Stevenson, Robert Louis Balfour
Stevenson, Robert Louis Balfour (originally Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson ) ( 1850 – 94 ),son of Thomas Stevenson , joint engineer to the Board of Northern Lighthouses, born in Edinburgh. A sickly child, he was originally intended for his father's strenuous profession, but ill health encouraged him to abandon the study of engineering at Edinburgh University for the law. He was admitted advocate in 1875 , but had already determined to be a writer, and had published in periodicals. He was fascinated by Edinburgh low life, and cultivated a bohemian style, despite the constraint of financial dependence on his father. In 1875 L. Stephen introduced him to W. E. Henley , who became a close friend, and with whom he was to collaborate on four undistinguished plays (Deacon Brodie, 1880 ; Beau Austin, 1884 ; Admiral Guinea, 1884 ; Macaire, 1885 ). From this time on much of his life was spent...
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