-
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Thomas and Margaret Stevenson.
-
Stevenson saw the publication of his first volume of work, An Inland Voyage; the book provides an account of his trip from Antwerp to northern France, which he made in a canoe via the river Oise.
-
A turning point in Stevenson's personal life came when he met Fanny Osbourne, in September 1876. She was a 36-year-old American. The two married in 1880 and moved to California. They remained together until Stevenson's death.
-
Also appearing in the early 1880s were Stevenson's short stories "Thrawn Janet" (1881), "The Treasure of Franchard" (1883) and "Markheim" (1885), the latter two certain certainities with Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde respectively.
-
Publication of humorous essays by Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, although originally published from 1876 to 1879 in various magazines.
-
Stevenson's first book of short fiction, New Arabian Nights. This story marked the beginning of Stevenson's adventure fiction, which would come to be his calling card.
-
The 1880s were remarkable both for Stevenson's declining health and for his prodigious literary production. In this state he was forced to read and write some of his most popular novels, notably Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped (1886), Strange Case by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) and The Black Arrow (1888).
-
In June 1888, Stevenson and his family set sail from California, to travel the islands of the Pacific Ocean, stopping for stays at the Hawaiian Islands, where he became good friends with King Kalākaua.
-
In 1889, they arrived in the Samoan islands, where they decided to build a house and settle. The island setting stimulated Stevenson's imagination, and, subsequently, influenced his writing during this time.
-
Stevenson died of a stroke on December 3, 1894, at his home in Vailima, Samoa. He was buried at the top of Mount Vaea, overlooking the sea.
