Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes: and Other Travel Writings (1879; 2019)

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON was born on November 13, 1850, in Edinburgh, Scotland. As a child, he suffered from fevers, coughing, bronchial infections, and hemorrhaging of the lungs. His formal education was limited because of his medical problems. His nurse read him stories, cultivating his imagination and inspiring him to become a writer.Stevenson’s parents expected that when he arrived at Edinburgh University in 1867, he would study science so that he could join the family’s lighthouse engineering company. He had little interest, and he aspired to be a writer instead. As a compromise, he studied law, in case his writing career did not work out. He received his law degree in 1875, but he never worked as a lawyer.During summer vacations from school, Stevenson spent time in France with other writers and artists, which led to his travel writing. His first essay, “Roads,” was published in 1873. “Forest Notes” was written during the summer of 1875 and published in the Cornhill Magazine in May 1876. His first book, An Inland Voyage, which recounted his canoe trip from Antwerp to Northern France, was published in 1878. Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes, which detailed his hiking trip in South-Central France with a donkey named Modestine, was published in 1879.Stevenson’s writing career took off with his novels in the 1880s. His first taste of popularity and profit came with Treasure Island in 1883. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was an immediate success and spawned innumerable stage productions and films. His other standout books were Kidnapped (1886), The Master of Ballantrae (1889), and Catriona (1893).(...)(biographical sketch continued under "reviews" below!) Temperament and poor health motivated Robert Louis Stevenson to travel widely throughout his short life, and before he was celebrated as the author of Treasure Island, A Child's Garden of Verses, and other immortal works, he was known for his travelogues. This collection presents some of his finest writing in that vein, starting with "An Inland Voyage." This 1878 chronicle of a canoe journey through Belgium and France charmingly captures the European villages and townspeople of a bygone era. Other selections include "Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes," a humorous account of a mountain trek, and "Forest Notes," a meditation on nature based on visits to the Forest of Fontainebleau near Paris and adjacent artists' colonies. These early writings offer captivating insights into Stevenson's bohemian nature and the wanderlust that sent him from his native Scotland to journeys around the world. Temperament and poor health motivated Robert Louis Stevenson to travel widely throughout his short life, and before he was celebrated as the author of Treasure Island, A Child's Garden of Verses, and other immortal works, he was known for his travelogues. This collection presents some of his finest writing in that vein, starting with "An Inland Voyage." This 1878 chronicle of a canoe journey through Belgium and France charmingly captures the European villages and townspeople of a bygone era. Other selections include "Travels with a Donkey in the CEvennes," a humorous account of a mountain trek, and "Forest Notes," a meditation on nature based on visits to the Forest of Fontainebleau near Paris and adjacent artists' colonies. These early writings offer captivating insights into Stevenson's bohemian nature and the wanderlust that sent him from his native Scotland to journeys around the world.