------October, 1887, Ibid.. pp. 76-77*

In the course of one of his conversations with McClure,

Stevenson mentioned his eagerness to take a long voyage to out-of-the-way places, and McClure immediately pro­ posed that the author send back travel letters to be published by the newspaper syndicate, guaranteeing that if he would do so the syndicate would pay enough to cover gQ the expenses of the trip. Stevenson agreed, and on one

S 5 ------McClure, ojo. cit. 4 p. 191* of McClure's later visits to Saranac detailed plans were made for the South Seas cruise.

On June 28, 1888, Stevenson, accompanied by his mother, his wife Fanny, her son Lloyd and her daughter Belle, and the latter's artist husband, Joe Strong, a lovable but extremely unstable character given to drink and extravagance, sailed from Oakland, California, aboard the schooner—yacht Casco. which had been chartered from— 159 a wealthy doctor for five hundred dollars a month. The voyage was originally planned to last seven months, and

the itinerary called for visits to the Marquesas, Tahiti,

and Hawaii, after which Stevenson intended, his health permitting, to return to the United States for a lecture

tour. That was the plan, but he enjoyed his carefree

life at sea and among the islands so much that he pro­

longed his Pacific wanderings until early in 1890. Then, after his health failed once more in Australia, he de­ cided that he could not risk a return to a less friendly climate. After another long voyage aboard the trading steamer Janet Nicoll, he settled for good on Samoa in

October of that yea--. He never saw the United states or

England again.

For the rest of his life Stevenson's earnings were high, but so were his expenses: he spent a great deal of money in traveling; none of his dependents was noted for tiiriftineas — Lloyd Osbourne, in particular, tossed bank-notes about with a lavish hand on a trip to England; numerous friends and relatives successfully" appealed to his generosity; and building and operating the estate on

Samoa cost much more than he had anticipated. Consequently, he was continually worried about the state of his finances.

His remoteness from Hew York and London made it difficult for him to keep track of his business affairs, and there were times (after he had drawh on the Scribners and 160

Baxter for large sums) when he feared for his solvency.

During the last six years of his life, the pressure of

circumstances forced Stevenson to write directly for the

American market where the big money lay. Often he wrote hurriedly and without inspiration, and the quality of his work suffered. The three novels written in collabo­ ration with Osbourne (The Wrong Box. The Wrecker, and

The hbb-Tide) represent, to some extent, an effort on

Stevenson's part to cash in on the value of his name without going through the entire, grueling creative pro­ cess that had produced his best books. Although the final drafts of those novels seem to have been entirely his own, the weaknesses of the original conceptions re­ main, and the result is a certain looseness in design and execution that is not to be found in earlier bocks, such as Treasure Island, and Jekyll and Hyde. There is something very sad in Stevenson's surrender to the lure of the almighty dollar in his final years. The unfinished weir of Hermiston. that "supreme piece" Henry

James called it, shows that he was capable of greater work than he had ever done before. Begun in 1892, it was time and again laid aside while Stevenson concentrated on lesser tales that would sell.

After he left the States, Stevenson continued to deal,exclusively with Scribners and kcClure, but in each case the relationship was subjected to increasing strain: 161 Stevenson grew more and more dissatisfied with the royalty

returns from his books in the Scribners* hands, and he

became downright disgusted with McClure's shilly-shallying behavior in matters of business. But of that, more here­ after.

We have seen that Stevenson, in order to mollify Charles Scribner, had promised to write a novel which

would be suitable for serial publication in Scribner1s Magazine. He worked at it off and on all during his

winter at Saranac, and before he left that place had completed and turned over to Burlingame seven serial

chapters. The first one was published in the magazine in November, 1888, while Stevenson was still at sea.

This fait accompli« of course, put him under pressure

to get The Master of Ballantrae finished as quickly as possible. He had done a little work on the novel at

Tahiti, and when he settled down for a several—months

stay in Honolulu in January, 1889* he returned to the task of completing it. He had been well satisfied with

the first parti in his opinion, it contained "more human

work than anything of mine but Kidnapped" i^but he had

5 9 ------Stevenson to Colvin, January 14, 1889* Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 153*

a hectic time with the remaining chaoters. By early

March he had written and rewritten three additional 162

serial numbers and still had two to go, Burlingame, meanwhile, was pressing him to finish the job.

When Stevenson wrote to Burlingame in January, 1889* he expressed his fear that the last section of the novel would not measure up to the rest of it. He thought that the numbers already done were "First Chop, sir, First

Chop. I hope I shall pull off that damned ending; but it still depresses me: this is vour doing, ii/ir. Burlingame: you would have it there and then, and I fear it -- I fear 70 that ending.nf In April he told Burlingame "this cursed

— 7 3 ------Ibid., pp. 158-159. end of The Haster hangs over me like the arm of the gallows," and he bemoaned the falling off in quality:

"Alas, that so sound a novel should decline into the fantastic, but there are the sins of the original design; and I now think I can pull it off at least with sufficient impudence."^^The following month, after he had finished

— 7!------Unpublished letter, Scribner office file. the final chapter, he wrote dispiritedly to W. H. Low:

I have at length finished The master; it has been a sore cross to me; but now he is buried, his body’s under hatches, — his soul, if there is any hell to go to, gone to hell; and I forgive him: it is harder to forgive Burlingame for having induced me to begin the publication, or myself for suffering the induction./2 163

7 5 ------Letters to his Family and Friends, II, 181.

While The Master of Ballantrae was still running

as a serial, the Scribners published The Wrong Box in book form in June, 1889* after a misunderstanding over the terms on which it had been offered to them had been

straightened out. On March 8, Stevenson had written to

Burlingame: "Herewith goes the Wrong Box complete. I am greatly deceived or it is funny.. I have split over it myself, and so (apparently) did the harmless type­ writer. . • I wish you would oblige me by telegraphing whether or not ;,ou accept my terms, tCCC ,00 for all rights in the States.11 *^When Burlingame replied accepting

^Unpublished letter, Scribner office file. this offer, he indicated that he understood he was buying all rights to The Wrong; Box in the United States and

England. Stevenson promptly set him straight:

I was a little puzzled by an odd phrase in your last in which you accept (subject to a certain condition) what you say "you understand" to be my terms for the Wrong Box and which you then state as "S3*000 for all rights in both countries." All men are fallible; I have kept no copy of my letter: and I was at first inclined to suppose you might indeed have so mis­ understood me, when a fresh train of thought occurred. Turning to your royalty reports, I observed that in less than eight months the Black Arrow has brought in more than eleven hundred dollars from the States 164-

alone, where it is net protected. Suppose it (by some scarce conceivable accident) to have done no better in England where it is protected: here would be in less than a year nearly one- half the sum for which I was supposed ready to sell another work, and that work copyright in both countries. This would be hard to fancy; it becomes im­ possible, when I recollect that you have already indicated you considered my demands a little high. You will see, then, that I am entitled, and in­ deed forced, to regard the words "in both countries" as a mere slip of the pen, entirely mechanical and unconnected with any conceivable process of ratiocina­ tion in your mind. I therefore accept your offer of $5,000 (five thousand dollars) for all rights in the United States; and I will leave you do as you will about the order of the names only remarking that the accepted etiquette is to place them according to their station in the alphabet and that I shall have them so placed upon the English edition. The above process of re asoning appears to me Huite conclusive; and I therefore regard the affair as settled. But should it be possible that I am after all in error, I will ask you to let me know by return, and at the same time to hand over the manuscript to Will H. Low whom I instruct by the same mail as to its destination. I retain jour cheque for $1,000, but shall„not cash it till I hear all is well.

T Unpublished letter Scribner office file.

Burlingame accepted Stevenson's view of the matter without further quibbling, and the book in due time made its appearance. Since Osbourne was co-author, The Wrong 165 Box was subject to copyright in the States, and that fact

m^de it a good investment for the Scribners.

That novel was the first of Stevenson*s books to

be treated severely by the critics, and its publication

marked a turning point in the history of his American

critical reputation, which thereafter never shone quite

so brightly as it had formerly. The review printed in

the Critic was only lukewarm. The essence of it was that

The Wrong Box, while clever enough, did not represent

Stevenson at his best. "It seems the work of a man of

genius bending but half his energy to the task in hand.

It is not so rare a work of art as the first series of the New Arabian Nights, but it is one that we should lock for in vain from any other living writer of English fiction. "^The real blast came a few weeks later in the

— 75------XXXVI (July 6, 1869), 2.

"London Letter," a regular feature of the Critic. Never, in his entire career, had Stevenson come under such scath­ ing attack:

To suggest any sort of improvement to the authors of The Wrong Box would be to presume it capable ox taking on improvement — like polish — which it is not. It is too hopeless, too far gone. What in the name of freak can have possessed that much applauded darling of today, Mr. Kobert Louis Stevenson, to have any part or lot -- however small — in such a contemptible perforiuance? 166 Whether he has really written any of the book, or whether he has only taken it under his lordly wing, it boots not to inquire; we are to suppose he, they rather, approves and endorses it and our feelings are almost insulted by the supposition. Here is an exceedingly clever and popular wfiter, a man with abundance of leisure, plenty of money, and boundless opportunity for doing work of the kind which he rejoices to do, and this is all he has to offer us after an interval of silence, and of luxurious wanderings by sea and landl Of course, what hir. Stevenson's out and out worshippers will say is that their idol never a word of the Wrong Box, but tuat out of the generosity of his nature and the kindness of his heart he permitted a foolish young friend to take his arm, as it were, and stand thus before the public for the first time, indorsed and chaperoned by a public favorite. If it be so, such a piece of trickery is hardly to the credit of the author of Dr. Jekyll and Ivlr. Hyde. and I, for one, scarcely know whether I should not prefer him to have honestly written some of a very foolish and vulgar book, rather than to have merely sheltered that book under his name as a means of foisting it on the world, which otherwise might^have passed it by with silent contempt.'

7 5 ------XXXVI (August 1 7 , 1889), 77-78.

Here, of course, Stevenson was damned if he did and equally damned if he didn't. In the eyes of that writer, he had either been guilty of an incredibly shabby per­ formance, or he had lent his name to a piece of shoddy work that was not his. Either way he lost prestige.

There is no doubt that the Wrong Box served to cool off 167 some oT the critical enthusiasm for Stevenson in the

States. When The Piaster of Ballantrae appeared as a

hook a fev; months loter, it, too, drew some unfavorable

comments. The critics discerned in The Master all the

weaknesses that Stevenson himself was fully aware of,

and some that he had only dimly erceived. Thi reviewer

for the Dial accused him of having become so interested

in the "niceties of speech that he hos lost the virility

of conception so indispensable to serious romance." The

characters were nothing more than "ghostly outlines,"

and the action was inconsequential. The best thing about

the book v/as the illustrations, which were "more interest- 77 ing than the text tney adorn."''

— 7 7 ------X (December, 1889)* 214.

The reviewer for the Critic was equally unimpressed.

While the new novel showed the author's cleverness and versatility, it also revealed his limitations as a writer

of fiction. There was evidence of strain in the drawing

of characters -- ohe hero was only an "empty shell" — and in building the plot Stevenson had taken refuge

("evidently unwillingly") in episodes and numerous changes of scene in an effort to liven up the action. "It can scarcely be said that he had taken a step forward."^

7 Z ------XXXVI (October 19, 1889), 183. 168

Thus the critics weighed The V/rong Box and The Master of Ballantrae and found them wanting. The writer of the

"London Letter" had pictured Stevenson as a prosperous man of leisure whose motives for permitting The Wrong

Box to he published under his name were inexplicable.

Because that writer had no waj of knowing anything about

Stevenson's personal affairs, his reaction is understand­ able, hut to me Stevenson's motives are quite clear: he wrote The Wrong Box for money. He took a plot that Lloyd

Osbourne had been fumbling around with, worked it up in his own style, and packed it off to Burlingame in a deliberate effort to cash in on his popularity. His expenses during the past year had been very great; he feared that his tremendous earning power would not last, and he was determined to take advantage of it while there was yet time. Stevenson's state of mind is clearly re­ vealed in a letter that he varote to Baxter on June 16,

1869, enclosing a new will:

I am going on here with my complicated burthens: to give poor Joe Strong (a very annoying and loveable mar) a square start in life. His debts have proved less and his assets more than we feared, but the expense of the whole experiment is staggering. I have sent t200 to R. Towns and Company in Sydney to dole out to Belle and the child; in case anything unforeseen should happen to delay us be­ yond expectation, they, Towns and Company, are to communicate with you; and of course, Belle and the boy must not be left in trouble. My health keeps in­ credibly good; for the last six days 169

I have been from five to eight hours in continual business, much of it very annoying, some downright painful, and I am fairly fit today on the back of it. Our schooner is now due and we are fairly ready to get away. To all our cronies now on land, we cards prepared for sea, send salutations. I trust all is ex­ plicit; L,nd I do hope my new books will sell, for there is a tight place to pass, and if I can pass it, and the lectures and panorama pay, I shall feel safer for the future. We have sickness and doctors' bills and a nurse on our back fairly; which I could have gladly spared. But my books have been amazingly profitable this last jear; and I make hay with rather morbid eagerness while the sun chines.79

73------Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

News Of the critical reception accorded the two novels was slow to reach Stevenson. In October he wrote to Colvin: "I wonder what has befallen me too, that flimsy part of me that lives (or dwindles) in the public mind; and what has befallen The Master. and what kind of a Box the Merry Box has been found. It is odd to know 60 nothing of all this." Two monuhs later, on Samoa, he

w ------Letters to his Family and Friends, II, 195• ran across some old copies of Blackwood1s Magazine that contained unfavorable reviews of both books by Mrs. Oliphant.

^""She^ "seems in a staggering state," Stevenson remarked to Baxter; "fi'om The Wrong Box to The Master I scarce 170

recognize either my critic or myself,

— si------December, 1889* Ibid,, p. 206.

Having disposed of The Wrong Box and The Master of

Ballantrae. Stevenson turned to two other novels, The

V/recker and The Pearl Pisher (later called The Ebb-Tide),

on both of which he collaborated with Osbourne. These

occupied his attention off and on in the latter part of

1889 s-dd in 1890 while he was, at the sane time, working

on the "Letters" that he had promised McClure for the

newspaper syndicate. There was also some correspondence

with Burlingame in 1890 about a possible renewal of the

essay series for Scribner1s Magazine. Stevenson was

interested ("the emolument woule. be agreeable to your humble servant"), but the project was finally abandoned when Burlingame bought The Wrecker for serialization in

the magazine.

In August, 1690, Stevenson made up his mind to

settle permanently, "at t-he risk of bankruptcy," on

Samoa. He had purchased three hundred and fifteen acres

of land at a cost of a little over three thousand dollars,

and he calculated that he could build a house for less than six thousand dollars. He reasoned that once his house was built he could live there cheaply and that in the event of his death the estate would furnish an 171 endowment for his family. Literary work in hand would go far toward meeting the expenses: "The letters are already in part done: in part done is a novel for

Scribner; in.the course of the next twelve months, I 82 should receive a considerable amount of money."

5 5 ------Stevenson to Baxter, August, 1830, Ibid.. p. 2$0.

On October 14, Stevenson wrote to Baxter:

I imagine you should soon get some money from LcClure away; but it de­ pends on the run of my work, which is just now very complicated and goes now this way and now tuat: three big jobs all underway, and the divil him­ self knows which to turn to first. The Wrecker the most pressing: the Testers the most remunerative; and as the way is, the Pearl Fisher the most tempting.

5 3 ------Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

Shortly afterwards a hitch threatened to develop in connection with the publication of The Wrecker.

Burlingame ham long since agreed to buy the novel for the magazine (Stevenson was to receive five hundred . R/L dollars for each of ten numbers;, and the first part

m ------Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Burlingame, March 11, 1890, Scribner office file. of it already was in his hands. In November, however, 172 he notified Stevenson that serialization would not begin until 1892, The author, who was spending money hand over fist and who was looking to The Wrecker to bring in some cash in the immediate future, objected strongly to the proposed delay. Obviously such a delay would postpone publication of the novel in book form and pre­ clude the early payment of royalties. In his reply to

Burlingame, Stevenson revealed an attitude that, however practical, was scarcely becoming to the artist. Despite his unpleasant experience in attempting to finish The

Lias ter of Ballantrae under pressure, he was willing to complete The Wrecker under similar conditions. The letaer shows that he was becoming increasingly concerned with literature as business and correspondingly less con­ cerned with literature as art:

My dear Burlingame:

I wrote in a hurry in answer to your last and speedily took its news more seriously. I had counted on the Wrecker going ahead in '91; or I should have turned mv industry in another direction. My house h-s to be built, my family collected here; it is a time of great expense: and I must continue to arrange my finances. . • • You have 17 chapters and the prologue * 19 chapters. 10 more are to be expected of which one may be rather long; one may disappear altogether; and a 3rd, the last, will be very short. Take it as 9 chapters: estimate them as the average of the other 19; I will try to be near the mark, and if I overrun, I will cut it down for the magazine to a page. I trust this may 173 decide you to an early start. If not, I must just lay the Wrecker aside and turn to something that will pay. Please, therefore, answer by return. I am told you have at le ast a day to catch the mail in: and you will see for yourself how momentous the point is for a person in Samoa. I had understood the publication was agreed upon to begin this autumn; but on looking up your letter, I found that I had deceived myself, and trans­ lated a conditional into an absolute phrase. The disappointment is none the less emoarrassing to me, because I have to admit grudgingly it is no fault of yours (you know how humanity desires a scapegoat) — and I have in conse­ quence of the doubt done nothing this month to Loudon Dodd. 1 cannot afford to touch him, unless he begins before Easter

5 5 “ November 26, 1890, Unpublished letter, Scribner office file.

Burlingame then agreed to begin publishing The

Wrecker as a serial in August, 1891* In June Stevenson reporteu to Baxter that he was still working on the novel: "I have drafted this month 132 pp. of my MS:

6a,000 words; and out of all that toilful scriving only four letters and two chapters of the Wrecker go to press! It is not a life for a hog; but thank God, even at this pitiful and costly rate, four months 86 should see me shut of both these nightmares." Stevenson

55 Unpublished letter, June 20, 1891, Beineke Collection. 174 was still grinding out the last part of the novel in

October, when he expressed his opinion of it to Henry

James: "As for The Wrecker. it's a machine, you know — don't expect aught else -- a machine, and a police machine; but I believe the end is one of the most genu­ ine butcheries in literature. . . • Seems dreadful to send such a book to such an author."®^The final chapters

— 57------October. 1891. Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 281. were not sent to Burlingame until November, but a month previously Stevenson had written to the editor regarding royalty arrangements: % I am surprised to receive no answer to my fifteen per cent questions, and have therefore determined to answer my­ self. I assume therefore with benignity but firmness that in all books hereafter published by you, including the Wrecker. I am to receive a royalty of fifteen per cent upon the selling price. I daresay this will cross your answer; but there is no harm done, if we are agreed — good if we differ, for I am made up.88

55------Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Burlingame, October 8, 1891* Scribner office file.

The Scribners acceded to these demands,®^but Stevenson

09 Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Burlingame, December, 1891* Scribner office file. 175 was soon complaining about something else. He had heard from England, he informed Burlingame, that some Sunday paper was going to publish The 7/re eke r. and he was greatly disturbed by the report:

If this is of your doing, as I sold you the full serial rights, I have nothing to say but shall be much injured. If it is not of your doing, pray protect yourself and me from this aggression. I have to say that I sold you the whole serial rights for a sum of my own choice; and that no other living man has a right to lay a finger on one word of it.90

— sc------Unpublished letter, no date, Scribner office file.

Either the report that Stevenson received was unfounded or the Scribners stepped in and prevented the London paper from publishing The Wrecker. In any event, the author had nothing further to say about the matter in his correspondence with Burlingame, and the novel was not published in London until Cassell and Company brought it out in book form in July, 1692.

The South Seas Letters that Stevenson had written for McClure were carried in the newspaper syndicate from

February to December, 1891 * and appeared simultaneously in Black and White in London. Contrary to McClure*s expectations, the series was not popular, but the venture turned out very profitably for Stevenson. In accordance with the original agreement, McClure paid him ten thousand 176 dollars, and Black and White paid five thousand dollars

(less twenty-five per cent commission to, McClurefor

5 ! ------Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Baxter, June 20, 1891i Beineke Collection. Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Baxter, August 16, 1891, Beineke Collection. See also Furnas, 0£. c i t ., Note 52, pp. 533-534-. serialization privileges. Fanny had expressed fear at the outset that the letters would not appeal to the public because Stevenson, instead of writing about his own ex­ periences, insisted on making them historical and im- 92 personal. As it turned out, her apprehension was fully

55------Fanny Stevenson to Colvin, May 21, 1889, New Letters, pp. 258-259* justified. McClure and the newspaper editors found the letters disappointing. The New York Sun carried thirty- four installments and refused to print any more, saying, according to Colvin, that they were "not what they asked for, not letters of incident and experience. . . but only the advance sheets of a book and rather a dull book at that. "^McClure thought that the letters showed a side

— W ------Quoted in Furnas, 0 £. cit.. p. 352, from a letter Colvin to Baxter, Savile Gift * of Stevenson t^at the public was not much acquainted with; 177 they brought out the "moralist and not the romancer. . . and the public found the moralist less interesting than the romancer."^’

m ------McClure, 0£. cit.. p. 192.

The Stevenson-McClure relationship had always been mutually pleasant and profitable, but early in 1892 some difficulties arose that threw a lingering shadow across it. McClure, after agreeing to pay four hundred pounds for the serial rights to Stevenson's fifty-thousand story

The Beach of Falesa, began to hedge (he was trying to get his magazine started at the time and was financially hard pressed), and Stevenson, who was worried over money matters, grew impatient. On January 31» 1892, the author wrote to Baxter: "McClure is bothering about The Beach of Falesa, and as I want no bother, I have told him to take it or want it."^When McClure continued to stall,

— 9 5 ------Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

Stevenson (through Baxter) sold the story to the

Illustrated London News, but soon other troubles de­ veloped between the two, stemming from McClure's pre­ carious financial state. For one thing, he had not yet paid R. L. S. for the South Seas Letters, and the latter feared that he was going to lose his money — something 178 that he could ill afford to have happen, in view of his current heavy expenditures. Stevenson outlined the problem to Baxter:

I hope this is a privileged communication, but I must tell you I fear the solvency of the great McClure must be a-totter. This will leave me in a dreadful hole, for I have no idea my money will have been kept separate as he proposed; the thing is too Finkertonish for that. I can net a thousand pounds inside the year, and have Day id Balfour £~th.e sequel to Kidnapped which he had promised McClure_7 besides ready for sale, and besides there must be dropping profits on the Essays. Wrecker, and (perhaps, to the tune of shillings) on the Samoan War. But this leaves seven or eight monbTis to be crossed, and aweel I wot I cannae see the mere possibility o* the thing. It looks as if I might have to overdraw on you con­ siderably; it is merely impossible to stop our expenses here, and though I might reduce my staff, that would be unwise. . . . It is very annoying when X had got my house built and much of my plantation made, and everything so well balanced, to have another fellow*s care­ lessness rob me of my reward.96

3 5 ------Unpublished letter, March 30, 1892, Beineke Collection.

By May, McClure had arranged with Baxter to pay the amount still owing on the South Seas Xietters,^but in

w ------Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Baxter, May, 1892, Beineke Collection.

August he angered Stevenson again by attempting to back 179 out on the offer that he had made for David Balfour.

In forwarding a considerable portion of the novel to

Baxter, Stevenson took note of McClure's vacillation:

McClure has been behaving in a partic­ ularly annoying shilly-shallying manner. His own unsolicited offer was sixteen hundred pounds for serial rights. I am now done with the bargaining, and place it in your hands. In my belief, sixteen hundred is a fair figure and I should propose (while leaving you discretion) to refuse anything under fifteen hundred. Suppose Samuel to fail in reaching this figure, my advice would be to put the ’ " " serial rights in the hands of A. P. Watt, to whom, instead of your idea of sealed offers, I feel rather inclined to intrust those books in the future for which I have not otherwise arranged.

Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Baxter, August 11, 1892, Beineke Collection.

In September Stevenson signed a contract for the building of a new wing on his house at a total' cost of twelve hundred pounds, of which his mother was to pay 99 T five hundred pounds. “"He was also at that time the

Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Baxter, September 12, 1892, Beineke Collection. defendant in a libel suit brought by Arthur Claxton, a missionary whom he had criticized in "A Footnote to

History." Having received no recent statement of accounts from Baxter, Stevenson was deeply concerned about the 180 possibility of bankruptcy, and he wrote to Baxter author­ izing the lawyer to make any contracts or commitments necessary to keep him financially afloat. If Baxter thought he would find it difficult to meet the new ex­ penditures, and if he agreed there was a possibility that the law suit might be decided against Stevenson, the author wished

. . . to put myself entirely in your hands. In that case any bargain that you can find to make for me I will accept. If time be of its essence., try to get the time as long as possible; but if it has got to be short I shall have to fill the bill. Understand., any sort of work on any sort of terms and at any humanly possible period.100

100 Unpublished letter, Stevenson to Baxter, October 7, 1892, Beineke Collection.

Actually Stevenson's bank balance was in good shape, and the law suit was withdrawn, so no such drastic action was necessary, but his willingness to commit himself blindly to any sort of writing contract is significant: he was, of course, adhering to his conviction that a man's first duty is to pay his own way, but he was at that point perilously close to sacrificing completely his integrity as an artist.

McClure, when he discovered that Stevenson had turned

David Balfour over to Baxter for disposal, was sorry that he had not stuck to his bargain. On November 4, Stevenson 181 wrote to Baxter:

Apropos of David. Balfour, I received from McClure a letter re your telegram. It was in his worst — that is most ex­ cited incoherent and offensive — vein; I have answered it and give you here a few extracts from my answer. "If you are at all annoyed hy what has happened you must blame yourself. You were in­ capable during all these months of reach­ ing any definite and feasible arrangement with myself. I have had in consequence to hand you over to Mr. Baxter; and with him you must manage to agree as best you can. I ought not to close this without saying that the step taken by Mr. Baxter seems to me to have been highly proper for an agent in his position. I am far from thinking that you had any thought but to deal with me as generously as the circumstances permitted. I only know and direct your attention to the fact, that you have so managed to deal with me as t: at every mail in the last nine or ten months has been a fresh source of trouble, ambiguity and distress, and that I am determined there shall be no more of such unnecessary annoyanoe in my life."101

I c l ------Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

On December 1, Stevenson again wrote to Baxter on the subject of McClure:

I have had from McClure a copy of your correspondence with his brother which was nearly the means of my dissolution. Only I do want you to make two or three considerations. In the first place McClure is not a dishonest man, although his shambling hand to mouth expedients might any day trip him over the margin into the penitentiary. In the second place he has put a vast deal more money into my hand than ever I had before, his offers having 182

been the first thing to make me raise my charges. In the third place he is so far right in his description of the original bargain for David Balfour. He made that offer and t accepted it. What has led to the present trouble is some nine months of intolerable correspondence in which he tried to get all sorts of set offs for himself. In the fourth place I would advise you if possible to avoid actual hostilities with the little man, whom ;ou may still find useful.**2

102------Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

Stevenson, in offering David Balfour to McClure, was keeping his end of the bargain that had been made in 1887* but McClure was unable to make good on his original offer. However, he may have acted as Stevenson's agent in disposing of the serial rights to the Mew York

Sun. The novel was serialised in the Sunday Supplement of that pax^er beginning on December 11, 1892. The follow­ ing March McClure's name again appeared in the Stevenson-

Baxter correspondence. Stevenson had in hand a tale, the

Schooner Farallone (finally titled The Ebb-Tide). of about seventy thousand words, that he wanted Baxter to place as as serial:

The tale can be sent as soon as you have made arrangements; I hope to finish it in a month: six weeks, b-r the worst accidents, for certain. I should say that this is the butt end of what once was the Pearl hisher: which we had sold the rights of to the Mew York Ledger through McClure for fcloCo” This oargain 185

is off owing "to the blooming conduct of the Ledgerites: but McC., in rather a handsome way — he can be handsome, though as a business m.un he is a weasel, a suare and as annoying as the itch — maintained the offer. Under all the circumstances, it seems to me it would be right to let him have the refusal of it. But see: I had promised that my book v,ras to be as long as Kidnapped (in its old form it would have been longer than the V/recker) and in its present form I will not promise that It shall be as long as Treasure Island. This may make a difference. (there is a peculiarity about this tale in its new form: it ends with a conversion! We have been rather tempted to call it The Schooner Farallone; a tract by L*.”" " sui? • . • The x'ule of these matters is now in your hands; so I shouldn't stick my nose in, beyond posting you as to our position with kcClure. I suspect we are in honour, if not in fact, bound to him; and seeing the yarn has so changed and shortened, I should not be surprised if he wished some easing of terms* In that case, I would suggest leniency; between you and me, it's the kind of story that may very well disappoint — might even raise howls.^ 2

Y C * > ------This letter is a perfect example of Colvin's high-handed, and sometimes dishonest, methods of editing. He published part of this letter in Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 502-305* but orniIl:edThe section following the words "Pearl Fisher" and preceding the sentence which begins "ihere is a peculiarity," without indicating that he had left out anything. In the published version, the wording goes: "I should say this is the butt end of what was once The Pearl Fisher. There is a peculiarity about this tale In iis new form:" etc. Colvin dates this letter "February, 1893*" The actual date is March 1, 1893* Stevenson to Baxter, Beineke Collection.

McClure serialized The Ebb-Tide in his new magazine 184 from February to July, 1894 (it had appeared in England in To-Day, November, 1893, to February, 1894), In the meantime, other developments in America made Stevenson glad that he had not broken completely with "the little man*11 In April he was at loggerheads with the Scribners: he thought the royalties from The Wrecker inadequate, and he was generally displeased with their latest reports of his earnings. On April 16, 1893, Stevenson wrote a long letter to Baxter explaining his past relationship with the ocribiiers and expressing his determination not to let them publish any more of his books on a royalty basis:

. . * 'Why — now see, my profound wisdom in saying don't quarrel with the little man, Pimcerton alias McClure — I receive at last, after twice dunning, my accounts from Charles Scribner's Sons to February 1st, In this they plead guilty to having sold 2000 in sheets to Canada, for which they credit me &135* Then we approach the States and behold they have sold 4866 copies /"of The Wrecker / to fifty millions of people, who need to nave 10, 12, and even 13 editions of my books produced for them simultaneously: of course that was cut-throat overproduction; but 3 0 0 0 is not good enough. I propose never to be in account again with any born American* I shall write them that they must buy David Balfour outright (I trust the American copyright has been looked after properly) and if they won't come down with the dust, I'll try McClure. My whole income in the States came to 1720 £ pounds_7; I'll send you the document, though; not the individual slips, they are too bulky, and only annoy anyway. I have Just held a council of war with the result shown in the enclosed copy of 165 letter to Burlingame. I have reached this ultimatum with difficulty; I am not even sure that my position in the matter is wholly honorable; and I see I shall require to give you a pretty full history of my relations with Messrs. Scribner. My introduction to them was like a burst of sun light. At last I got some money from the States1 Under these circumstances, and there being no legal status upon either side, the business has gone on in the loosest possible manner. V/hen a new book was on the stocks, I mentioned it in the course of ordinary conversation; and when it was reaay they Drought it out. There has n-ver been a bargain signed between us, all v;as a matter of under­ standing. On the passage of the copy­ right bill I however wrote and announced that I required a higher per cent in royalty. This they granted for future works, apparently with the understanding (which was not wholly without justification) that any work already mentioned in our correspondence had been offered by me and accepted by them on the old terms. Legally therefore it would seem that I was quite free, and so were they — that I was quite free to take David Balfour where I please and they* to cease paying royalties on my past works. This is the least of my troubles — it appears they did not amount last year to more than a hundred pounds and this with exceptionally good sales of Across the Plains and A Child1s Garden. The point is, am I bound in honor? One tEing of two — either their returns are dishonest or they're publishers so incompetent that I should be a buzzard and a stock to let them wreck me longer. I am sure McClure would make a spirited offer for the copyright of D. B.; but what I would really like is to put TThat work in the hands of Mark Twain, to whom I shall write by this mail an obscure letter preparing him for a possible communication from you. The points you are to consider then are, 1st. Am I free in honor to shake the Scribners? 2nd. Suppose they do not offer a sufficient sum, should you try 186

McClure or Harper lor another sum down? or 3rd. Should we delay the book a little and put it in the hands of Mark Twain? For my own part I should be very pleased to get 1500 or even a thousand dovm — and there is no doubt that the money down would be welcome this year. For the future I think it would be well to get into relations with Mark Twain. His address is Hartford, Connecticut. I hope to goodness I have managed to get this out reasonably clear, my head being in a far from clear state. It should not be forgotten that it will be of advantage in the future to have Kidnapped and D. B. in the same hands — not of course“that I should profit directly, but always have in mind that the proper handling of an author's books as a whole is his best and really his only good advertisement. . . . I say, go gently with the Scribner question; it is a case of ca* canny! I believe.

X53------; Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection. Mark Twain's publishing firm failed on April 18, 1894. See Albert Bigelow Paine, Mark Twain. A Biography (Harper and Brothers, N. Y., 1912)7 II* 984.

Stevenson's "ultimatum" to Scribners read as follows:

My dear Burlingame:

You must have expected me to be shocked by the figures in your account to February 1st, and you will be quite prepared for a change of basis. It is too late of course to make any change as to Island Nights Entertainment; though I shal1 askyou to keep me informed as to its sales from time to time as you shall be able. In re­ gard to David Balfour please communi­ cate at your ear lie sib convenience with 187 Charles Baxter Esq., W. S. 11 South Charlotte St., Edinburgh, to whom I have now transferred my whole business and make him an offer of a sum down for the American copyright of that work. I think I should tell you that in England the Wrecker has already brought us in about $4,000. It may of course be impossible to do as well in the States; but my name is worth something, if only as an advertisement; and in view of the off ex's that I continue to receive from other persons, I should not think it fair to myself to sac­ rifice any more of my books upon such terms, and it would not be fair to you to allow you to suppose the contrary. I shall be glad to know.what arrange­ ments you made with Messrs. Cassell as to the sheets sold to Canada. To my present ignorance the affair seems of doubtful legality. But I have no doubt you can make this clear. I am

Yours sincerely,

Robert Louis Stevenson^^

— 155------Unpublished letter, April 16, 1895* Scribner office file.

Here was indeed a startling turn of events! That the copyrighted Wrecker should have sold only four thousand eight hundred and sixty-six copies between the time it was published (July 1, 1892) and the date of the accounts (February 1, 1893) was surprising, and

Stevenson, in view of the past sales of his books, may be pardoned for questioning the accuracy of the state­ ment that he had received from the Scribners. But, unless we charge the Scribners with dishonesty — a 188 suggestion that I cannot for a moment entertain — the fact remains that the latest novel by the most popular author of the day had been selling at the rate of less than a thousand copies a month. It is true that the story had been serialized in the States and that it had not previously been published in England -- that fact might account to some extent for the difference in book sales in the two countries, but it would not altogether explain the extremely disappointing sales in America.

Reviews of The Wrecker had not been bad. The Critic had carried a favorable notice while it was still appear­ ing as a serial. Andrew Lang was :.Luoted as being very much impressed by the novel, and the reviewer held that the chapters on life in San Erancisco were very true to life.1C^The Dial reviewed The Wrecker and Kiplinor's

— IDS------XL (October 10, 1691), 184.

Naulahka side by side and found Stevenson's novel to be much the better of the two. It was long, "but a good story cannot be too long. It was distinguished by

Stevenson's style and that "would bear up an,y kind of a story that he might choose to write." On the whole, said the Dial, The Wrecker was "the best storyJ of the season." "^^One wonders about those poor sales.

TD7------XIII (August, 1892), 104 189 Was it that Stevenson's popularity was on the wane, following the poor critical and public reaction to The

Wrong Box and the syndicated letters from the South Seas?

Perhaps, and yet easy generalizations will not serve -- the Scribners were soon willing to pay twelve hundred pounds for the American copyright to David Balfour.

They would not have offered so much had they been con­ vinced that Stevenson was completely out of favor with the public. Of course, David Balfour was a romance, the sequel to the highly popular Kidnapped, and its connection with the earlier book might be expected to promise popularity. While there appears to be no simple explanation for the comparative failure of The Wrecker,

I suspect that the American public had been disappointed in some of Stevenson's recent non—romantic fiction and in his letters on the history of the South Sea islands.

He was still admired as a romancer, but The Wrecker was not a romance. It was a long-winded mystery story con­ taining strong elements of realism: Pinkerton, after all, was a direct take-off on Sam McClure; and for his descriptions of bohemian life in Paris and of middle- class life in San Prancisco, Stevenson drew on his own experience. The novel was not in the tried and true escapist tradition. One might even hazard a guess that

Kipling's meteoric rise to fame had served to dampen interest in Stevenson, especially since the latter had 190 not stood forth recently in his customary role. In any event, for whatever reason, The wrecker failed to sell, and that fact led to important changes in the Stevenson-

Scribner relationship.

Early in June, Stevenson wrote again to Burlingame reiterating his determination to have nothing more to do with royalty arrangements in the States:

The sales of the Wrecker appear to me to be quite hopeless; they do not even admit of discussion; if this is all that can be made out of the States, good byeJ and yet, for advertising pur­ poses I must suppose there is still a • demand for my work — or perhaps it is my name. . . . The royalty farce is for me extinct. . . . Let me suggest, as I did in my letter, that your sale of sets to Canada is of a legality that wants looking into. Be so good as to do so, and let me hear the result. . . . My business arrangements are now cen­ tralized in the hands of Mr. Baxter, with whom you will henceforward deal entirely. I have retired from business, I wish I could,say pleased, but I will say content.

TUB------Unpublished letter, Scribner office file.

On July 19$ Stevenson wrote to Baxter again, re­ porting the Scribner offer for David Balfour and out­ lining his prospects for the coming months:

I have heard from Scribners; they are to offer M.200, which is quite sufficient and I am overjoyed to be so quit of the thing. I am still un­ fit to work, so cannot say what will come up first, or when anything may 191 come up. St. Ives. I know is last bound for a good few months, for I have come to one of my regular sticks in it. The Justice Clerk, /Hf/eir of Hermiston / the Young Chevalier, ancl another I I must not say any more upon that head, as I am always preparing fresh disappointments for you — I daresay from precaution I may as well send the cablegram to you, though the Scribners having climbed down makes it scarce necessary. But what a confession is their offer of £1200! I felt more them Justified in what I had done. I have had, as you know, and as you will see by their letters which I enclose, full enlightenment, a former alarm with them, in which I came off victor in a very fine style. They are still weeping over the business; but I care not: Dip them where Stenches flowl I am in hopes with this house off my hands and paid for; and The Island Nipdits — which however will scarce prove a great success, I see — and Catriona /"David Balfour 7 coming on, that t should live tiiis year within my means like a gentleman of leisure. We are in the thick of war — see Illustrated London News — we have only two outside boys left to us, nothing is doing, and per contra little paying. And I calcu­ late Island Nights Entertainment £200: Catriona in England : Catriona in the States £1200 —- £2000. Back rights and Island Niahts Entertainment in States? i ? Butboldly say, akout £2^00, altogether as including that Grimy Work The Ebb-Tide. £3000 or thereby. My ex­ penses are paid to May, I think. Eight months should not come to more than £1600, but call it £2000, and there can scarce fail to be a balance on the right side. This rainbow dream consoles me exceedingly. “

109 Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

The Scribners accepted with apparent good grace 192

Stevenson’s decision to eschew further royalty arrange­

ments in the States, though Burlingame advised him that

he was being unwise, that he was taking a step which,

in the long run, would cost him money. Stevenson, how­

ever, stood firm. "I am very glad to know our business

is satisfactorily settled," he wrote to Burlingame. "I

dare say you are quite right and I may be the loser; but

I am simply unable to stand another such disappointment

as The wrecker. While Stevenson seems to have accepted

^ ------Unpublished letter, August 14-, 18931 Scribner office file.

the Scribners' offer of twelve hundred pounds for the

American copyright to David Balfour as proof that they

had cheated him on the Wrecker royalties, a disinterested

person might interpret their action as evidence of their

faith in Stevenson's continuing popularity, despite the

poor sales of his latest novel. After all, no author

writes a best seller every time out, and Stevenson was

surely wrong in assuming that the American public would —

almost automatically, as it were -- buy in large numbers

any novel that he cared to write.

After Stevenson finished David Balfour (which he was sometimes inclined to think was about his best work,

though "for the top flower of a man's life it seems to 195 me inadequate")^^in the closing days of 1692, he an-

Stevenson to W. H. Low, January 15, 1894-, Letters to his Family and Friends. II, 581* nounced to Baxter that he was ready to begin work on

The Justice-Clerk / ^Weir of Hermiston 7 . which he ex- 112 pected to be his masterpiece; but he was twice ill

TT2------December 1, 1892, Ibid., p. 32?. in the spring of 1893 and- found it impossible to settle down to the business of writing a really serious novel.

Instead he returned to The Ebb-Tide. which had been laid aside months before, and finished it in June. There were numerous signs at about that time that he was fed up with writing commercial fiction and that he longed to do something better. He thought The Ebb-Tide too grim, too ugly and pessimistic, too realistic in the manner 113 of Zola. "The Ebb-Tide I make the world a present of,"

jT? Stevenson to Henry James, June 17* 1893* Ibid., P. 353. he wrote to Gosse; "I expect, and I suppose deserve, to be torn to pieces; but there was all that good work lying 114 useless, and I had to finish it." Haunted by fear that 194-

r c 5 ------June 10, 1895, Ibid., p. 34-9. his physical and creative powers were failing, anxious to earn as much money as possible so that his family would be financially secure in the event he should die or become unable to write any longer, he wac troubled also by his artistic conscience which told him that he had not made the most of his talent. He unburdened him­ self to Baxter: My dear old man, I perceive by a thousand signs that we grow old, and are soon to pass away; I hope with dignity; if not, with courage at least. I am myself very ready; or would be -- will be — when I have made a little money for my folks. . . . It is strange, I must seem to you to blaze in a Birming­ ham prosperity and happiness; and to my­ self I seem a failure.11-?

T33------July 19, 1893, Ibid., p. 358.

With his house paid for and with prospects bright for large earnings from work already completed, Stevenson was in a good position to turn his full attention to 7/eir of Hermiston; but he was tired and unable, for the time being, to muster the energy for the creative effort. In the summer of 1893, he busied himself with a history of his own family, and when he returned to fiction a few months later, it was to divide his time between Weir of 195 Hermiston and a historical romance, St. Ives. In the one he was aiming higher than he ever had aimed before; in the other he was aiming squarely at the American periodical market. If the first was to be his master­ piece, the second was intended to provide his bread and butter.

Stevenson's publishing affairs in America during the last year and a half of his life were complicated by his refusal to place any more books with Scribners on a royal­ ty basis. Ironically, he was not able to live up to his vow to have nothing more to do with royalties in the

States. The Scribners' purchase of the David Balfour copyright for twelve hundred pounds seemed to prove that

Stevenson had made a wise decision; but when The Ebb-Tide came up for sale they refused to bid at all, and Baxter was faced with the problem of finding another American publisher who would offer acceptable terms. He soon dis­ covered that he could not get his asking price for the copyright, and he was forced to entertain offers to pub­ lish the novel under a royalty arrangement. He could, however, obtain an advance payment and a higher royalty than Scribners had ever been willing to pay, and these conditions seemed to represent a clear gain for Stevenson; but the fact remained that R. L. S. had not been able to avoia the royalty system, as he had hoped and had sworn to do. There was another difficulty: the publisher whose 196 offer Baxter had accepted was McClure. Now Stevenson was dead set against McClure’s becoming his book pub­ lisher, and he so notified Baxter:

I am glad to hear you have arranged for the publication of The Ebb-Tide. Colvin (between ourselves) i s a Bit of an old wife and has so often predicted that a book would be my ruin in January, and by July defied me to do anything so good, that I have ceased to pay very much regard. I am sorry however, if I understand you right, for one point. You say 'McClure is giving two hundred down on a royalty of 20 per cent.' These are good terms but I had never meant McClure to be my book publisher. He was alv/ays begging me to give him a book; I always steadily refused to hear of it; and if he has told you something else he should be confronted with his lie. This is just to repeat my former error of disseminating my books among several publishers. I really mean to keep them all for the future in the hands of one; and I am not at all certain that I should not do better to give up my liberty openly, and sell myself outright to Cassells. You might think of this. I propose that you should take Mr. McClure in hand upon another matter. He is publishing for Fanny a series of articles for which he agreed to pay au fur et a mesure. I need scarce tell you we Have as yet received nothing. Not only that, but such of them as we have seen have appeared in a mutilated state with receipts, which were an essential feature, left out. Now I wish you to arrange with him on two points. First — money. My wife wishes to re­ ceive this money herself; and v/e had arranged with McClure to send it direct. That had better be changed. You will receive the money from him and send it on to here when it arrives. Second, as to the MS, we intend to produce them in book form when they have done appearing; 197 and it is abolutely essential, in view of his mutilated publications, that he should be reminded that he must finally produce the LIS entire. It is really a cookery book and he has published the plums and left out the cookery. I need not re­ mind you that I have a weakness for McClure, confound himi And I wish you to so about these necessary huntings with no more than necessary rigour. . • . I had fully intended sending you by this mail the first hundred pages of St. Ives. This cannot be owing to the infernal con­ duct of Charles Scribner1s Sons in not sending me a book. I estimate it at about 115*000 words. And some of it shall certain­ ly be sent to you next mail. I am puzzled as to the best method of disposal. I always had an idea of Scribners for St. Ives. Perhaps it might be well to try the Pall Mall Magazine or let Cassells have trie run of the whole thing if you think better.

Unpublished letter’, March 26, 1894-, Beineke Collection.

When Stevenson wrote that letter, The Ebb-Tide was in the second month of its run as a serial in McClure1s

Magazine, so there was still time for Baxter to withdraw from his agreement with McClure and to make other arrange­ ments for the publication of the story in book form.

Fortunately another American publisher was eager to get hold of the book rights to that novel. Herbert Stone, of the young publishing firm of Stone and Kimball, recent­ ly had written to Baxter on that very subject. On

February 27* Baxter had replied: 198

Edinburgh

Mr. II. S. Stone Messrs. Stone and Kimball Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Sir:

I am favored with your letter of the 14th instant regarding the American book rights of Messrs. Stevenson and Osbourne's new novel entitled Ebb-Tide. I am at present in negotiation witE another firm on your side, but if these negotiations fall through, it will give me pleasure to communicate with you. I may mention that we expect a large price down for the purchase of the U. S. copyright, as we do not wish to transact by way of royalty. . .

T T 7 ------Unpublished letter, Widener Memorial Library, Harvard University.

In April Stone and Kimball agreed to pa* twenty- nine hundred dollars in advance against a fifteen per cent royalty, later twenty per cent, for the American copyright of The Ebb-Tide. They also received first refusal rights to all future Stevenson books to be pub­ lished in the States. The agreement that Baxter drew up was complicated. The publishers could either offer an advance on royalties or permit Baxter to set the price. If they made an offer, Baxter was free to accept it or reject it if he thought he could do better else­ where. If they permitted Baxter to name the figure, the publishers had to take it or leave it. If they 199 refused to pay Baxter's price, then he was free to sell the copyright to another publisher. Stone and Kimball published The Ebb-Tide in July, 1894, in a cloth-bound book priced at $1 .2 5 . Pour printings, probably of fif­ teen hundred each, were issued in 1894 and 1895 .^^That

m ------Sidney Kramer, A History of Stone and Kimball and Herbert S. Stone ana Company, with a Bibliography ofTheir ^Publications. ' T8§5—1905 (Chicago, The Univer­ sity of Chicago Press, 1940), pp. 59-61. novel did not sell as well as The Wrecker. the sales of which had disappointed Stevenson so bitterly. Had he lived a little longer he no doubt would have realized that he had been wrong in suspecting the Scribners of dishonesty. The plaiii fact was that the American public did not get excited about the non-romantic fiction that

Stevenson wrote in his last years.

In the spring of 1894 Charles Baxter was planning to bring out a complete edition of Stevenson's works, and the question came up as to who should be authorized to print and sell the Edinburgh Edition in the States.

There was, of course, a question of copyright involved, and Stevenson was doubtful that the edition could be sold in America at all. However, McClure had evidently persuaded Baxter to let him handle the American end of the business. On May 18, 1894, Stevenson wrote to Andrew

P. Melville, who was working with Baxter: 200

I have the pleasure to acknowledge your memorandum and copies of corre­ spondence in the matter of the Edinburgh Edition. I certainly feel extremely gratified at the generous treatment I have received at the hands of my many publishers; and I hope I may trust you to convey to them the expression of my sentiments. One point strikes me as doubtful. I mean the sale to McClure. I suppose he may be trusted to understand for himself the terms of the late treaty; but according to my opinion, the edition is entirely excluded from America. But that is nothing. The question is, whether you have approached my copyright pub­ lishers Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons? And what these gentlemen have replied? I have been treated by them in a manner which leaves me very sore. I should not like to repay them in kind.11^

------Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection.

Stevenson simply could not get over his disappoint­ ment at the poor American sales of The Wrecker: never- the less, he was still willing to deal wiJ-h the Scribners on any but a royalty basis, and he had to yield on that point in connection with the Edinburgh Edition which they insisted on printing and selling in America. Actually he was satisfied to see them get the Edinburgh Edition, since most of his books were already in their hands.

During the last year of his life, Stevenson did not have much direct correspondence with the Scribners, but in

June, 1894t he received a letter from Burlingame renew­ ing an old proposition. Would Stevenson consider writing 201

a new series of essays for Scribner's Magazine? The

author replied on July 8:

My dear Burlingame:

You surprise me very much by your sudden recurrence to the old idea now four yeers old of a renewal of the series of essays. To tell you the truth I am afraid the time has gone by; I doubt if I could write essays now; I doubt, even if I tried, whether I should find I wanted to. On the other hand the idea has a certain attraction for me, and I do not quite care to refuse it on the spot. Your letter is a little ob­ scure -- on refreshing my memory I see triat you have not attempted to be defi­ nite; and I may say that any proposal which may come from you will receive prayerful consideration.120

I2B------Unpublished letter, Scribner office file.

Nothing came of this correspondence, but it is interesting

to find Burlingame malting this suggestion in the final months of Stevenson's life. It shows, I think, that,

despite the poor sales of The V/recker and The Ebb-Tide.

Stevenson's prestige was still high and that Burlingame realized another series of essays would be a prize for his magazine. There was something pathetic about

Stevenson's reply. He doubted that he was capable of recapturing the light and graceful style that once had been his distinctive trademark. He had earned a great deal of money since 1887* when he first tasted the fruits

of American popularity, but in the process of exploiting 202 his name and making the most of his financial opportun­ ities, he had sacrificed part of his talent, and he knew it. He was stirred momentarily by the challenge posed by

Burlingame, but, feeling as he did that his .writing days were nearly over, practical considerations were uppermost in his mind. His two novels in progress should pay better than any series of essays. In the same month that he received Burlingame's letter, Stevenson wrote to Baxter:

I feel as if I were near the end of my production. If it were nothing else, the growing effort and time that it takes me to produce anything forms a very broad hint. Nov/ I want all the money' that I can make for my family and alas for my possible old age which is on the cards and will never be a lively affair for me, money or no money; but it would be hideous humiliation to me if I had squandered all this money in the meanwhile and had to come for­ ward as a beggar at the last.121

------Unpublished letter, Julyr, 1894-* Beineke Collection.

The sands were running out. There was one more deal v/ith McClure, the little man whom Stevenson liked so well personally but who had caused him so much worry and vexation in the last half a dozen ; ears. McClure had been forced to pass up the serial rights to David

Balfour, but now, with his magazine launched and his financial situation improved, he offered to fulfill his original contract with Stevenson by paying sixteen 203 122 hundred pounds for the serial rights to St. Ives.

TZ2------McClure, o£. c i t ., p. 190.

Stevenson was more than satisfied with these terms; he

referred to the agreement in one of his last letters to

Baxter: "I have sent a most unappetising epitome of St.

Ives to McClure according to order. The price seems to

me exorbitant. But who am I to complain? But give unto

the flying hart! Conceive what a misfortune it would

be, and how we should bear the ridicule, if we broke 123 a publisher these hard times." y

------Unpublished letter, September 9, 1^94-, Beineke Collection.

On November 4, Stevenson addressed his last letter

to Baxter, who was then preparing to leave England on a

Journey to visit his friend on Samoa:

This will be my last letter to you until I shall have the pie asure of greet­ ing you at Apia. . . . It is quite plain, as you say, that the income I have lately received must be regarded as something?-quite illusory. At the same time, in consideration of the Edinburgh Edition and the exception­ ally large payments you have secured for St. Ives. I venture to hope that we may so arrange it as that my income from capital and royalties shall amount after a few years to not less than a thousand pounds. Now that the house is built, the road partly made, and water just about to be brought in, cacao planted 204-

out and doing well, Lloyd and I have been figuring up that it should be possible to live on twelve hundred a year. This would practically bring us to a bearing: a circumstance ex­ tremely desirable in my present con­ dition of health and mind. Not that I am ill, only that my digestion has quite taken leave of me in the mean­ time, and that for work I am literally and totally unfit• At the same time I am making a great effort to finish St. Ives anyhow, and I propose to send you by this mail twenty- two chapters of completed copy. If the publishers decide to begin publication, I take my courage in both hands and say they may; but I should infinitely pre­ fer, I need scarcely say, that they should await the coming of the end. It is a tragic thing, when you have done so well for me, that I should do so very ill for myself. . . . Your cablegram received, and I suppose I shall Just keep back St. Ives, but I will continue to try ancT*get on with it. The first duty is to try to feed my fam­ ily; it is only the second to publish chefs d 1 oeuvres. and the chef d 1oeuvre is now impossible; as much as I can hope for is to be readable, and not too in­ exact. This is rather a bitter pill that I have to swallow, but there 1 — it is done. • . .124

T 2 5 ------Unpublished letter, Eeineke Collection.

Shortly after writing that letter, Stevenson laid

St. Ives aside (with thirty chapters completed and five or six remaining to be written) and turned to Weir of

Iiermiston on which he was at work when he died on December

3, 1894. St. Ives was finally serialized in its unfinished form in McClure1s Magazine, running from Liarch.to November, 205 1897* Doubtless some adjustment was made on the original price that McClure had offered, but, in any event, the contract that he had made with Stevenson at Saranac Lake in 1887, was eventually fulfilled, Stevenson*s latest biographer, Mr. J. C. Furnas, has expressed the opinion that too much has been made of the author's sense of too heavy economic burdens in the last years of his life, 125 ^He was referring evidently

— 125------Furnas, ojo. cit., pp. 4-30-431.

to some remarks that Colvin made in introducing the final 126 group of letters from Samoa. I must say that I take

125------See Letters to his Family and Friends, II, 337- 339.

strong exception to Mr, Furnas' interpretation of

Stevenson's state of mind in 1893 and 1894. In the light of evidence contained in letters which I have quoted, I feel that not nearly enough has been made of Stevenson's preoccupation with financial matters. It is true that the fragmentary Weir of Hermiston has been judged by many critics to bear the stamp of greatness. I would agree that the work as it stands reveals the mature artist, firmly in control of his material, with a deep and sensitive insight into the psychology of his 206 characters, but if Belle Strong's account of Stevenson's plan for the remainder of the novel is to be trusted, he would have botched it in the end by tacking a hapjy end­ ing onto a tragedy. And he might have done just that as a concession to his popular audience.

In the last two years of his life, Stevenson was torn between a strong desire to recover his integrity as an artist, to make the most of his mature capabilities, and between an equally strong — if not stronger — desire to make the most of his financial opportunities before his popularity declined or his creative powers failed.

Time after time, he stopped work on Weir of Hermiston and concentrated his energies on inferior fiction (and incidentally fiction that was less oainful to write) because he knew that it would pay.

Furnas sa,; s, "His outcries in letters home about

'no rest but the grave for Sir Walter* appear to me like one form of rationalization of the strains produced in him by the emotional and aesthetic shifts taking place deep within him. "^^That is an interesting reading, but

1 5 7 ------Furnas, 0 £ c i t .. p. 451. it seems to me to ignore too many plain facts. Stevenson t behaved as though he meant exactly what he said. He continued to write the kind of fiction that he thought 20? would bring in the most money; he haggled with publishers, even going so far as to question the honesty of the

Scribners to whom he owed so much; he avidly pursued the almighty dollar in an effort to achieve financial security for himself and for his family. His willing­ ness, late in 1894♦ to permit McClure to begin publish­ ing St. Ives as a serial before he had finished writing it surely does not indicate that he was in the end more concerned with art than with money,

I believe that American popularity and the high prices that he could command in the periodical market were bad for Stevenson the artist. V/ho today reads The

Wrong Box, The Wrecker.or The Ebb-Tide? None but the true Stevenson enthusiast or the scholar. That portion of his work which has survived (the critical and moral essays, a few short stories, Treasure Island. Jekyll and Hyde, and Kidnapped) was all written before 1887.

True, there is Weir of Hermiston. which simply proves that, consciously or not, he had been giving less than his best in exchange for the big checks from America.

It is futile to inquire what Stevenson might have done had he held steadfast to the course that he had followed in his early years, that of devoting himself strictly to literature as art. Henry James finally turned his back on his audience to write his greatest novels. 208

Stevenson in the last six years of his life, when he should have been at the height of his creative powers, compromised his artistic standards. His immediate monetary reward was great, but the cost to literature and to his lasting reputation may have been greater. 209

STEVENSON'S CRITICAL RECEPTION IN AMERICA, 1886-1894

The main thing that he demonstrates, to our own perception, Is that It Is a de­ light to read him, and that he renews tnlB delight by a constant variety of experiment.

_ „ Henry James, Partial Portral ts (London, Macmillan and Company, 191917 P* 141. The essay on Stevenson was first published In Century Magazine, XXX.V (April, 1888), 868-879 •

Between 1883, when H. C. Bunner's Important criti­ cal article appeared in the Century, and 1886, when

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde made the whole country conscious of Stevenson’s name, his critical reputation In America had been steadily on the riBe. Treasure I si and, A Child1 s

Oarden of Verses, and More New Arabian Nights all hao been reviewed favorably in the periodicals. One critic, im­ pressed by the "airy grace and cleverness" of Treasure

I si and and by the "power of vivid description and lucid narrative" shown in More New Arabian Nights, voiced the hope that the author would shortly undertake a novel on a more serious note than any he had struck so far. "The result could not be otherwise than gratifying to his present admirers, and it would have the effect of giving a wider extent and firmer basis to a reputation that is 210 2 already very high.'* Another reviewer thought A Child 1 a

2 Critic, VI (June 27, 1885), 304.

(larden of Verses "fresh and delightful and sure not to disappoint the large constituency of children who have enjoyed his Treasure I si and ; while it has a literary 3 quality that will also hold his elder readers." These

3 N ation, AAAA (June 1 8 , 1885), 504. three books had furnished new evidence of Stevenson's versatility. Previously known in America primarily as an essayist and travel writer -- though he had one volume of short stories to his credit -- he had gained with

I eland and More New Arab!an NlghtB important recognition as a skillful and entertaining flctionlst.

In this latter role, of course, he was to win his highest fame; and In tnis role, too, he was most often to attract tne attention of the critics after 1 8 8 6 .

The widespread publicity given to Dr. Jekyll and

M r * Hyde made Stevenson a public figure, and suddenly both he and his books were newB. Thereafter, because he was popular, because he was colorful and led an ad­ venturous life, he was much written about in the news­ papers and periodicals. The material published about

Stevenson during the years from 1886 to 1894 may be 211 divided into three categories: (1 J articles or items concerning the man himself -- interviews with reporters, news of hie travels, his health, his literary activities, his life on Samoa; (2) routine book reviews in periodi­ cals and newspapers which had news value at the time they were published but which are of little importance as criticism; (3 ) serious book reviews which attempt to pass value Judgments on the work under consideration, ana the body of criticism per se• Admittedly the dividing line between the second and third categories is sometimes very faint. While the publication of a Stevenson book was always news, it was not in every case a literary event.

Some of hi a books were carefully reviewed and thoughtfully criticized, and some were not. Occasionally, in the ab­ sence of worthwhile critical opinion, I have had to depend upon routine notices for information, however Inadequate, about the reception of a particular book at the time of its publication.

One major surprise emerged from my survey of the periodicals. That was the discovery of the small number of general critical essays on Stevenson written by

Americans for the magazines during the years in question.

Book reviews and news itemB there were in plenty. There were numerous reprints of good articles by British critics -- American periodical readers were able to learn what William Archer, Andrew Lang, Israel Zangwill, 212

and Edmund Goase, among otherB, thought of Stevenson

as an artist -- but not many articles of similar scope

anc quality were produced by American criticB, a fact which I find rather remarkable in view of the plethora

of StevenBon criticism that appeared in America in the

years immediately following his death.

StevenBon was in his heyday as a popular romancer

during the years when W. D. Howells was vigorously pro­

pounding his theories of realism in fiction. He and

Howells were strongly opposed to each other's literary

philosophy; each had something to Bay about the other in

passing, yet the two never came squarely to grips in print,

one rather wishes that they had. A direct exchange of

ioeas between these two outstanding proponents of con­

flicting theories of literary art might have produced a

more precise definition of terms and a clarification of

the major issues Involved in the romance versus reed ism

controversy. Stevenson paid his compliments to Howells

in an epilogue to "A Humble Remonstrance," a defense of

romance written in reply to Henry James' essay "The Art

of Fiction." Both pieces had appeared originally in

Longman* s Magazine in 1884. When Stevenson included

"A Humble Remonstrance" in Memories and PortraltB (1887),

he added a Bhort section in which he took note of

Howells' recent excursions into the field of literary

theory in the "Editor's Study" of Harper* s Monthly t 213

Since the above was written another novelist has entered repeatedly the lists of theory; one well worthy of mention, Mr. W. D. Howells; and none ever couched a lance with narrower convictions. His own work and those of his pupils and masters singly occupy his mind; he is the bond-slave, the zealot of his scnool; he dreams of an advance in art like what there is in science; he thinkB of past things as radically dead; he thinks a form can be outlived; a strange immersion in his own history; a Btrange forgetful­ ness of the history of the race* Meanwhile, by a glance at his own works (could he see them witn the eager eyes of his readers) much of this illusion would be dispelled. For while he holds all the poor little orthodoxies of the day -- no poorer and no smaller than tnose of yesterday or to-morrow, poor and small, indeed, only so far as they are exclusive -- the living quality of much that he has done is of a contrary, I had almost said of a heretical complexion.

Stevenson went on to argue that Howells originally had a strong touch of the romantic in his makeup, that he had, in fact, written many books distinguished for their roman­ tic qualities, and that those qualities were the very ones which had most endeared him to his readers. Howells, in his realistic novels, was eager to be "centrally human,11 yet he hlmBelf, as poet, artist, and psychologist, had other passions and aspirations than those that he chose to draw in his books; *

. . . The obvious is not of necessity the normal; fashion rules and deforms; the majority fall tamely into the con­ temporary shape, ano thus attain, in the eyes of the true observer, only a higher power of insignificance; and the danger is lest, in seeking to draw the 214

normal* a man should draw the null* and write the novel of.society Instead of the romance of man.

5 ------“A Humble Remonstrance1,1 Memorles and Portraits, PP. 357-358.

These remarks of Stevenson's were possibly, though not

surely, inspired by Howells' criticism of Dr. Jekyl1 and

Mr. Hyde, which I shall discuss further on in this chapter.

In 1889 or 1890, Stevenson was again eager to enter

the lists against Howells; he disliked Howells anyway,

and hao ever since 1682 when he read A M o d e m Instance

and took it to be a preachment on tne evils of divorce.

Having recently married a divorced woman, Stevenson at

that time took Howells' views -- or what he thought were

Howells' views — as a personal affront, and he wrote 5 Howells an inconceivably rude letter telling him so.

5 Stevenson had invited Howells to visit him in France* but after reading the novel, he felt that he had to in­ form Howells that he was married to a divorced woman and that if the latter had any scruples about such matters the visit had better be called off. The letter ends: • . • "After the kindness you showed me in your own country and the sympathy with which many of your books have inspired me, it will be a sincere disappointment to find that you cannot be my guest. I shall bear up, however; for I assure you I desire to know no one who considers himself holier than my wife. With beBt wishes, however it goes* believe me* Yours truly,

Robert Louis Stevenson LIfe In Letters of William Dean Howells, ed. lAldred Howells (harden City, N. Y., Doubleday and Company, 1928), I, 284.

Later, In 1887, when Stevenson was In New York, he had

taken full advantage of an unexpected opportunity to In­

sult Howells. The romancer's behavior on that occasion was downright boorish. He later apologized to Mrs.

Charles S. Fairchild whose daughter was an Innocent par­

ticipant in the Incident. The letter which Stevenson wrote to M t b . Fairchild from Sydney brings to light an unknown episode in his relationship with Howells:

I have long felt that I shoulc apologize to your daughter for my unfeeling ana cruel rudeness to her at the St. Stephen's Hotel. When I left Mr. Howells to cool his heels in the lobby, no thought of her position as his guest crossed my stupid head. I was Indeed amazed; the situation found me quite unready; and I embraced, with enthusiasm, the opportunity of prov­ ing that I was not a gentleman. My dear Mrs. Fairchild, have you ever done the like? We are all human -- and I hope you have, for then you will be the more able to excuse a fellow blunderer. It is always harshness that one neg­ lects. I regret not having had Howells in and given him a cup of tea; even apart from the fact that (as I now see) he had forced my hand by coming with your daughter, and left me no decent right to refuse him. . . . On the whole I believe it was vir­ tuous not to receive Mr. Howells; but then, your daughter being there, It was fascina­ tingly rude. . • .°

Z ------September, 1890, Unpublished letter, Beineke Collection. 216

Here 1 b proof that Stevenson bore a lasting personal grudge against the alleged foe of divorce.

It was probably late in 1889 or early in 1890 that

Stevenson expressed to Burlingame a desire to have a go at Howells in print: "if Harper ever bursts into song, by Harper I mean Howells, you must let me see that, I pray you. I live in the light of the hope of a row with the Howells, for then I am sure I could show you the hue 7 of his bowels: but all in a Pickwickian sense."

- - - Unpublished letter, n. d., Scribner office file.

Evidently Stevenson did not often have an opportunity in the Pacific to read the "Editor1 s Study" in Harper* b .

If he had, he would have found Howells still holding forth as the champion of realism, and he would have found ample excuse to air his own artistic beliefs. It is to be regretted that the row that Stevenson longed for did not develop; It would have made an interesting, and perhaps valuable, chapter in literary history. Finally, in 1893#

Stevenson sought a reconciliation with Howells; the latter responded generously, and the two were on friendly 8 terms at the time of StevenBon*s death.

g ------See the letter from Stevenson to Howells dated July 8 , 1893# and the one from Howells to Stevenson dated September 2 5 , 1893, Life In Letters of William bean Howells. II, 37-38. 217

While the controversy over the relative merits of the realistic and romantic methods in fiction was in full swing during the years when Stevenson was at the height of his popularity, strangely enough, his books were not often singled out for attack by the realists, although a hostile, or condescending, attitude toward romance is sometimes implicit in the individual reviews.

Nor was there any clear-cut presentation of the case for romance in the periodical reviews of Stevenson1s books, though, again, some friendly critics revealed in their enthusiastic notices a strong partiality for romantic, as opposed to realistic, fiction. Whatever conclusions are to be drawn concerning the basic attitudes of

Stevenson's contemporary American critics toward the different theories of fictional method and purpose must be drawn, for the most part. Indirectly. There was no detailed critical analysis, in the m o d e m sense* The criticism was highly subjective. The impression one gets from the reviews of Stevenson's books is that most of the critics did not hold consciously or systematically to any particular theory of literary art. They knew that they liked or disliked a particular book, but very often they were hard pressed to say why. More than once, a critic, in writing a favorable review of a Stevenson book, confessed his Inadequacy by attributing the book's peculiar appeal to the indefinable "genius" of the author. 218

The compliment most commonly paid to Stevenson was

that he possessed an unusually fine style, yet one looks

in vain for a thoroughgoing analysis of that style which would enable the reader to understand clearly why the

critics thought it so fine* The book reviews and the

few critical articles published in the periodicals from

1886 to 1 8 9 ^ leave one with a general impression of

Stevenson's reputation as a literary artist, but tney

also leave one with the conviction that most of the

criticism, as criticism, left much to be desired.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and M r . Hyde,

Stevenson's firBt truly popular book, had a varied re­

ception among American critics: Borne treated it as an

important novel; others gave it mild praise; and at

least one misread the author's intent entirely. One of

the better reviews appeared in the Critic:

Headers of English magazines, during the last few years, can hardly have failed to learn that Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson is a good writer, and one who is able to turn out a story with both plot and style. They will hardly be prepared, however, for a book so strong in conception and so praiseworthy in execution as his Strange Case of Dr. J ek/11 and M r . Hyde. We do not deem it Just to the author to summar­ ize its plan and progress; but will simply say that it is an original and entertain­ ing piece of work, combining a French grace of execution with a distinctly Saxon ethi­ cal method. It is a bi t of art that sub­ serves a high moral purpose. Careless readers will say, in the hackneyed phrase of half read people, that it 'reminds one 219

of Poe,' but its construction is not that of the author of 'Ligeia' or 'The Fall of the House of Usher.' Poe had his method, a legitimate one, in which he won high and lasting success, but it is idle to compare Poe with Hawthorne, merely be­ cause both dealt with the abnormal or weird. If 'Ethan 3 rand ' be at one ex­ treme and one of Poe's best Btories at the other, Mr. Stevenson’s Strange Case follows in the Hawthorne line, because it offers both art and ethics in a remark­ able union. We commend it to that cele­ brated personage the 'Jaded novel reader,' and still more to those serious people who will read none but noteworthy novel s.^

9 VIII (February 6, 1866), 68.

The Nation called Stevenson “a true wonder worker, a wizard." In Jekyl 1 and Hyde, said the reviewer, he has demonstrated a rare ability to transcend the ordinary limitations of time, space, and the senses and to lure the unsuspecting reader into a willing acceptance of the fantastic. The oldest of all themes, that of conflict between good and evil, is dramatized so skillfully that the supernatural becomes believable. In his fearless and convincing handling of the supernatural and in his

"perfect sense of proportion which never permits exag- 10 geratlon or a distortion," Stevenson resembles Hawthorne.

10 XLII (March 4, 1886), 197.

Howells' opinion of the book was precisely what one 220 wtio was aware of his artistic bias would expect it to be. Jekyl 1 ano Hyde was the only one of Stevenson's novels to be reviewed in the "Editor's Study" and it is rather curious that Howells should have completely ignored the romancer thereafter. Was it that he cid not consider Stevenson's later booits to be worthy of notice?

Or was there perhaps something personal in his seeming complete indifference to the work of the hlgnly popular author? Might 1 1 be that this was Howells' way of taking gentlemanly revenge for tne gratuitous insult that he had suffered at Stevenson's hands at the St. Stephen's

Hotel? Or, if it seems unlikely that the placid Howells coulo be capable of even a mild vinalctiveness, might it not be that he hesitated to give Stevenson any excuse to heap further Indignities upon him? Howells was no brawler, and having twice been painfully exposed to

Stevenson’s vagaries, he may have shrunk instinctively, or refrained deliberately, from bearding the touchy and unpredictable lion in his den. When Howells ecited the criticism that he had first written for the "Editor's

Study" for republication In his book Criticism and

Fiction (I8 9 2 ), he retained two paragraphs from the paper in which he had written of L_r. Jekyl 1 and Mr. Hyde; but he deleted all mention of Stevenson and his romance. iiowells' editorial motives may have been, and probably were, practical and Impersonal, but the fact remains 221 that the few lines of mild praise for Stevenson that had appeared in the magazine are not included in the book.

Since the significance of Howells' remarks was BUbtly altered by this deletion, I restore the passage from

Critlci sm and Fiction to its original context:

The romancer cannot often be taken very seriously, we suppose; he seems commonly to be working out a puzzle, and at last to have produced an intel­ lectual toy; but Mr. Stevenson, who is Inevitably a charming and sympathetic writer and whom we first knew as the author of certain poems full of deep feeling and sincerity, does something more than this in his romance; he not only fascinates, he impresses upon the reader the fact that if we indulge the evil in us it outgrows the good . The lesson is not quite new, and in enforcing it he comes dangerously near the verge of allegory; for it is one of the hard conditions of romance that its personages starting with a parti pri s can rarely be characters with a living growth, but are apt to be types, limited to the expression of one principle, simple, elemental, lack­ ing the God-given complexity of motive which we find in all the human beings we know. /~In the book Howells omitted everything down to and including the word 'allegory.' He prefaced the state­ ment following 'allegory' with a few word b in order to gain continuity: 'Of the finer kinds of romance, as distinguished from the novel, I would even encourage the writing, though it is oneof the hard conditions of romance’ etc ._7 Hawthorne, the great master of the romance had the Insight and the power to create it anew as a kind in fiction; though X am not sure that The Scarlet Letter and the Blithedale Romance are not, strictly speaking, novels rather than romances. They do not play with Borne old supersti­ tion long outgrown, and they do not invent a new superstition to play with, but deal 222

with things vital in every one's pulse* I am not saying that what may be called the fantastic romance -- the romance that descends from Frankenstein rather than The Scarlet Letter -- ought not to be. On the contrary, I should grieve to lose it, as I should grieve to lose the pan- tomine or the comic opera, or many other graceful things that amuse the passing hour, and help us to live agreeably in a world where men actually sin, suffer, and die. But it belongs to the decora­ tive arts, ana though it has a high place among them, it cannot be ranked with the works of the imagination -- the works that represent and body forth human ex­ perience* Its ingenuity can always afford a refined pleasure, and it can often, at some risK to itself, convey a valuable truth *11

11 See Harper* s Monthly, LXXII (May, 1886), 972-973* See also W* B. Howells, Cri tic ism and Fiction (N. Y*, Harper and Brothers, 18927, P P • 115-11^"*

Now it is true that Howells, in writing this piece for the "Editor's Study," used Dr. J ekyll and M r * Hyde as a peg to hang some general comments on; but it is also true that the passage published in Critlclsm and Fiction, which seems to be entirely generalization, was originally intended to be a specific, if Indirect, criticism of

Stevenson's romance. By editing out all reference to

Stevenson, Howells changed his original focus; in the book the passage loses the sharpness and immediate rele­ vance as criticism that It had in context in the magazine

In context, Howells' remarks constitute the soundest critical Judgment passed on J ekyll and Hyde, from the 223 point of view of the realists, at the time the romance

was put! ished •

Stevenson's next novel. Kidnapped, was praised by

the reviewers, but mostly In general terms. One critic

pronounced it to be "a roman d 'aventure -- not in the

manner of Dumas, but realistic in the Bpirlt of Defoe;

and it contains, I am pleased to think, a certain amount

of work which surpasses, in humanity and the capacity of 12 producing emotion, everything Mr. Stevenson haB yet done."

_ . Critic, IX (July 17, 1886), 31*

A few weeks later the same critic elaborated upon

ni s earlier statement. For "peril and circumstantiality,11

he said, he had not seen a more Defoe-like book for a

long time. Kidnapped was a thrilling adventure story

skillfully told, filled with hair-breadtn escapes and

exciting episodes, and the bits of vivid landscape- drawing were as clear "as the work of an etcher1 b neeole."

Some of the language appeared to be a bit too modem for

the year 1751, but, that was a minor fault, more than made

up for by the "wealth of racy detail, the vigorous

character drawing, and the effective realization of

Scotch life and scenery in the last century." David

Balfour was like Robinson Crusoe "in brawn and bravery

if not in resources and Ingenuity." Both were castaways; 224 both struggled brilliantly against evil fortune; both came off victorious in the end:

David runs through his brief island epic with the blood of youth all a-bubble in his heart; Robinson is the great martyr of the seas, the OdysBeus of m o d e m times. Both eventually 'come into their kingdom,' but the route to that c on sumati on is dif­ ferent. All who read Kidnapped will re­ joice in its graphic realism, its hearti­ ness of touch, its 'eerie power,' as James Payn has it, and its incontestable genius.-*-3

13 Cri tic. IX (August 28, 1886), 100.

In comparing Stevenson favorably to Defoe, to

Hawthorne, and to Poe, American critics were paying him no mean compliment. It is clear that Stevenson was rapidly gaining an enviable reputation. Reviews such as the one

JUBt quoted have a certain historical importance: first, because they furnish evidence of Stevenson's growing prestige; second, because they are good examples of the routine criticism of the period . As criticism, however, the value of such reviews is limited, because they seldom go far enough. The reviewers are too soon content; they do not proceed beyond generalities to a real analysis of the work under consideration. If Stevenson's romances and adventure stories are worthy of praise, they are worthy not because they are second-rate Hawthorne or

Poe or Defoe, but because they are first-rate Stevenson; not because they are reminiscent of other romances and 225 adventure storieB but because they are, In some respects, unique. Not all the critics stuck at thiB point, of course. R. H. Stoddard was one who took an additional step in the right direction when, in a short article on Stevenson, he attempted to name the author's special qualities as an artist:

There is something in his work, precisely what it is not easy to say, which engages and fixes the attention from the first page to the last, which shapes itself before the mind's eye while reading, and which refuses to be forgotten long after the book which revealed it has been closed and put away. . . . The quality by which Mr. Stevenson is chiefly distinguished, and which differ­ entiates his writing from the story writ­ ing of the period, is imagination -- the power of creating characters which are as real as creatures of flesh and blood, and of devising and shaping events which are as inevitable as fate- Beyond all the writers of his time he is remarkable for clearness and accuracy of vision; he seems to see, and we believe he does see, all that he describes, and he makes all his readers see likewise* How he accomplishes this last feat, which is a very uncommon one, we have never been able to discover, for on returning to a scene or a chapter which has impressed us deeply, which has sent the blood tingling through our veins, or has darkened our souls with foreboding, we have always failed to detect the secret of his power. It can hardly be in hlB language, which is always of the simplest, nor in the feeling that he depicts, which is always natural, and often common; but it is there all the same. ^

T 5 Critic, X (March 12, 1887), 130* Reprinted from the Mall and Express. 226

But here again we feel that the critic comes up short.

At precisely the point where analysis ana demonstration

are called for, he throws up his hands and admits defeat.

In 1866 and 1Q87 American critical opinion was more nearly unanimous in assigning Stevenson a high rank among living writers than it was ever to be again. Four of

his books, in those two years, came in for extravagant praise: Lr. Jeky 11 ana Mr. Hyde. Kidnapped , The Merry

^ en, and Familiar St u d es of Men and Books. The

Stevenson vogue was in full swing: he was the idol of a

vast public and was, in the eyes of many critics, literature* s brightest hope* What might not be expected

from a writer of such varied talents and hign technical

skills as he already had displayed? Stylist, moralist, brilliant romancer, short-story artist, and essayist , composer of charming light verse -- he bolstered the faith

of conservative critics and readers In the cherished values and ideals of the old established literary traditions.

And when the critics trotted out superlatives to des­ cribe his acnievements and his qualities as an artist, when they dared to declare him the equal -- in some reB- pects the peer -- of various master writers of the past, when they predicted that still greater work was yet to come from his pen, there was scarcely a dissenting voice

to be heard . As each succeeding book revealed new facets of his remarkable talent, critics became Increasingly 227 convinced that Stevenson was an original literary genius, deserving of the highest praise, and destined to rank with the great authors of the past. As one critic, in reviewing The Merry Men, put it:

People who mourn the Intellectual degen­ eracy of this age and deplore the decrepi­ tude of the times are liable at any moment to be rudely shaken out of their illusions and confronted with the indignant truth. Just as the 1 twilight of the poets' -- and of the novelists seemed at hand, and a spindling intellectuallsra or a feeble photography of feeble folk indicated the inevitable night, lo'. inexhaustible nature reasserts herself, ’scats'.' the romancing manikins with a flash of derision, and re-erects the sovereignty of genius and the power of human originality. Delivered over hand and foot as we were to the romanc­ ing metaphysicians or to the vulgar versa­ tility of the genus tin-type (alia realism), we seemed on the brink of a hopeless intel­ lectual decline from which all elements of freshness had departed. The outlook over the novellstic field was autumnal, and one saw little but withered leaves or blighted fruit scudding before the wind. But how wonderfully, sometimes, when an old lemon tree is about to yellow and expire, there peeps up from its rotting base a clever shoot -- at first diminutive, delicate, audacious withal; then bolder, larger, greener; then vivid with the expiring life of the old tnink; then brilliant with leaf and sap and running juices; lastly, crowned with lemon-stars and golden sacs stored with the hidden genius of the plant'. Miracle of miracles'. A renaissance has taken place, and the honor of the race has been saved . So, one cannot help thinking, on read­ ing this remarkable volume of short stories by Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scotchman who remindb us strongly of both Poe and Hawthorne without being either.

The qualities that the reviewer most admired in Stevenson 228 were hi 8 phenomenal power of language, his keen Imagi­ nation, and his gift of "realism, which brings before you a scene in the heart as powerfully as a physical landscape*" "Markheim" was a study of conscience so ter­ rible that one could not read it without a shudder.

"The Merry Men," "The Treasure of Franchard," "Thrawn

Janet," and "Will o' the Mill" were all fine stories, but the finest of all was "Olalla*" In that tale were

Spanish grace and guile, the decay of an ancient house, as superbly rendereo as in 'The Fall of the House of Usher* ' We meet in Ruskln alone a similar aptitude for description; and along with this goes a wondrous power of winding into the en­ trails of a subject, slipping betwixt ltB closest grooves, laying bare its most deli­ cate anatomies, peeping and peering into its skeleton closets and hidden crannies, which, it is safe to say, no contemporary writer possesses* * * • Stevenson has evidently been influenced by Poe, and by Hoffman, too, -- who is not who meddles with the supernatural? But this influence is not imitation: it is affinity.1-*

15 Critic, X (April 16, 1887), 188.

Another reviewer of the same book finds only 3-eorge

Eliot's Tito Melema to be comparable in drawing to

Markheim, and Stevenson* b character loses nothing in the comparison because of his creator's force and brevity.

"For grip of the vitals of humanity he /~Stevenson_7 is CJeorge Eliot's successor and only peer." If

Stevenson, perhaps, lacks Eliot's learning, he is, 229 at the same time# unhampered by her pedantry, and he promises to surpass her as a teacher. Stevenson has learned the knack of never using a weak or superfluous word ; he seems not to speak at all until the right word springs to his lips. Other critics, says this reviewer, would do well to appreciate that Stevenson's outstanding tral t is his consci entl ousness. They should realize that he i s primarily concerned with meaning ano truth in charac­ ter and that sin;$ularity of incident and picturesqueness are of secondary importance to him. Such realization

"might arrest the flow of talk about his weirti, fantastic imagination, his poetical style, his likeness to Toe and other purveyors of literary hashish dreams." Stevenson's style 1 s as close as possible to the personal prose narra­ tive. A clever narrator would tell these stories almost exactly as they are written, his metaphors and similes are apt* and he uses them sparingly. "His language is vivid and impressive, because it is accurate, acutely cescriptive of his scene or character, perfectly eluci­ dating his thought. Every word of his tells. . • .

In the art that appeals to the imagination alone, Poe towers above Stevenson; in the art that stirs the soul, moving men to stretch out feeble hands to good for good's 16 saxe, Poe sinks beneath comparison with Stevenson."

Nation, XLIV (May 19, 1887), 429-430. 230

Other reviews of The M erry Men were equally flatter- 17 ing to the author. Obviously his critical reputation was

17 See the Dial, VII (April, 1887), 292. keeping pace with his rising popularity. There wae no tendency on the part of the critics to belittle

Stevenson's artistic accomplishments simply because he was popular. Discriminating readers were as enthusias­ tic about him as were the masses. If to the latter he was primarily an uncommonly fine Bpinner of exciting yams, to the former he stood for high literary excel­ lence, and to admire Stevenson was in no way to display an inferior taste. 'The critics definitely and honestly held hi in in high esteem, and I must take serious excep­ tion to Leonard Lutwack's criticism of Henry James for writing a laudatory essay on Stevenson.

It is Lutwack's contention that James, like other critics of the time, yielded to the Journalistic spirit wiien he wrote critical essays for the magazines and that he sometimes bestowed praise on authors who were unde­ serving of praise -- that he was not, In other words, above compromising his own «high critical standards.

"Nothing else," says Lutwack, "could explain his

/_ Jaraesy essays on Stevenson, Kipling, and 3-eorge Du

Mauri er, who were the subjects of many articles only 231 because they were riding the crest of a popularity which 18 James, of all people, must have known was undeserved." _g Leonard I. LutwaCK, The Dynamica of C onservative Critic! am; Li t erary Cri tlcl sm in Ain eric an Magazines, 1880-1900. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Ohio State University, pp. 281-28 2.

It seems to me that Lutwack is here guilty of a histori­ cal fallacy. He assumes that James should have Judged these writers as they have been Judged by some m o d e m critics, that an artist of James' stature could not possi­ bly have found much to admire in the work of these authors who have been relegated to positions of relatively minor importance by recent literary historians. Furthermore,

Lutwack seems to say that the popularity of Stevenson,

Kipling, and Du Mauri er was undeserved because they were not, from a modem point of view, major literary artistB -- a proposition which certainly proceeds from a false premise.

I woulo be the last to argue that the periodical criticism of the 'eighties ana 'nineties was remarkable for its uniformly high quality: much of it was Journalistic in nature -- superficial, glib, lacking in style, perception, and sensibility. But, on the other hand, some critical articles of permanent value were published in the maga­ zines during that period. In my opinion, James* essay on Stevenson is one of these. In any event, it will not do to challenge the sincerity of reputable men of letters 232 who wrote criticism for the periodicals at that time simply because what they wrote does not conform to our preconceived notion of what they should have written.

The fact that we may not agree with their Judgments does not lessen the historical value (nor necessarily the critical value) of their efforts, nor does it mean that they were deliberately playing up to their audience at the expense of their own integrity; it simply means that critical criteria and methods have cnanged and that history has written a different verdict. In 1887, many thought­ ful and sensitive readers and critlcB, British and

American, were firmly convinced that if Stevenson was not already a literary artist of the first ranx he was certainly destined to be. And who can say, on the basis of his performance up to that time, that they were com­ pletely unjustified in holding such an opinion. Only later did Stevenson's limitations become apparent, and then they were duly noted by the critics. Even so, Weir of

Hermlston is proof that tne limitations were, in large measure, imposed by external circumstances and that they were far more apparent than real. Stevenson's prestige declined somewhat and his lasting reputation has suffered because, after 1887, he commercialized his talent in an effort to caBh in on his popularity; he thus failed, in tne final six years of his life, to live up to hiB earlier high promise- Had Stevenson died in 1887, he might today 253 occupy a more Important position in literary history than he does. He might very well be remembered as an artist of large talents who was cut off just when he

seemed to be on the verge of true greatness.

It is significant that James' essay on Stevenson was written in the fall of 1887, before Stevenson, tempted by the large offers made by Scribners and McClure, began

to write directly for the American periodical market.

Ana, in view of the turn that Stevenson's career was about

to tax©, there is a certain irony in one of the first im­

portant points that James makes. Stevenson is, says James,

above all a writer with style, a conscious artist in a a ay when conscious artistry is not fasnionable:

How few they are in number and how soon we could name them, the writers of English prose, at the present moment, the quality of whose prose is personal, expressive, renewed at each attempt'. The state of things that one would have expected to be the rule has become the exception, and an exception for which, most of the time, an apology appears to be thought necessary. A mill that grinds with regularity and with a certain commercial fineness -- that is the image suggested by the manner of a good many of the fraternity. They turn out an article for which there is a demand, they keep shop for a specialty, and the business is carried on in accor­ dance with a useful, well-tested pres­ cription. It Is just because he has no specialty that Mr. Stevenson is an indi­ vidual, and because his curiosity is the only receipt by which he produces. Each of hi b books 1b an independent effort a window opened to a different view.^9 234

19 Partial Portraits, p. 142.

Stevenson cares greatly for his phrase, says James,

as every self-respecting writer should, but he cares

more for life, and the part of life that he cares most

for is youth. His passion for the youthful period of

life, coupled with his passion for style, makes his work

highly original. He has a rare talent for giving mature

expression to youthful sentiments. "He is an artist

accomplished even to sophistication, whose constant theme

is the unsophisticated." In Kidnapped he treats so

seriously and with such ilpe artistry the lcea of a boy's

romantic acventures that it "becomes a matter of universal

relations." Alan Brecx, that wonderful combination of

courage and swagger, is a figure wortny of Scott at his best. He 1 s Stevenson’s finest character creation, being

"at bottom a study of the love of glory, carried out with

extreme psychological truth." Just as Kidnapped is the

best of Stevenson’s longer stories, "Thrawn Janet," a

masterpiece of gruesome supernatural anecdote, is the best of the shorter. But Stevenson 1b , despite his

occasional practice of the gruesome, a frank optimist who loves life and doss not shrink from the responsi­ bility of recommending it.

Stevenson defends the romantic in principle and 235

pursues it in practice. "The triumphs that are to be

won in the portrayal of the strange, the improbable,

the heroic, especially as these things shine from afar

in the credulous eye of youth, are his strongest, most

constant incentive." That is not to say that he always writes boys' books. Neither Prince Otto nor Dr. J ekyll

and Mr. Hyde is a boy's book. The former Is an experi­

ment in style in the manner of George Meredith; the latter

is an experiment in mystification, but it is, at the same

time, an imaginative production on the enalesely interest­

ing subject of war in the members. It 1b , says James,

a masterpiece of concision. Its excellence lies not so

much in the profundity of the idea as in the extremely

successful form in which it is presented. "There Is a

genuine feeling for the perpetual moral question, a fresh

sense of the difficulty of being good and the brutishness

of being bad; but what there is above all is a singular

ability in holding the interest."

Treasure Island, on the other hand, is a boy’s book

"in the sense that It embodies a boy's vision of the

extraordinary•" It is not only an ideal adventure story, written with spirit, skill, and humor, it Is also a

study of young feelings. John Silver is one of the most

picturesque and genially presented villains in romantic

literature. The book "will surely become -- it must

already have become and will remain -- in its way a 236 classic: thanks to this Indescribable mixture of the

prodigious and the human, of surprising coincidences

and familiar feelings."

Kidnapped suggests to James that Stevenson is

taking a fresh start toward a more serious type of writ­

ing than any he hao tried in the past. Although the story

originally appeared in a boy's magazine, it is too liter­

ary to have been addressed to immature ininds. The

miserly ole uncle I s a weak villain; he is a stock charac­

ter in an outworn tradition. In drawing him, Stevenson

was thinking too much about what a boy's story is ex­

pected to contain. One other weakness is that the tale

stops without a proper ending. But "five-sixths of the book deserve to stand by Henry Esmond as a fictive auto­

biography in archaic form." James approves of Stevenson's

nandllng of the English and Scotch lalome, ana he finds

tne central portions of the novel, with their life, humor,

and color, memorable for their pictorial quality. The great superiority of the book, however, lies "in the

fact that it puts two characters on their feet with ad­ mirable rectitude." Alan Brack is a masterpiece, a genuine

study in extravagant traits, and the author's touch is genial. Ironical, truthful, exaggerating nothing. The quarrel on the mountain-aide between Alan Breck and

David Balfour 237

Is a real stroke of genius, and has the very logic and rhythm of life; a quarrel which we feel to be Inevitable, though it is about nothing, or almost nothing, and which springs from exasperated nerves and the simple shock of temperaments. The author's vision of it has a profundity which goes deeper, I think, than Doctor J ekyll. I know of few better examples of the way genius haB ever a surprise in its pocket -- keeps an ace, as It were, up its sleeve. And in this case it endears itself to us by making us reflect that such a passage as the one I speak of is in fact a signal proof of what the novel can do at its best, and what nothing else can do so well* In the presence of tnis sort of success we perceive its immense value. It is capable of a rare trans­ parency --it can illustrate nurnan affairs in cases so delicate and complicated that any other vehicle would be clumsy. To those who love the art that Mr. Stevenson practices he will appear, in pointing this Incidental moral, not only to have won a particular triumph^but to have given a delightful pledge.

20 Ibid.., pp. 173-174.

ThuB James ends with the hint that greater novels than kidnapped may be expected from Stevenson in the future. I have attempted here only to indicate the gen­ eral tone of the essay and to point out, in a very sketchy fashion, a few of James' reactions to some of Stevenson's individual works. There is much in the essay, Including critical comments on other booxs ano stories of Stevenson's and remarks on the theory of the novel, that I have not touched upon at all. But it will be clear, I trust, 238 from the samples of James' thought and expression here contained, that his essay represents a careful subjective analysis of Stevenson's art. It is friendly, to be sure, and yet it claims no more for Stevenson than was his due.

In my opinion, James understood Stevenson better, and was more successful in defining the essence of his art, tnan any otner critic of the time. Stevenson himself, wno was no mean Judge of his own work, thought that

James had caught him exactly, frailties, idiosyncrasies, 21 and all.

21 ‘ ~ ~ " Stevenson to James, October, 1837, Lett ere to his ^amlly and Frl ends, II, 84.

Throughout 1887, the periodical reviews of Stevenson's books were uniformly good. Whan Familiar Studies of Men anc Books was published in June of that year, tne critic for the Dial noted that Stevenson's American aucience was growing rapidly and that, one by one, all of hlB less familiar works were being reprocucea on this sloe of the Atlantic. The reviewer pronounced Familiar

Studl es to be, perhaps, Stevenson's most serious con­ tribution to literature. The style of these essays is above ordinary criticism, but even more praiseworthy than their diction Is their admirable sani ty. "The author has a healthy instinct for everything that is fine in life or thought, and no conventions blind him 239 in hi e appraisements. Nor coee he allow his personal preferences to bias his Judgment." Three of the essays -- those on Walt Whitman, Francois Villon, and Victor Hugo's romances -- the reviewer selected for special commenda­ tion. They are "models of what essays ougnt to be: sympathetic but not blindly so, resolutely but not ob- 22 trusively unconventional ."

22 VII (June, 1887), 44.

In Lecember of the same year, the publication of

Memorles and Portraits inspired a new general appraisal of Stevenson In the Cri tic. The fact that he hao al­ ready produced seventeen books, though he was only tnirty- eight, was held to be proof of his Industry, and among those books were many masterpieces which testified to nis amazing versatility:

The number and variety of his works are in themselves food enough for wono er, par­ ticularly if his ill health be taken into account; but what is left to say when we consider that not one of his many volumes contains a careless, an inartistic line -- that with an imagination as vigorous as Scott's, a faculty of character drawing almost as powerful, greater skill in the technique of the art of narration, and diligence no less extraordinary than that of the Wizard of the North, are Joined a precision and beauty in the use of English as notable as those of the eighteenth- century essayists, and a poetic quality of thought and flexibility of style which those essayists lacked. Mr. Stoddard 240

seeks to account for Mr. Stevenson by saying that he is 'a man of genius.1 This I s a convenient begging of the whole question; but it is what all his critics must come to. ^

23 XI (Leeember 17, 1887), 309-310.

In the same month there vae a long critical article on Stevenson, by Sophia hlrx, in the Atlantic Monthl.y a tnoughtful, appreciative piece, written with a certain amount of restraint and objectivity. If the author offered no startlingly original interpretation of Stevenson, she at least attempted to write a careful criticism of the body of his work, something which few critics of the time triec to do, and I mention the article primarily on that account.

Stevenson's critical reputation was never brighter tnan it was in 1 8 8 7 and the early months of 1 8 8 8 . Henry

James' essay, written the preceding fall, was published

In the Century in April, 1888, and it was, in a way, a valedictory to Stevenson's career as an Independent and uncompromising artist- He was, by that time, in the midst of his series of essays for Scribner* b Magazine; he had finished writing the first few chapters of The Master of

Ballantrae. which was to be published as a serial in the same periodical; and the resurrected Black Arrow was even then being serialized in McClure's newspaper syndicate. 241

Tine publication of The Black Arrow as a book, in June,

1888, added nothing at all to hi s reputation. Although

the Critic praised it highly as a boy's book, calling it 24 as charming as Treasure I siand, many reviewers passed it

24 “ XII (June 23, 1888), 303-304.

off with a few perfunctory remarks. The Llal ran a brief note on the book, with rather nasty implications, under

the sub-heading "Mr. Stevenson Makes Grood Use of his

Material" :

The story now published as The Black Arrow has already done two-fold duty as a serial: first In an English maga­ zine, and then in a number of American newspapers. The changed title under which it now appears should not be allowed to deceive anyone. We trust the author has no share in this dis­ creditable device- 5

25 IX (July, 1888), 68.

It will be recalled that McClure had syndicated the

romance under the title The Outlaws of Tunstall Forest

in order to forestall the pirates. Stevenson had had nothing to do with the maneuver, but it is easy to see

how the suspicion arose that someone -- either author or

publisher, or both -- was trying to foist the old tale

off on the public as a new work.

1888 was a rather dull year for Stevenson criticism, 242 because the author produced very little for the critics to write about. The wid el y -publicized M aster o f dallantrae began its run as a serial in Scribner* a in

November, amid numerous predictions that it would rival 26 Kidnapped in popularity, but it would not be available

2 5 ------See Publlshers* W eekly, XXXIV (October 15, 1888), 555 • in book form for many months. Plratea editions were pub­ lished of The Ml sadventures of John Nlchol son and The

Si 1 verado Squatters; Roberts Brothers brought out a new illustrated edition of Treasure I aland; but aside from

The Black Arrow, the only "new" Stevenson book was

Picturesque Notes on Edinburgh (Macmillan and Company), which had first been published in London in 187b# and that book drew no important critical comment. In short,

Stevenson’s reputation remained on the same high level where it had been placed by Kidnapped, The Merry Men, and the various books of essays. If The Black Arrow did not improve his reputation, that romance did not detract much from it. Cri Lies continued to predict that

Stevenson would one day write a novel greater than any he haa written in the past. At the end of the year,

W. L. Falconer concluded hie laudatory critical article on this familiar note: 243

With a concentration of these qualities that we have touched on, could not a novel truly epic in character be written? With a scenic setting as finely done as that of The M erry Men; with plot and adven­ ture as enthralling as those in T reasure I Bland or The Black Arrow; with the sympathy and finesse in handling charac­ ter shown in the 'Treasure of Franchard1 and 'Fleemlng Jenkln'; with the subtle perception of the realities that lie be­ hind phenomena shown in some of his essays; and with a motive as keen and to the point as that in Dr. J ekyll and Mr * Hyd e al 1 clothed In Stevenson1 s pure and pic­ turesque English, what a romance could be written*. . . . Steven eon has not yet written his epic.*'

27 Critic, XIII (December 29, 1833), 323-324.

In March, I8 0 9 , there appeared in the C rltlc an interesting article on the universality of Stevenson’s populari ty:

The public and the critical are but sel­ dom of the same mind; when they do agree, their unanimity Is wonderful. As an illus­ tration of our author* s popular success, It is told how a small American lad was once induced or compelled to read Rob Roy -- a romance by one of our forgotten old novelists. On finishing this fable, the American youth remarked that it 'was not bad, and rather like Stevenson.' This is, Indeed, the general verdict of boyhood, and the man who has boys of his party can afford to sneer at reviewers. But Mr. Stevenson has the reviewers too, and it was the Spectator which found it pos­ sible to equal The Black Arrow, on the whole, with I van hoe. A humble critic who has found The B lack Arrow not more, but rather less, readable than le dernier d e Mon si eur W. b. Howells, can only 244

congratulate Mr. Stevenson. Non equldem In video; but a man may be really envious when he remembers how kindly Mr. Matthew Arnold spoke of Mr. Stevenson's work, and how kidnapped was the last novel which Loxd Iddeeleigh read, and that It charmed him greatly on almost the last day of his life. The combination of all these ver­ dicts -- from the not wholly disinterested 'boom1 of the American Journals to the honeBt liking of BChool boys, and the admir­ ation of poets and statesmen -- has made for Mr. Stevenson a splendid and worthy popular!ty.2°

2% AIV (March 9, 1889), 123-

Those comments, appearing in the "London Letter," were not written by an American, but they serve to remind us that

Stevenson was held in high regard by various classes of reacers both In England and in America* It is also apparent that at least one critic felt, at that point, tnat the adulation of Stevenson had been carried too far.

In Chapter Three I took note of the sharp rebuke given Stevenson by the writer of the "London Letter" for permitting his name to appear as the co-author of

The Wrong; Box, a book which that writer felt to be totally unworthy of him. It was hinted that Stevenson was exploiting his popularity by attaching his name to an Inferior story that he had not written. American critics were by no means so harsh in their Judgment of

The Wrong B o x . The Dial called it a delightful story for summer reading, as charming in its way as one of the 245

New Arabian Nights, "which admits to saying that It Is 29 worth a whole wilderness of J ekylls and Hydes." (That

29 X (July, 1889), 57. must have been written by the same reviewer who had dis­ missed J ekyll and Hyde as "a ghost story.") Some period­ icals, including the N ation and the Qverland Monthly, which usually took notice of Stevenson* s books, omitted mention of this one. The review In the Cri tic was mildly favorable, but it contained a note of depreciation that was new in American criticism of Stevenson. The reviewer remarked that Stevenson* s productivity seemed to be limited only by the nimbleness of his index finger:

. . . His mind appears, indeed, a fathom­ less reservoir of plot, dialogue, and dis­ quisition, whose capacity for supplying the public need is limited only by the diameter of the pipe that conveys its treasure city­ ward . No matter how 'clever* one may be, one never feels, in reading a story of Stevenson's, that he himself ’could talk like that forever, ' but he does feel that Stevenson could. And it looks very much as if he not only could, but were going to. For our part, we hope he will. . . . Like so much that he has written /~~The Wrong Box 7 seems the work of a man of genluB bending but half his energies to the task in hand. It 1 b not so rare a work of art as the first series of the New Arabian Nights, but it is one that we should look for in vain from any other living writer of Ehglish fiction.

30 XV (July 6, 1889), 2. If one were to draw a graph showing tne progress of Stevenson* s critical reputation in America, he would cause the line to show a very gradual rise up to 1886.

Then the line would turn sharply upward to indicate the reception accorded Dr. J ekyll and Mr. Hyde; it would continue upward at a steep angle with the publication of Kidnapped, ana the highest point of the line would represent Stevenson* s critical reputation shortly after

The Kerry Men and Familiar Studles of Men and Books were published in 1887- The line would level off at that high elevation; it would turn slightly downward with the appearance of The Black Arrow, would decline a little further with the publication of The >»rong Box, and further still with the publication of The M aster of

Bailantrae in book form. From the point on the graph marked "October, 1889," the month and year in which

The Master was published, to the point marked "December 3#

1894," the date of Stevenson* s death, the line would fluctuate up and down within a very narrow range, depend­ ing upon the reviews of individual books, but it would not again rise to the high point that had been reached in 1887.

The Master of Bailantrae, the novel which Stevenson had been forced to finish under pressure while the early chapters were being serialized in Scribner* s. definitely failed to impress the critics. The general consensus 247 was that the book bid not compare in literary excellence with Kidnapped . Said one reviewer:

With all Mr. Stevenson'e vereatility in the direction of modes and method s, witn all his cleverness and creative ability, shown as fully in his new novel as in any other of hi b works, it can scarcely be said that he has taken a step forward -- or, if he has, it is but to discover more fully his limitations. . . . The author has strained his powers of character drawing in attempting to de­ fine his conception of the Master of Ballantrae. . • . The Master remains an empty shell• There are indications of strain, too, in several parts of the story. Mr. Stevenson often turns to his old time refuge, the episode, though evi­ dently unwillingly. When the action be­ gins to drag, we are treated to a change of scene* . . . Or another narrator takes a turn at the tale. . . . In the use of such literary stratagems, It is well xnown that Mr. Stevenson is immensely clever. It would appear that, in the present volume, he has tried to be rather sparing of them; yet it is owing to these diversions that the novel is so interest­ ing as it la.’1

31 Critic, XV (October 19, 1889), 183*

Another critic thought Stevenson’s handling of

Henry's moral decline the best thing in the book, and,

Indeed, the only thing which entitled The Master of

Ballantrae to rank with the author’s best. As adventure, the book was not up to the standard of Treasure I si and or kidnapped . As for the ending, "it is the trick of a literary Juggler as well as of an Indian Juggler.

It is a tawdry catastrophe, infecting the whole story 32 with its artificiality."

32 Nation, L (March 13, 1890), 225-

Still another critic was of a similar mind:

Mr. Stevenson's story of The Master of Ballantrae seems to show pretty plainly that the author has got to care so much for nicety of speech that he has lost the virility of conception so indispensable to serious romance. The force of the story is of the historical sort, and even the degree of sustained strength attained to in Kidnapped seems to be wanting here. As for the characters, they are but ghostly outlines, which is especially unfortunate for a book that cannot fail to be suggestive of Scott. . . . Mr. William Hole1s illustrations are more interesting than the text they ad om .33

Dial, X (December, 188 9 ), 214.

In expressing their disapproval of The M aster of

Ballantrae. the critics confirmed Stevenson's own mis­ givings about the novel. He had been pleased with the

first part, composed during his winter at Saranac Lake; but the necessity of meeting Burlingame's deadlines

(with serial!zation already underway) had forced him to write the last half of The Master against time, and t the result was a falling off in literary quality that was plainly evident to author and critics alike. "Alas that so sound a novel should decline into the fantastic 249

Stevenson had said on one occasion, and on another:

111 hope I shall pull off that damned ending; but it

still depresses me: thiB is your doing, Mr. Burlingame: you would have it there and then, and I fear it -- I fear that ending."

When Stevenson wrote Kidnapped, he started out to do a boy's book; then, becoming fascinated with the two central characters, he tried to turn the story into a serious novel. In the composition of The Master of

Ballantrae. this process was reversed. What started out to be a careful character study of 'The Master" and his brother degenerated into an adventure thriller of the

"shilling shocker" variety. The critics, who had been confidently predicting that Stevenson's next romantic novel would be a masterpiece Incorporating the best quali­ ties of his previous booxs, were understandably dis­ appointed. The Master of B allantrae showed not artistic progress on Stevenson's part, as had been expected, but artistic retrogression; and it caused American critics to taxe a sober second look at the author, who, on the basis of his earlier performances, had seemed capable of equaling or excelling the beet efforts of Defoe,

Scott, and Hawthorn e* Perhaps this "genius" had some very definite limitations after all -- particularly as a novelist. If the novels that had once been praised as much for their artistic promise as for their intrinsic 250 merit actually represented the highest literary achieve­ ment of which Stevenson was capable, then obviously he did not belong in the front rank of English and American novelists. The result of the critical reappraisal was a definite lowering of his prestige. Thereafter the

American criticism of Stevenson was more restrained; the critics stopped making extravagant predictions about the literary wonders that he would perform in the future.

They often found a good word to Bay about a particular book, but the favorable reviews of his later books were marked by a mooerateness of tone that was noticeably lacking in reviews of the booxs published In 1886 and

1887.

Take, for example, the review of Stevenson's B allad s that appeared in the Overland Monti]ly in 1891 • The critic admired the "simplicity and breezy strength" of the poems, and he commended Stevenson for opening up a new field of subject matter ano for capturing in hi s poerae the Polynesian point of view. But, at the same time, he questioned Stevenson's taste in writing verses dealing with Cannibalism and other naturalistic aspects of life among the savages. He expressed doubt that a reader could derive a genuine feeling of pleasure from the boon. Moreover, he noted that Stevenson had developed a tendency to use stereotyped phrases: 251 . . . There is In this volume a noticeable repetition of poetic phrases used before by Mr. Stevenson in earlier poems- It is a sign of crystalization, a significant Indication of limits in his originality. It means that con­ sciously or unconsciously the poet is content with a certain characterization as representing a certain fact, which once determined upon is used whenever that fact is to be expressed. It is the use of the phrase as representative of an idea instead of tne simple word sign. Mr. Stevenson's freedom from repetition in his earlier work is re­ markable, and his word characteriza­ tions are apt and felicitous. It is disturbing, therefore, to find them cropping up again and again in this last book. One feels that the author is so satisfied with them that he keeps them pigeonholed, and lugs them in auto------*- has the

Overland Monthly. XVII (June, 1891), 653-654.

A year later tne critic for the Pial tempered his praise of The Wrecker, which, on the whole, he was in­ clined to think the best story of the season. The novel was distinguished for its highly involved plot and for the author's style "that would bear up any kind of a story that he might choose to write," but it was very long, and there were several wearisome digressions from the main plot.

35 XIII (August, 1892), 104. 252

Irthon David Balfour was published, It received mixed critical notices. The reviewer for the Nation had generous praise for the novel. He was glad that

Stevenson finally had shaken off the spell of the South

Seas and that he had returned to those scenes in Scotland which had provided his strongest literary Inspiration In the past. Sequels to popular novels generally are dis­ appointing, but R. L. S. "has achieved the exception and established a precedent." His long absence from his native land seemB to have bound him more closely to it in spirit. The descriptive passages are vivid and "more exact than the most careful observation consciously undertaKen for artiBtic purposes." The reviewer con­ cluded with this statement:

• The volumes of David's acventures L Kidnapped and David Balfour 7 make the author a most substantial claim to fame, and may well endure to testify to the sin­ cerity, beauty, and living force of the art of fiction In these later years of our century. Such work is the solution of the ease of subj ect versus style* The subject is worthy, and worthily supported by the styles the result seems to be literature.^6

35 LVII (December 14, 1893), 451-4-52.

The review in the Dial was cordial, for the most part, but the writer had a reservation or two. Most sequels suffer from comparison with their predecessors, 253 but David Balfour suffers less than most in this respect.

Stevenson, in the years since he wrote Kidnapped, has developed a "more compact and highly wrought style," and his powers of invention are as great as ever- Those readers who have regretted the lack of love interest in his other books will have no cause for complaint this time. David Balfbur is a story of love as well as of adventure, and Catrlona 1 b an altogether adorable heroine.

The principal characters -- Lavid, Catrlona, James .-.ore, and the Lord Advocate -- are all "triumphs of delinea­

tion# . . . firmly and consistently drawn." The book is not perfect, however. Stevenson's too liberal use of the Scottish vocabulary makes it difficult to read, and "one gets a little weary of the grammatical manner­ isms -- the progressive presents and future perfects -- 37 of its speech.1

3 7 — XV (October 16, 1893), 226.

The reviewer for the Crl tic Judged tne novel to be excellent in some respects, but weak in those parts where it should be strongest. "Apart from the sudden weakening of both style and matter where strength was Imperatively called for, the tale is most artistically told. . . .

There is hardly a sentence to which a better turn might be given, nor an incident, always excepting some of those 254 38 at Leyden, that could be spared."

33 XXIII (September 16, 1893)# 181.

The Ebb-Tide fared rather worse with the critics

than had David Balfour. One reviewer was puzzled by

Stevenson's intention. Was this book merely something

tossed off to be sold, or was it intended to be a serious

novel? Not being able to make up his mind on this point,

the reviewer could only declare that The Ebb-Tide was 39 unsatisfactory and incomplete, but fascinating.

39 Critic, XXV (August 11, 1694), 88-09-

The review in the Natlon was a curious blend of

applause and censure. The first chapter of the novel

was held up as a splendid example of Stevenson's "unique

power of uniting the frigidly uncongenial interests of

psychology and romantic adventure." There were, however,

some marked deficiencies further on In the story. It was regrettable that one character (Hulsh) was developed

at the expense of the other two (Herrick and Brown), because all three were equally Interesting- Than# too,

the plot was badly mishandled. The characters were "left in a situation so improbable and fantastic that the

authors who raised the curtain for a serious drama

appear to have capriciously rung it down on a farce-" 255

The last half of the story was

either a great mistake or a wanton bit of Jugglery. Fitting thought It might be for the conclusion of a rattling story with no intellectual pretension, as a sequel to the first part of The Ebb-Tide, It is about as appro­ priate as a merry Jest tacked on to a somber funeral oration. . . . Setting aside the story, with its great points and its disgraceful defects, one can turn with pleasure to certain detachable passages where Mr. Stevenson is at his best in thought and style* There are several in which he touches the great style of English prose -- the style that appeals to mind, imagination, and taste. . . . Why, we ask, in the face of this, does Mr. Stevenson waste himself on an Attwater and a Hulsh?™

30 LVIX (September 20, 1894), 219-

Another critic took The Ebb-Tide as fresh proof that

Stevenson could get along very well in his novels without tne feminine element:

One does not often find in the pages of a book men as thoroughly alive as the vicious and vulgar cockney, the passion­ ate and besotted sea captain, and the de­ cayed gentleman whose better Impulses usually turn out to be nothing more than vellelties -- all three uni ted in the vagrant estate of the beach comber, for the purposes of this ingenious and highly entertaining fiction. 1

4 l ------Dial, XVII (September 1, 1894), 123-

Still another critic was of the opin’on that the characters in The Ebb-Tide were much more human than those in The Wrecker. Attwater, the English merchant- missionary, is the only impossible creation in the bunch.

All of Stevenson's South Sea stories have a charm very like that of Robinson Crusoe. This, like all of hie tales, "is a book of the hour, one to charm for the moment. It has a moral, but an impersonal one that 42 leaves no sting."

52 Overland Monthly, XXIV (October, 1894), 447.

Perhaps, in the interest of proper perspective, there should be set against these rather uninspired reviews of

The Ebb-Tide a provocative criticism of the book written by Israel Zangwlll for the Critic. Zangwill takes sharp issue with those critics who look upon the novel as a badly-constructed, random Beriee of adventures. He finds it to be, on the contrary, quite symmetrical and probably the best constructed book that Stevenson had written to date. According to Zangwill, The Ebb-Tide represents a successful fusion of the novel of adven­ ture and the novel of character, and it 1 b a particular triumph for the author. Beautifully written, containing true unity and four memorable characters, the book is a little masterpiece. It has several leitmotifs which have interested Stevenson in hi s later work: (1) a 257 preoccupation with villains, with emphasis on their more genial characteristics; (2) the illustration of

social potentialities in even the most despiBed human individuals; (3) the romance of the modern, the adven­

ture to be found in the present. "it will be an eternal pity," says Zangwlll, "if a writer like Stevenson passes away without having once applied his marvelous gifts of vision and sympathy to the reproduction and trans­ figuration of everyday human life, if he is content to play perpetually with wrecks and treasures and islands,

and to be remembered as an exquisite artist in the 43 abnormal."

Critic, XXV (August 11, 1894), 8 9 .

I do not think that Stevenson's method in The Ebb-Tide was quite as successful as Zangwlll makes it out to be, but it 1 b interesting to find an English critic arguing

that Stevenson's last complete novel shows him to be moving in the direction of a more mature and complicatec type of artistic expression in the novel form. It is a point that escaped his contemporary American critics, 44 but it is one that modem critics have made much of.

2-2f------See David Daiches, Robert Loul s Stevenson (Norfolk, Conn., New Li recti on b Books^ 1947) • 258

Actually, as early as 1888, when he wrote the first

part of The Master of Ballantrae, Stevenson had pro­

gressed teyond the stage where he was satisfied to pro­

duce pure adventure and romance. In that novel he had

tried to create complex characters and to grapple with

adult moral and psychological problems. A b we have seen,

the novel was a critical failure -- and deservedly so.

It degenerated, in the later chapters, into a mere

adventure story, not, primarily, because Stevenson's

inspiration failed, as belches suggests, but because

he was forced to hurry his writing in order to meet the

serial deadlines.

The publication of The M aster of Ballantrae In book form was an important event in the hi Btory of

Stevenson's critical reputation in America. To the

critics, it seemed that he had tried to write a serious novel and had failed, and that in failing he had revealed

for the first time his limitations as an artist. The

fact that practical con si derations caused Stevenson to

compromise his artistic standards did not alter the

critical verdict. Whether he had written a poor novel because he could not write a better one, or whether he was satisfied to publish a novel that represented less

than his best efforts -- the end result was the same,

and the critics were disappointed. Stevenson still had not written his epic. 259 There ie no doubt that Stevenson’s sense of values changed after he began to write deliberately for the

American market. He developed a tendency to put busi­ ness before art, and the quality of his work suffered, as It was bound to do. From 1888 on, he was, In a very real sense, always writing against time, consciously making "hay with rather morbid eagerness while the sun

shines." On the one hand, he was attempting to write novels with more complex artistic designs than his earlier novels had contained; on the other, his desire

to exploit his earning power made him willing to settle

for considerably less than perfect execution of those designs. The effect upon his lofty reputation of the novels produced under these conditions could not have been otherwise than unfo rtunate. In the process of evaluating The Master of Ballantrae, The Wrecker, bavic Balfour, and The Ebb-Tlde, the critics were forced to revise somewhat their earlier high estimates of

Stevenson’s abilities. By 1894, he was still looked upon as one of the finest of living writers, but he was no longer quite the shining idol that he had been in 188 7 when there seemed no limits to what he might accomplish. 260

STEVEHSCH’S POSTHUMOUS VOGUE IH AMERICA, 1895-1900

A star sui’ely rising, as we thought, has suddenly gone out. A radiant in­ vention shines no more; the voice is hushed of a creative mind, expressing its fine imaginings in this our peer­ less English tongue.1

1 From E. C. Stedman's Stevenson Memorial Address, delivered at Carnegie Hall, January 4-. 1895* Printed in the Critic, XXVI (January 12, 1895;» 29-51*

Stevenson died of apoplexy December 3» 1894-, at his home in Samoa and was buried the following day on

the summit of Lit. Vaea, but nev/s of his passing did not reach England and the United States until December 17.

In London, Henry James rushed to Edith Sitwell, begging her to deny the truth of the report. Then, when it was confirmed, he went home and wrote to Edmund Gosse:

. . * What can one think, or utter or dream, save of this ghastly extinction of the beloved R. L. S.? It is too miserable for cold words -- it's an ab­ solute desolation. It makes me cold and sick -— and with the absolute, al­ most alarmed sense, of the visible material quenching of an indispensable light. That he's silent forever will be a fact hard, for a long time, to live with. Today , at any rate, it's a cruel, wringing emotion. One feels how one cared for him — what a place he took; and as if suddenly into that 261

place there had descended a great ava­ lanche of ice. I'm not sure that it's not for him a great and happy fate; hut for us tHe loss of charm, of suspense, of 'fun' is unutterable.2

2 ------The Letters of Henry James, ed, Percy Lubbock (N. T7*7 Charles I!cribner's Sons, 1920), I, 225*

In America, the periodicals and newspapers v/ore

filled with expressions of grief and affection; and on

January 4, 1895, memorial services were held in Carnegie

Hall before a large and distinguished assemblage. Among

the eminent people who sponsored the program were William

Dean Ilowells, Edmund Clarence Stedman, Fra— k R. Stockton,

George W. Cable, David Christie hurray, Brander Hatthews,

George E. Y/oodberry, H. H. Bo.vesen, Edward Eggleston,

Richard Wctson Gilder, Loncure D. Conway, Hamilton Y7.

Mabie, President Low of Columbia, J. Pierpont Lorgan,

Andrew Carnegie, Augustus St. Gaudens, J, Henry Harper,

E. L. Godkin, Charles H. Dana, Joseph Pulitzer, Walter 5 Hines Page, and Rudyard Kipling.

3------Critic, XXVI (January 12, 1895), 29-52.

Stedman, in his tribute, voiced a thought that

was to be repeated many times in the followin'; months:

Stevenson, judged on the basic of his completed work, had his limitations, but he had been cut off in his early 262 prime. Because his natural gifts were great, it was not sai'e to assume that he had reached his full develop­ ment as an artist; what might have "been the crowning efforts of lesser men were but apprentice work to him.

It was as though Sir Walter himself had died at forty- four, with the Waverly novels just begun.

Ibid.

Ivlany articles on Stevenson, man and artist, were published in the year following his death. The critics were pretty generally agreed that he would be best re­ membered as a romancer, although at least one argued that the romancer would have to take a back seat to the essayist. Justin Huntly, in the New York Tribune. called

Stevenson the greatest essayist since Charles Lamb. The essays of R. L. S., with their classic grace and charm, were admirable as ’works of art, but they were equally admirable as homilies. "A man might very well form for himself a creed cf courage, of composure, of serene accep­ tance of life from their pages. . . . I aia quite sure that they /"the essays^ sire Stevenson's finest work, the crown of his genius, the monument of his life."^

5 Critic, XXVI (January 12, 1695)» 50. Reprinted from the tribune• C. T. Copeland wrote for the Atlantic Monthly a

careful appraisal of Stevenson's literary accomplishments.

He was, said Copeland, above all, a romantic in an age

of realism; he had revived the art of the prose romance

that had died with Scott, and had, by his successful

example, founded a new school of romantic fiction in

the midst of opposing tendencies, Copeland had high

praise for Stevenson's style, his versatility, his cheer­

ful and optimistic philosophy, but he insisted that critics

who rated Stevenson on the same level with Scott were

wrong. Scott and Dumas, with all their faults, ware

great romantics; Stevenson, with all his gifts and graces,

was a "little romantic." Scott's novels were "like a

large symphony which has many discords; Mr. Stevenson's,

like a discreet yet moving theme, perfectly pla; ed on

fewer instruments." True, Stevenson died young. Scott

at forty-four had not yet written the Waverly novels,

and Thomas Hardy at the same age probably had not even

dreamed of Tess of the D * Urbervilles. But what a man

has done at forty is likely "to be a gauge as well as a promise of what he will ao in the future; and from

Stevenson we were entitled to expect a oerfect form and

continued variety of subject, rather than a measurable

dynamic gain." Here, of course, Copeland was expressing

a viewpoint directly opposed to that of the critics who

argued that Stevenson was still growing as an artist at the time of his death, The question of whether or not

Stevenson had reached the height of his powers was one that was debated at some length in the mid-nineties,

Copeland thought that the evidence of Stevenson's limi­ tations was to be found in the novels, There was, for

example, The 3 ,.aster of Ballantrae. a novel in which the details were not well blended, though each episode in itself was admirably worked out. "The failure (or half failure, at least) seems to have come tlirough a sheer laclc of power to fuse the well-selucted elements of the tale," While Stevenson could not be assigned top rank among the great romantics, he was nevertheless an im­ peccable and versatile artist, who had perfected his rare talents through hard work. No other writer of his ge~eration could compare with him as a stylist: his prose never lacks precision, clearness, and proportion — the classic qualities — and it is as remarkable for its diversity as for its eloquence. Even in his most ornate pages, Stevenson is true to the best traditions of English prose. He "loves and practices the belle phrase % the harmonious sentence, but scarce ever does he descent to the inc.olent cheville." In the tales, his style has

"an almost absolute simplicity, wherever this is consistent with dramatic fitness. . * . Artist as he is, and per­ haps because he is an artist, the man shines through all 265 c the work of Mr* Gtevenson's hand, and illumines it all."

— 5 ------;------Atlantic Monthly. LXXV (April, 1895), 537-54-6.

Practically all of the American critics who wrote about Stevenson in the first three or four years after his death gave him excellent marks as a romancer, as an essayist, as a short-story writer, and as a prose stylist.

At that time the consensus was that he had carved an important niche for himself in the literary history of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and some critics predicted for him a lasting fame. Although the more thoughtful critics qualified their praise to some extent, none made any serious attempt to belittle his literary achievements. The adverse critical reaction did not come until near the turn of the century.

The exact proportions of the posthumous Stevenson vogue are difficult to determine. That his death stimu­ lated public interest in his romances is certain. Some of the older ones that were unprotected by copyright 7 quickly appeared in new unauthorised editions. Roberts

— 7 ------Following is the record of pirated editions of Stevenson's books published in 1895* S. A. Weeks and Company, Chicago, published Treasure Island. Kidnapped. Prince Otto. and The Master of Ballantrae in separate paper—bouncT volumes priced at twenty-five cents; Rand, McNally and Company, Chicago, issued Treasure Island. Kidnapped. and The Master of Ballantrae. paper, 266 twenty-five cents each; The Ivlerriam Company, U. Y., published The Body Snatcher* cloth, forty cents* See Publishers’ Weekly*~~Volumes XLVII and XLVIII.

Brothers lost no time in bringing out new editions of all the Stevenson books that they had published in the past: Travels with a Donkey* An Inland Voyage * Treasure g Island * The Silverado Squatters * and Prince Otto* And

g Publishers1 Weekly* XLVII (February 23, 1893), 360.

in July, 1895, Scribners announced that they had ready, and were selling by subscription only, a new sixteen- volume edition of Stevenson's Works. The price of the 9 set was thirty-two dollars.

5 Publishers' Weekly* XLVIII (July 20, 1895), 122.

Meanwhile, Stone and Kimball had exercised their option on the first posthumous work offered them by

Baxter: they brought out in March, 1895, The Amateur Emigrant * which Stevenson had written in California in

1879, but which he had never published. (Colvin, back in the dau s when his opinion carried great weight with Stevenson, had convinced him that publication of the account of his first trip to America would harm his reputation.) Because of its biographical interest, the book pleased the critics, and the publishers had no 237 reason to complain of the early sales. Sidney Kramer reports that the entire first edition was sold on the da; of publication and that three other impressions were made by April 13, lb 95 * ^ In Itay, Stone and Kimball

A Histor.y of Stone and Kimball. p. 61. advertised in Xhfblishers1 Y/eohly that the; had just printed the fourth thousand of The Amateur Emigrant and the sixth thousand of The Ebb—Tide (first published in Jul; ■ , 1894.) ^

— n ------XLVII (Kay 25, 1895), 84-7.

On October 23, 1895, Stone and Kimball published

Vailima Letters: Being Correspondence Addressed

Hobert Louis Stevenson to Sidney Colvin. November, 1890. 12 to October. 1694-. These letters (issued in a two-volume

---- j g ------Publishers* Weenly, XLVIII (December 21. 1895). 1184. set) sold only moderately well. When Stone and Kimball transferred the copyright to Scribners in bay, 1896, they informed Baxter that they had sold two thousand eight hundred end forty—six sots of the small paper edi­ tion and fifty-two of the large paper. At that time, royalties were due the Stevenson estate of thirteen 268 1 B hundred four dollars and ten cents. ^ 13 Unpublished letter, Stone ana Kimball to Charles Baxter, May 7* 1696. V/idener Memorial Library, Harvard University. Sidney Kramer published the figures in A History of Stone and Kimball, p. 62.

It will be recalled that when Baxter sold the

American copyright of The Kbb-Tide to Stone and Kimball, early in 1894, he had promised them the first refusal of

American rights on all future Stevenson books. In keep­ ing with that contract, Baxter, in the spring of 1895* offered them the unfinished Weir of Uermiston. They having agreed to his terms, he sent them a contract on

I.lay 12, promising to forward the corrected proof of the 1 4 story within a few days.

1 5 ------Unpublished letter, Baxter to Stone and Kimball, Widener Memorial Library.

In September, 1895i Kobert McClure (Sam McClure's brother), who was acting as agent for Stone and Kimball in London, gave his employers a bit of news about Weir of Hermiston:

. . . I hope the Stevenson book /"Vailima Letters 7 will be a great success. T suppose S. S. ^"*Sam McClure 7 told you that Scribners were prepared to plank down $6000 for the American rights. It may be news to you that V/eir of Hermiston. 42,000 words, is to Ve pub- lished serially in Scribner1s commencing, 269

I think, in January. It must be rather vexatious to them to possess the serial rights in a Stevenson book of which they are not also to have the book rights. ^

— 15------Unpublished letter, Robert McClure to Stone and Kimball, September, 1895* Widener Memorial Library. V At about that time, Fanny Stevenson, ;vho apparently

was unaware of Baxter's contract with Stone and Kimball,

stepped into the picture and upset his arrangements for

the publication of ;Veir of Hermiston. She was feuding

with Baxter over his handling of the estate, and she took

it upon herself to authorize Graham Balfour to dispose

of the serial and book rights of Weir of Hermiston.

Balfour, not knowing that Baxter already had sold the

novel, promptly sold it again, to Scribners. 7/hen Robert

McClure learned of this development, he wrote to Stone

and Kimball:

Your cable with regard to the Stevenson contract, curiously enough, arrived simul­ taneously with a letter from Baxter saying that Graham Balfour had placed the book rights of 'Weir* with Scribners on a twenty per cent royalty with five hundred pounds advance. It is certainly a direct violation of the terms of the agreement and I shall hold Balfour and Baxter rigidly to your con­ tract with them.l®

i s ------Unpublished letter, September 7* 1895* Widener Memorial Library. 270

Three days later, after McClure had talked with

Baxter, the agent wrote to Stone and Kimball explaining how the mix—up had occurred. His letter makes clear that all was not sweetness and light between Baxter on the one hand and Fanny Stevenson and Colvin on the other:

I saw Baxter on Saturday last with regard to the Stevenson business. It appears that in selling the serial rights in 'Hermiston* to Scribners Graham Balfour either offered them or accepted an offer (my information is not exact) made by them for the book. He informed Baxter of this on his arrival and although Baxter told me of the serial arrange­ ment he -id not once mention book rights until a few days ago when I suggested that it was time to secure a contract with your firm, when he informed me what had been done by Balfour and told me that he had written to you. In order to make the situation a little more clear to you, I must explain that Baxter, who as you know has had entire charge of Stevenson's financial affairs for many years, has lately encountered much interference and annoyance from Colvin, who has only concerned himself hitherto with editing and revising Stevenson's productions. For some months Colvin has been complaining to Mrs. Stevenson (who Is now in San Francisco) about what he considers Baxter's bad business management, with the result that Mrs. Stevenson gave Graham Balfour com­ plete power of attorney to deal with Scribners or anyone else and if necessary to take the entire business management out of Baxter's hands. Balfour is now satisfied that Baxter has managed the affairs to the best inter­ ests of the family and it is not his inten­ tion to deal with anything beyond the ar­ rangement already made for 'Hermiston.' On the other hand, Baxter feels very much annoyed with Mrs. Stevenson and inasmuch

I 271 as there is likely to he trouble over the head of this 'Hermiston' deal, he is seriously thinking of surrendering his executorship. You know he and Henry Janos were appointed executors hut James declined the honor and although Baxter has con­ tinued to look after the affairs of the estate, he has not yet legally qualified as executor according to English law, and it is his intention not to qualify if tnere is to be a conflict arising out of the present misunderstanding. In that case the estate may be thrown into Chancery or a Receiver may be appointed by the Courts, and complications may ensue. I have written to Graham Balfour, who is now in Scotland, courteously but firm­ ly pointing out to him that I mean to insist on your behalf upon exact com­ pliance with the terms of the agreement, whereby you are to have the first offer of Stevenson's books in Amex*ica. I do not know how far the matter has progressed with Scribners, but I do not think that they would make any unreasonable objections to cancelling a possible agreement, when the matter is satisfactorily explained to them, but of course we have first to deal with I.r. Balfour. I do not know that I have made matters perfectly clear to you, but one thing you will unaerstand and that is that in the case of trouble Baxter slides out and releases himself from all responsibility. V/e have then to deal with Mrs. Stevenson ox1 her agent, or possibly the Court of Chancery.17

— r?------Unpublished letter, September 10, 1895* V/idener Memorial Library.

Early in October, Balfour advised Robert McClure that he had known nothing of the contract between Eaxter and Stone and Kimball under which the latter were to have 272 the first offer of book rights in America on all of

Stevenson's previously unpublished works. Balfcur de­ clared that he had no intention of trying to evade the contract or of taking any action unfriendly to Stone and

Kimball. He assured McClure that he would try to clear up the complications that had grown out of his negoti- 18 ations wirh Scribners. However, when Balfour tried to

------Unpublished letter, Graham Balfour to x-:obert McClure, October 2, 1895* VJidener Memorial Library. back out of the arrangement that he had made with

Scribners, he ran into fresh difficulties. In mid-

October, McClure advised Stone and Kimball of the latest turn of events:

. . .Balfour tells me that unless the Scribners can have the book rights in Hermiston they will not take the serial rights. Wow, as they have made a very good offer for the serial rights — £ 1 0 0 0 more than can be procured else­ where probably, and as they are downright anxious to have the book, why not let them have it for a premium of, say, $1500? You see you already have the Vaillma Letters and St. Ives — which is more nearly finisKeu and "a more important piece of worm than 'Hermiston.' Or the thing might be arranged this way: Assume that Balfour could not get so much as £ 1 0 0 0 for serial rights from anyone else, let the Stevensons agree to knock off £ 3 0 0 on the price of St. Ives. Of course I would not make any of these suggestions to Balfour, who has not yet fixed his price for American book rights, and will not until he can learn by encuirie in other quarters what sum might be forth­ coming. 19 273

19 Unpublished letter, Robert McClure to Stone and Kimball, October Id, 1895* Y/idener Memorial Library,

In a follow-up letter, on October 18, McClure again

suggested that Stone and IhLneall might do well to let

Scribners have Ueir of Hermiston:

About Herr.iiston: I have made investi­ gations Here and- 1 do not see that it will be possible for the Stevermons to get a price for serial rights that to­ gether with the sum realized in America will come anywhere near Scribner's* offer of £1000. Suppose they can get £ 7 5 0 from both countries —— that me ais a loss of £250 brought about through their inability to sell acribners book rights. suppose, on the other hand, you remove this in­ ability for a consideration — the;, can p u t through this deal and secure — what they are engci* for — early publication — and as it is said to be one of Stevenso:. * s finest pieces of work, its publication before 3 t . Ives will benefit toe sale of that boSK. ---- The consideration to take the form of a rebate on the price of St. Ives. Let me ^nov; at once wha£"”y o u think of this p l a n . ^ O

50 ~ Unpublished letter, Robert McClure to Stone and Kimball, October 18, 1895* Widener Memorial Library.

How it happened that Stone and Kimball were in desperate financial straits in the fall of 1895* They were so hard up that in October they still owed Robert 21 McClure back salary for August and September. The 274

2 I ------Unpublished letter, Stone and Kimball to Robert McClure, September 50* 1895- Unpublished letter, Stone and Kimball to Robert McClure, October 25* 1895* V/idener Memorial Library. young publishers came to the conclusion thot V/eir of

Hermiston might furnish the shot in the arm that their firm needed very badly. Thex-efore, they were in no mood to relinquish their ri Its in the book to Scribners, and Hex*bert Stone so notified M c C l u r e :

About Hermiston: I had a talk with Cclvin axout ti.e rook before I left London and from what he said as well as from what faxtcr told me, I judge that ..ermiston is ;.aite the biggest taing Steve: son cvex’ did. It is more­ over coeplt.te in itself and I cannot help feeling that we shoulu be making a mistake of oar lives if v/e let it go, nor do I feel taut we are corn- polled either by la., or decenc;. to give up our claims just because Scrib-.crs v/ill not buy the sex'i ..1 rights a l o n e . If I am not mistaken, there are several other places where Hermiston could be sold serially to good advantage. I think The Century Company, for instance, would be very glad to wet it and they would undoubtedly pay well. Lunsey would give any price under heaven for the story and under these circumstances I hardly think it fair of Balfour to ask us to overlook our contract. And from a financial point of view I do not see that the Stevenson people expect to gain much if they are to give rebate on St. Ives. They certainly cannot be in Business solely for money and the idea that they must now sell Hermiston at a lower figure ought not to worry them very much, if they are to come down in the price of St. Ives. I think 275 you will see our position. Hermiston is far and away too big to let slip and I am only keen on settling the matter as soon as may be.22

2 2 ------Unpublished letter, Herbert S. Stone to nobert LtcClure, October 28, 1895* Widener Hemorial Library.

It is apparent from this letter and from the

Scribners' willingness to pay a thousand pounds for the

serial rights of 7/eir of Hermiston — provided they also

could have the book rights — taat the novel was considered,

in American publishing circles, to be a real prize. Word

had gone out from Colvin and from others (including Henry

Janes) who had read the manuscript that Stevenson had

left an unfinished masterpiece, and, as a result, public

interest in the work already had been aroused. A post­ humous novel of Stevenson's would automatically lend prestige to the magazine in which it appeared, and there was a good possibility that it would prove to be a popular book. The Scribners were anxious to obtain the rights to Weir of Hermiston for another reason: the, were pub­ lishing the Works of Stevenson, and they wanted to make their collection as complete as possible. To do that was simply a matter of good business. Stone and Kimball, however, ware determined to publish the book themselves, and on Hovember 11, in a letter to Robert I.icClure, Baxter announced the terms upon which they might have the copy­ right : 276

As Executor of the late K. L. Stevenson and in pursuance of my agreement with Liessrs. Stone and Kimball, I hereby offer to them through you as their agent the copyright of the unfinished story Y/eir of Hermiston said to amount to 43,000 words or thereby (which number is not guaranteed) at the sum of &8GC sterling. This offer is conditional on my conclud­ ing an arrangement with the magazine known as Cosnopolis for serial publication on 1st January T896, in which event proof sheets will be supplied and your clients will be bound to copyright the book in the United States on that date. The date of publication will not be be­ fore 20th hay 1896 and tiiO price shall be payable on the uate of book publication in America. Kindly remind Lessrs. Stone and Kimball of the i>5 0 Q payable on publication of the Vailima Letters.

^ ------Kramer, oo. cit.« p. 82.

The following' da, , LcClure passed along this letter and another to Stone and Kimball with an explanation of

Baxter's arrangement for serial publication of the novel:

Weir of Hermiston: I enclose two letters from Baxi’er, which will supplement and ex­ plain my cable to you of this date. Cosmooolis as you have doubtless learned, is the name of a new International quarterly to be pub­ lished in London, Paris, Berlin and by some­ one in America. It is to contain about 300 pages, 1/3 "to be set up in French, 1/3 in German, and 1/3 in English. Fisher Unwin is to be the English publisher. The backers apparently have plenty of money, and they have offered fclOOO for the serial rights of this story, which they intend to publish in three numbers. The price here will be 2/6, and, I suppose, 50 cents in America. I caimot believe that it will achieve a large 277 circulation in any country, and I do not think that the serialization of the story in its pages will tend in the least to diminish the value of the book. I should explain to you thau Graham Balfour has retired from the management of the Stevenson business, and that the affairs are once more in Baxter*s hands. Baxter's first price for the American book rights was £900, but, at my urgent request, he re­ considered the matter, and, as a result, has named £800 for American book copy­ right. I think that this is still high, but I do not doubt for one minute that Scribners would cheerfully give as much, or oven inore.^

Kramer, 0£. cit., p. 83

Stone and Kimball were of the opinion that Baxter's price for the American copyright of Weir of Hermiston was too high, and they instructed McClure to ask him to reduce it. Accordingly, on November 18, Baxter named a new figure:

I have had time to consider the price which I can accept for Mr. Stevenson's Weir of Hermiston. 5n condition o? its being produced in time for the English spring market (say before 20th May; in conjunction with Messrs. Chatto and Winuus, I will accept the sum of £630 payable in London on day of publication.^

— 5 5 Unpublished letter, Baxter to Robert McClure, Widener Memorial Library.

Whether or not McClure had received this letter by November 20, when he wrote to Stone and Kimball, he 278

certainly knew that Baxter had reduced his price , because he had dined with Baxter on the 19th, and they had dis­

cussed the novel. McClure may have had personal motives

for withholding this information temporarily from the

Chicago firm. In any event, he said nothing of it in his letter of November 20:

Negotiations are still proceeding. The matter may be definitely settled before this mail goes out. In the meantime, I may say that Balfour has received the fol­ lowing offer from Scribners -- £600 ad­ vance on account of 20^ royalty, but this offer is made on condition that the story be not previously serialized. This condi­ tion cannot, of course, be entertained. As a matter of fact, the contract with the Cosmopolis is signed and the money paid over. Baxter suggests £700 would be the right figure for American book rights. I have suggested a still fur­ ther reduction. We discussed the matter last night at the Authors' Dinner to Dr. Brandes, and I am hoping that, under the pleasant influence of the evex-iing, he may name a more moderate p r i c e . 26

5 5 ------Unpublished letter, Robert McClure to Stone and Kimball, Widener Memorial Library.

A week later, McClure finally passed along to

Stone and Kimball Baxter's offer to let them have the book for six hundred and fifty pounds:

I enclose Baxter's formal offer of Hermiston at £650 for American book rights. I don't want to appear boast­ ful, but Baxter assures me that the last hundred was knocked off purely as a favor to me; I have pleasure in pass­ ing the benefit of the favor on to you. The price may still be regarded as a 279 good one from the Stevensons* point of view, but the Great Father himself couldn't buy it for less.27

— 57------Unpublished letter, Robert McClure to Stone and Kimball, November 26, 1895* Widener Memorial Library.

At the end of November, McClure forwarded to Stone and Kimball proof of the first part of Weir of Hermiston, as it had been set up to apoear in the Cosmopolis. Even then, apparently, the final price that Stone and Kimball were to pay for the American copyright had not been agreed upon, because McClure mentions having "a faint hope of getting the book for something under seven hundred pounds." 28

23------Unpublished letter, Robert McClure to Stone and Kimball, November 30, 1895* Widener Memorial Library.

On January 11, 1896, McClure acknowledged receipt from Stone and Kimball of the signed agreement concerning the American book rights on Weir of Hermiston. Since nothing further was said about price, the figure finally settled upon was probably six hundred and fifty pounds. Stone and Kimball now had the book, but they found them­ selves in the unhappy position of being unable to pay for it. As a matter of fact, they still owed to Baxter half the five hundred pounds in advance of royalties on Vailima Letters (the full amount should have been paid in October, 1895*) McClure was fearful that this 280 unpaid obligation would lead to a cancellation of the

Weir of Hermiston contract, unless it were taken care of immediately:

I hope you will send him ^"“Baxter_7 a draft at once; failure to do so may affect the ratification of the contract for Hermiston. at any rate, I came to that conclusion from a conversation with him the other day. Colvin was unwilling right along to let the book go to you, and will not lose any chance to make Baxter’s position uncomfortable, if there is any trouble over p a y m e n t .^9

--- 25------Unpublished letter, Robert McClure to Stone and Kimball, January 11, 1896, Widener Memorial Library.

Stone and Kimball still had not paid the Vailima

Letters account by February 24, 1896, and on that date

Baxter drew a sight draft on them (payable within ten days) for two hundred and fifty pounds.^ When the

5 5 ------Unpublished letter, Mitchell and Baxter to Stone and Kimball, February 24, 1896, Widener Memorial Library. publishers were unable to honor the draft, Baxter caused a Notice of Protest to be filed in the Illinois Cook

County Court.In April, the Stone-Kimball partnership

Notice of Protest, March 7, 1896, filed at the request of the Bank of Montreal, Widener Memorial Library. was dissolved. Ihe following month, Kimball, who had 281

taken over the Stevenson copyrights, paid Baxter's claim

(plus costs) and shortly thereafter transferred his com­

plete interests in the Stevenson literary properties to 32 the Scribners. However, the royalties due on the

Unpublished letter, Mitchell and Baxter to Robert McClure, May 2, 1896, Widener Memorial Library. Unpublished letter, Stone and Kimball to Charles Baxter, May 7* 1896, Widener Memorial Library.

Vailima Letters at the time the plates were turned over

to the Scribners remained unpaid as late as August, 1896. ^

— 3 3 ------Unpublished letter, Charles Baxter to Robert McClure, August, 1896, Widener Memorial Library.

Stevenson's second posthumous novel, St. Ives, was

also involved in the transfer of the Stone and Kimball

copyrights to Scribners. Originally, Fanny Stevenson

had intended to publish that romance before 7/eir of

Hermiston, and Baxter had sold the American book rights

to Stone and Kimball for three hundred pounds in advance 34 on royalties of twenty per cent."^ Henry James, however,

— 3 5 ------Kra m e r , op. cit., p. 81. had argued vigorously that Weir of Hermiston should be

given to the public first. After reading the manuscript, he wrote the following letter to Colvin: Now that you have been so good as to let me read Weir of Hermiston. you must also let me add a word “bo what I said to you a day or two since in send­ ing you back the manuscript. It weighs on my spirit greatly that there should as I gathered from what you said, be a danger that the publication of this magnificent thing may be postponed to treat of other things — may not take place until the 'psychological moment1 is passed. And you didn't even tell

you how I hope so grave a mistake won't be made. Surely Mrs. Stevenson doesn't desire it? Has she expressed any such wish? The moment for the book to appear seems to me, overshelmingly, to be the moment at which the emotion caused by Louis's death, by the general knowledge that he had left a great piece, a su­ preme piece, of work, unfinished, keeps the imagination of the public still warm about him and makes the work count douLTe as a contribution to his fame. For God's sake let us have in this year of his death the thing he was so splendidly doing when he died (it will deepen im­ measurably all our sense of loss — and that sense of loss will add to our tenderness for the other things. If those come first (did you tell me there are two of them?) the sense of loss will — as the,} are inferior — be cruelly less, and the whole air cold for Hermiston when it does come. I must tell you frankly that I should regard that as a great calamity and a grave unkindness to his memory. I can't imagine any reason for our taking the other things first that is not a reason of an order altogether inferior to this consideration that touches so the very essence of Louis's honour! Do let me say to you very positively that I hope you will do every­ thing in your power to make it easy and feasible that Hermiston shall come to us with all the sacred beauty of its hour; and do above all let me hear if Mrs. Louis has pronounced.55 283

— 5 5 ------Unpublished letter, Henry James to Sidney Colvin, July 3* 1895» Beineke Collection,

It seems likely that James' influence (working through

Colvin) may have persuaded Fanny to change her mind.

At any rate, publication priority was shortly given to

Weir of Hermiston. and the manuscript of Sib. Ives was

never sent to Stone and Kimball.

Scribners, then, when they took over the Stevenson

copyrights owned by Stone and Kimball, came into posses­

sion of the American book rights of both of his post­ humous novels. Since they already controlled all of his other books subject to copyright, they became through this transaction with the Chicago publishers (which also

gave them The Ebb-Tide. The Amateur Emigrant, and Vailima

Letters) the sole authorized publishers of Stevenson's books in America.

The printed sheets of Weir of Hermiston were turned over to Scribners in May, 1896, and the book was on the market in June. Many critics agreed with Colvin and

Henry James that Hermiston would have been Stevenson's greatest work had he been able to finish it. In its

• ------See Critic, XXVIII (June 13, 1896), 422. annual report on new publications, Publishers' Weekly 284- called it the "strongest "bit" of English fiction that had appeared during the year. "It is much to be re­ gretted that the gifted author did not live to complete it, as it promised to be his finest work."^ There were

3 7 LI (January 30, 1897), 210 other critics, though, who felt that the book, as it stood, added nothing to Stevenson's reputation. It was, after all, nothing more than a promising fragment, marred somewhat by digressions and by the Scottish dialogue

..hich required a glossary in order to be understood.

One reviewer found it difficult "to attribute to any­ thing but personal friendship, deepened by t:e sense of recent loss, Lr. Colvin's hasty dictum concerning the rank of this book among its fellows."^

— 3 5 ------Dial. XXI (July 1, 1896), 18.

St. Ives, published by Scribners in October, 1897*

(with six chapters added by Arthur p;uiller-Couch), was tagged by the critics as a pleasant romance, of more than passing interest because it was Stevenson's last novel 59 but otherwise of no special importance.y' The critic who

5 3 ------See Dial, XXIII (November 16, 1897), 282-283; Critic, XXXI (November 13, 1897), 280. 285 reviewed the book in the Atlantic Monthly was convinced

that neither Weir of Hermiston nor St. Ives would affect

Stevenson*s reputation in the slightest. The catalogue

of his important writings hhd closed with the publication

of David Balfour. St. Ives was a good romance "of the

conventional sort," but the romantic vogue, which had

been started by Stevenson himself, was rapidly waning.

"If the truth be known, has not our generation had enough

of duels, hair-breadth escapes, post-chaises, and high­

waymen, mysterious strangers muffled in great coats, and

pistols which always miss fire when they shouldn't?"

This critic argued that romantic novels were ephemeral

and that they had no essential place in modern literature.

Stevenson, however, was more than a mere romancer, and he was far superior to his host of imitators:

He was an artist of undoubted gifts, but he was an artist in small literary forms. His longest good novels are after all little books. When he attempted a large canvas he seemed not perfectly in command of his materials, though he could use those materials as they could have been used by no other artist. There is nothing in his books akin to that large and massive treatment which may be felt in a novel like Bhoda Fleming or a tragedy like Tess o f the D'lflrbervilles. Andrew Lang was rigEt when he said of Stevenson: 'He is a Little Master, but of the Little Masters the most perfect and delightful. '4-0

TO ------Atlantic Monthly. LXXX (December, 1897)i 846-851* 286

Now that Jjit. Ives had been published, and there was no hope of anything else of importance from Stevenson's pen, many American critics tended to agree with Andrew

Lang. If Weir of Hermiston seemed to indicate that

Stevenson was v/ell on the way to surpassing his previous efforts in the novel form, St. Ives showed him at work in the old familiar vein. To examine his collected writings in the new Scribner Thistle Edition (twenty- one volumes) was to see, more clearly than ever, both his virtues and his limitations. A delivhtful writer he most assuredly was, and an amazingly versatile one, but he was not a major literary artist. In calling

Stevenson a "Little I-iaster," Lang summed up what American critics were saying about him in dozens of lengthy articles.

A year or two after his death, Stevenson's prose was introduced into college literature courses in America.

In August, 1895, Henry Ilolt and Company announced the publication of a new text, English Readings for Students:

Specimens of Narration, edited by W. T. Brewster of

Columbia College. The book was divided into four parts, one of which was devoted entirely to the work of Robert 41 Louis Stevenson* The following year, William Lyon Phelps

Z f l ------Publishers' Weekly. XLVIII (August 3» 1895)* 159*

42 included Stevenson in his modern novel course at Yale, 287

32------— Publishers1 Weekly, XLIX (April 18, 1896), 697* and Brauder Matthews devoted a short chapter to him in the hook Aspects of Fiction.

In 1897* the first rumblings of a critical reaction began to be heard. Harry Thurston Peck, for one, spoke out against the more ridiculous aspects of Stevenson's posthumous vogue -- the endless, elaborate eulogies, the obvious efforts of his family and friends to turn him into a saint and hero, the personal element that loomed large in much of the criticism. ^ A year later, John Jay — zr3------See Thomas Beer, The Lauve Decade (Garden City, N. Y., Garden City Publishing Company, 1926), pp. ISO- 189* Beer's description of the Stevenson vogue is distorted to suit his own purposes.

Chapman, in his book Emerson and Other Essays attached

Stevenson savagely, calling him "the most extraordinary mimic that has ever appeared in literature." In his youth, said Chapman, Stevenson had tried to learn to write by imitating various groat French and English writers, and he kept on imitating his models all his life. Kidnapped is only a reproduction of the Scotch scenes in the Waverly novels(- tie plot of Treasure

Island is taken from the era of the detective story and the manner from hobinson Crusoe; "The Treasure' of Franchord" is in the tradition of the French comedy of bourgeois life; the essays echo Sir Thomas Browne, Charles

Lamb, and Montaigne. Stevenson has no style of his own.

"All is intention, all calculation," and "directness and unconsciousness are the great qualities of style." Chapman' obtuseness is shown in this statement: "Although we think of Stevenson as a writer of fiction, his extreme popu­ larity is due in great measure to his innumerable essays and bits of biography and autobiography, his letters, his journals, and travels and miscellaneous reminiscences."

Any one of a dozen pirate publishers could have told

Chapman otherwise. According to him, Stevenson gained his phenomenal success in America because everything he wrote bore the stamp of Letters -- even though the stamp was secondhand — and that made his work attractive to a nation hungry for culture. "When the American public gives Stevenson an order for 'Pulvis et Umbra,*. . . it is Chicago making culture hum." There is a touch of truth in that particular statement, no doubt, but it is a dangerous oversimplification of a single aspect of

Stevenson's appeal to a highly diversified American audience. Chapman's essay is factually faulty, out­ rageously biased, and thoroughly wrong-headed; it is not one of the landmarks of Stevenson criticism, from the standpoint of quality, but it represents a reaction against the sentimental effusions of the hero—worshippers 289 and. is therefore historically important. Stevenson did

not want for defenders when that essay ap eared, but as

the century drew to a close, other critics, less biased

than Chapman, delivered some judgments that were not al­

together flattering to the memory of the artist whose

work had at one time been widely acclaimed as being above 44- ordinary criticism.

5 5 ------See "The Real Stevenson," Atlantic monthly, LXXXV (May, 1900), 702-705.

There remains the question of the popularity of

Stevenson's books in the half dozen years following his

death. Here, since the Scribner sales figures are not

available, we must proceed by indirection. Clearly, the

news of his death caused a resurgence of interest in the

romances: the appearance of various oirated editions and

the fact that Roberts Brothers published new editions

of Tre asure Island and Prince Otto indicate as much. But from 1896 to 1899* Publishers1 Weekly records not one pirated edition of a Stevenson book. It would seem,

therefore, that there was no great popular demand for the cheap reprints after 1895*

Of the three books published by Stone and Kimball ——

The Ebb-Tide, The Amateur Emigrant. and Vailima Letters — none had sold more than a few thousand copies.

The Scribners, in 1896, published The Suicide Club 290

(one of tjie Hew Arabian Nights tales), Poems and Ballads.

Weir of Hermiston, Fables, In the South Seas, and, in

addition, the subscription eaition of Stevenson's Col­

lected Works (twenty-one volumes)In 1897* they issued

5 5 ------See Publishers' Weekly, Volumes XLIX and L.

St. Ives and The Stevenson Song Book (verses from A Child*s

Garden of Verses set to music by various composers.) In

1898, Scribners brought out The Stevenson Header, edited by Lloyd Osbourne. In 1899« they published a new, cheaper edition of The Stevenson Song Book, priced at a dollar

(the fix’st one hud sold for two dollars), and also The

Letters of Kobert Louis Stevenson, edited by Sidney Colvin

(two volumes; price: five dollars). In 1900, they pub­ lished a new illustrated edition of Treasure Island and 4-8 A Christmas Sermon.

Z f S ------See Publishers1 Weekly, Volumes LI to LVIII.

It will be noted that neither Weir of Hermiston nor

St. Ives went into a second edition during this period.

Neither book ever appeared on the Bookman1s lists of best sellers. Between 1896 and 1900, not a single new edition of Kidnapped was published, nor of Dr. Jekyll and

Ivlr. Hyde -- and only one of Treasure Island. I conclude from this record that Stevenson's posthumous vogue was 291 largely an upperclass phenomenon and that the ordinary reading public quickly lost interest in the bulk of his work, once he was no longer among the living.

In 1 8 9 9 1 Publishers * Weekly carried come figures, probably supplied b\ Scribners, on the American sales of a fev; of Stevenson's books. rI'he table shows tnat Treasure

Isl and (1884) r;ad sold eighty—two thousand copies;

Kidnapoed (1886) sixty thousand; The black Arrow (1868) thirty thousand; The master oi Ballantrae (1889) ahirty- nine thousand; The Wrecker (1892) twenty-nine thousand; 47 Island nights1 Entertainment (1892) eleven thousand. f

ip?------Publishers' Weekly, LVI (August 26, 1899), 283.

These figures are not, of course, complete. The first four of the books mentioned were widely piraued, and there is no way of telling whether the Treasure Island count includes copies sold by koberts Brothers. The table does net tell us how many copies of each book were sold after Stevenson's death, but the figures given on the copyrighted books, The Wrecker and Island bights1

Sntertainment clearly point to a diminishing popularity. 292

WORKS CITED

Books: Annan, Noel Gilroy, Leslie Stephen (London, MacGlbbon and Kee, 1951). Balfour, Graham, The Life of Robert Loul a St even son (N. Y., Charles ScribnerTs Sons, 1901), 2 vole. Beer, Thomas, The Mauve Decade (Garden City, N. Y., Garden City Publishing Company, 1926) • Charteri s, Evan, The Life and Letters of Sir Eidmund Go see (N . Y., Harp or and Brothers, 1951) * Connell, John, W. E. Henlev (London, Constable, 1949) • Ellsworth, William Webster, A Golden Age of Authors (N. Y., Houghton Mifflin Company, 1919) * El win, Malcolm, The Strange Case of Robert Loula Stevenson (London, MacDonald, 19507• Pumas, J . C ., Vovage to Windward (N . Y., William Sloane Associates, 1951)• G1 Being, George, New Grub Street (N. Y., E* P* Dutton and Company, n. d .)* Harper, J. Henry, The House of Harper (N. Y., Harper and Brothers, 1912) . Howells, W. D., Criticism and Flotlon (N. Y., Harper and Brothers, 1892). James, Henry, Partial Portraits (London, Macmillan and Company, 1919) • Kllgour, Raymond L», Messrs. Roberts Brothers. Publlshore (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1952)• Kramer, Sidney, 4 History of Stone and Kimball and Herbert £. Stone £ng Company, with & Bibliography of Their Publl cations. 1895"1905 TChlcago, University of Chicago Press, 1940). 292 Letters of George Meredith, collected and edited by his son (N. Y., Charles Scribner1 s Sons, 1912). The Letters of Henry James. ed . Percy Lubbock (N . Y., Charles Scribner^ Sons, 1920), 2 vols. Letters of Richard Watson Gilder, ed . Rosamond Glider (Boston, Houghton Mifflln Company, 1916). The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson. South Seas Edition, ed. Sidney Colvin (N. Y., Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925), 4 vols* Life in Letters of W. £. Howells, ed. Mildred Howells (Garden City, N. Y*, Doubled ay, Doran and Company, 1928), 2 vols. McClure, S. S., My Autobiography (N. Y., Frederick A. Stokes Company, 191*0 . Mott, Frank Luther, Golden Multitudes. The Story of Best Sellers In the United States ( N . Y ., The Macmillan Company]! 1947) • Prideaux, w. F., A Bibliography of the Works of Robert Louls Stevenson, Revised Edition, ed * Mrs. Luther S.’’Livingston (London, Frank Holllngs, 1918). Stevenson, Robert Louis, Collected Works (N. Y., Charles Scribner1 s Sons, 1918-1920), 25 vols.: Novels and Tales: Vols. I-XI; XXI Travels and Essays: Vols. XII-XV Ballads and Other Poems: Vol. XVI Letters ana Mlsoellanles: Vols. XVII-a X; XXII-yJiV Tooker, L . Frank, The Joys and Tribulations of an Editor (N. Y., The Century Company, 1925).

Atlsntlo Monthly: Copeland, C. T., "Robert Louis Stevenson," LXXV (April, 1895), 537-546. Kirk, Sophia, "Robert Louis Stevenson," LX (December* 1887), 747-755* "The Real Stevenson," LXXXV (May, 1900), 702-705 "Review of St. Ives/ 1 L X X X (December, 1897), 846-851* Century Maaazlnes Bunner, H. C., "Review of Stevenson's New Arabian Niahts." X X V (February# 1883)#

Critics "After Dinner Chats," X I I I (December 15# 1888), 506. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the Staae.11 X (May 14, 188777 254* "Or* Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the Staae." XI (September 17, l5B7)7l42. Falconer, W. L., "Robert Louis Stevenson," X I I I (December 29# 1888), 525-324. M 1 Car thy, Justin Huntly, "Stevenson as an Essayist, XXVI (January 19, 1895), 50. "Optimistic Invalid," X (March 19, 1887), 144. "Review of The Black Arrow." XII (June 23. 1888). 503-304.

"Review of David Balfour." XXI11 (September 16, 1893), 181. "Review of Dr. J ekyll and Mr. Hyde.11 VIII (February 6, 1886)t 68.

"Review of The Dynjyai^fiE,“ VI (June 27, 1885), 304.

"Review of The Ebb-Tide." XXV (August 11, 1894), 68-89* "Review of Fftini 11 Studies of Men and Books." II (September 9# 1882), 236-237* "Review of Kidnapped." IX (July 17# 1886), 31* "Review of Kidnapped." IX (August 28, 1886), 100.

"Review of The Master of Ballantrae." XV (October 19# 1889)# 183. 2 9 4

"Review of Memoriae and Portrait a," XI (Deoember 17, 1887), 309-310. "Review of The Merry Men.11 X (April 16, 1887), 188

"Review of St. Ivee.11 XXXI (November 13, 1897), 2 8 0 . "Review of Treasure I eland." IV (Maroh 8, 1884), 111. "Review of Weir of Hermiaton." XXVIII (June 13, 18957,“422? . "Review of The Wrecker.11 XIX (October 10, 1891), 184.

"Review of The Wrong Box." XV (July 6, 1889), 2 .

"Review of The Wrong Box," XV (August 17, 1 8 8 9 ), 77-78.

"Richard Mansfield Pay b Royalties on Stage Production of Dr. J ekyll and Mr. Hyde." XII (March 24, 188B), l4s. "Robert Louis Stevenson's Popularity," XIV (March 9, 1889), 123* Stedman, £• C», "Stevenson Memorial Address," XXVI (January 12, 1895), 29-32* "Theater Reoe&pts on the Opening Night of Dr- J ekyll and M r . Hyd e." XI (September 17, 1387)7 142. "A Writer About Whom the Critics Agree," X (March 12, 1887), 130. Zongwlll, I., "Stevenson's Ebb-Tlde." XXV (August 11, 1894), 88-89* The Dial: "Review of David Bail four." XV (October 16, 1893), 2 2 6 . "Review of Dr. J ekyll and Mr. Hvd e." VI (March, 18857, 301. 295 "Review of The Dynamiter," VI (September, 1885), 1 2 1 . "Review of The Ebb-Tide," XVII (September 1, 1894), 123. "Review of Familiar Studlee of Men and Books.11 VII (June, 1887), 44. "Review of The Master of Ballantrae." X (December, 18 8 9 ), 214• "Review of Memories and Portraits," VIII (January, l5o$), 226. "Review of The Merry Men." VII (April, 1887), 2 9 2 . "Review of St. Ives." XXIII (November 16, 1897), 282-283. "Review of Treasure I aland." V (May, 1884), 19* "Review of The Wrecker," XIII (Au^st, 1892), 104.

"Review of The Wrong Box," IX (July, 1888), 68. "Review of WSlr of Hermiston," XXI (July 1, 1896), 18.

"Stevenson's Black Arrow," IX (July, 1888), 68. Harper1 s Monthly! Howells, W. D., "Review of Dr. J ekyll and Mr. Hyde." LXXII (May, 1886), 972-973- Publishers1 Weekly: Volumes XVI-LVII. The Nation! "Review of A Child1 s Pardon of Verses." XXXX (June 18, 1885), 504. "Review of David Balfour," LVII (December 14, 1893), 451-452. "Review of Dr. J ekyll and Mr. Hyde," XXXXII (March 4, i5B6), 197" "Review of The Ebb-Tide." LIX (September 20, 1894), 219- 296

"Review of The Master of Ballantrae.11 L (March 13, 1^90), 225- "Review of The Merry Men/ 1 XXXXIV (May 19# 1887), 4 2 9 - 4 3 0 .

"Review of Travelb with a Donkey." XXVII (June 19, 1 S T 9 7 7 423:------"Review of Treasure Island," XXXVIII (April 3, 1884), 301-302. The Overland Monthly; "Review of The Ebb-Tide." XXIV (October, 1894), 447. "Review of Ballads." XVII (June, 1891), 543*654. 2 97

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I, Roy Albert Riggs, was b o m In Columbus, Ohio, March 24, 1913* I received my secondary school educa­ tion In the public sohools of the city of Columbus, Ohio. My undergraduate training was obtained at The Ohio State University, from which I received the degree Bachelor of Arts in 1939 • I received the degree Master of Arts from The Ohio State University in 1947* While completing requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University, I served as Graduate Assistant in the Department of ShgllBh from

1 9 4 9 to 1951* and as Assistant Instructor from 1951 to 1953.