The author Robert Louis Stevenson LIFE Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 13th November 1850. His father Thomas was an engineer. From his mother, Margaret, Robert inherited1 lung2 disease: in fact he was a frail3 child who was often ill. When he was forced to stay in bed, he liked listening to adventure stories very much: his nurse Cummy read Victorian novels4 and religious tales5 to him. He followed his father s wish6 to study engineering but his real interest was the art of writing. He also studied Law7 at Edinburgh University. He rebelled against his family s middle-class values8 and quarrelled9 with his father because Robert Louis was against the strict Calvinistic doctrine in which he was educated. He started a bohemian life in Edinburgh: he liked going into the Old Town dressed in an original way, so that people gave him the nickname10 of Velvet Jacket . Then he went to France to cure his bad health and there he met his future wife, Fanny Osbourne, who was American. She was already married and had two children, so she divorced, went to California where Fanny Robert Louis followed her and they got married in 1880. Osbourne Robert s bad health and love of adventure made him decide to take a South Seas cruise11 on board the yacht Casco: he sailed12 from San Francisco to the Marquesas Islands. He also visited Tahiti, the Hawaiian Islands and the Samoan Islands. In the letters that he wrote 1. inherited: had the same characteristics as his parents. 2. lung: organ in your body that you breathe with. 3. frail: weak. 4. novel: long, imaginary, written story. 5. tales: stories about exciting imaginary events. 6. wish: desire. 7. Law: the system of rules that people in a country must obey. 8. values: ideas about what is right and wrong. 9. quarrelled: had a disagreement. 10. nickname: an informal name. 11. cruise: holiday on a large ship. 12. sailed: started a journey by boat or ship. 4