The Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) is best remembered today for such classics as TREASURE ISLAND, STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, KIDNAPPED, and A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES. In addition to these well-known works, he was widely considered one of the nineteenth century's leading essayists. Suffering from chronic pulmonary illness, Stevenson's search for health and adventure led him to live in England, France, Switzerland, New York's Adirondacks, California, Hawaii, and Samoa, where he died at age 44.

Trenton B. Olsen, PhD is the editor of THE COMPLETE PERSONAL ESSAYS OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, author of WORDSWORTH AND EVOLUTION IN VICTORIAN LITERATURE (Routledge, 2019) and Associate Professor of English at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He is President of the Stevenson Society of America (est. 1915), which owns and operates the Robert Louis Stevenson Cottage Museum in Saranac Lake, New York.