STEVENSON, Robert Louis. Autograph draft manuscript of sections of In the South Seas: Being an Account of Experiences and Observations in the Marquesas, Paumotus and Gilbert Islands... . [Probably written October 1889-autumn 1891; published 1895]. Drafts, with very numerous revisions, deletions and corrections in the text; a few passages marked for insertion, with two different draft Tables of Contents, also revised.
STEVENSON, Robert Louis. Autograph draft manuscript of sections of In the South Seas: Being an Account of Experiences and Observations in the Marquesas, Paumotus and Gilbert Islands... . [Probably written October 1889-autumn 1891; published 1895]. Drafts, with very numerous revisions, deletions and corrections in the text; a few passages marked for insertion, with two different draft Tables of Contents, also revised. 90 pages, folio (12¾ x 8 15/16 in.. and slightly smaller). Written in dark brown ink on rectos and some versos, using at least three paper stocks: one laid, un-lined, watermarked "Imperial Australian Vellum"; another lined, watermarked "Crown Imperial," a third, yellow in tint, lined on one side, unwatermarked (a paper often used by Stevenson). STEVENSON'S "IN THE SOUTH SEAS": A NEWLY DISCOVERED MANUSCRIPT WITH UNPUBLISHED PORTIONS Stevenson had suffered from ill-health for many years, and in 1887 he and his family traveled abroad in search of a more suitable climate, settling for a time in the Adirondack Mountains, where he began The Master of Ballantrae (1889). An ocean voyage was recommended, so in June 1888, aboard a chartered yacht, he and his entourage departed San Francisco for the South Pacific. Over the next three years Stevenson visited the Hawaiian Islands (where he befriended King David Kalakaua), and thoroughly explored the Gilbert Islands, the Marquesas, Tahiti and Samoa. These remote islands, their extensive but vanishing folklore and customs (including the practice of cannibalism), greatly fascinated Stevenson and his Pacific writings remain a valuable record of a unique culture in rapid transformation. In 1890 he purchased property in the Samoan Islands and built an estate he christened Vailima. Stevenson was drawn into Samoan politics and internecine conflict between claimants to the throne, while colonial powers, behind the scenes, vied for influence, as recounted in A Footnote to History (1892). The exotic setting was good for Stevenson's health and proved a productive spur to his late works, including Catriona (1893, a sequel to Kidnapped ), Island Nights' Entertainment (1893), The Ebb-Tide (1894, a grim tale of whites in the Pacific), (1895) and Weir of Hermiston (unfinished, published posthumously in 1896). The Samoan natives honored him with the name "Tusitala," or Teller of Tales. In an editorial note prefacing the first book-form publication of Stevenson's South Seas articles, in the Edinburgh Edition (1896), Sidney Colvin wrote: "...Before setting out on his Pacific travels, the author had contracted to write an account...in the form of letters for serial publication. The plan by and by changed in his mind into that of a book partly of travel and partly research...He began to compose the chapters of such a book on board the Janet Nicoll [April to September 1890], and continued the task during the first ten months of his residence in Samoa (October 1890, to July 1891)." Significant portions are very likely a first draft; at least two sections ("The Lazaretto of Today" and "Manahiki"), are present in two versions. Some material, including the "Manahiki" chapters, does not appear to have been previously published. Some sequences are incomplete, and, given Stevenson's penchant for occasionally writing on both sides of the sheet, and re-numbering, the overall structure is in places difficult to reconstruct. Future close study of this newly discovered manuscript and its relation to other surviving manuscripts will shed valuable light on the genesis of this remarkable book. (For other manuscripts see R.G. Swearingen, Prose Writings of Robert Louis Stevenson A Guide , pp.134-137. We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Swearingen's assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.) A rough outline of the contents follows, arranged in four groups: Summary of Contents: 1) Table of contents, 1 p., listing chapters numbered from I to XXXIX, verso numbered "1" with 14 lines commencing "I came on deck at four i
STEVENSON, Robert Louis. Autograph draft manuscript of sections of In the South Seas: Being an Account of Experiences and Observations in the Marquesas, Paumotus and Gilbert Islands... . [Probably written October 1889-autumn 1891; published 1895]. Drafts, with very numerous revisions, deletions and corrections in the text; a few passages marked for insertion, with two different draft Tables of Contents, also revised.
STEVENSON, Robert Louis. Autograph draft manuscript of sections of In the South Seas: Being an Account of Experiences and Observations in the Marquesas, Paumotus and Gilbert Islands... . [Probably written October 1889-autumn 1891; published 1895]. Drafts, with very numerous revisions, deletions and corrections in the text; a few passages marked for insertion, with two different draft Tables of Contents, also revised. 90 pages, folio (12¾ x 8 15/16 in.. and slightly smaller). Written in dark brown ink on rectos and some versos, using at least three paper stocks: one laid, un-lined, watermarked "Imperial Australian Vellum"; another lined, watermarked "Crown Imperial," a third, yellow in tint, lined on one side, unwatermarked (a paper often used by Stevenson). STEVENSON'S "IN THE SOUTH SEAS": A NEWLY DISCOVERED MANUSCRIPT WITH UNPUBLISHED PORTIONS Stevenson had suffered from ill-health for many years, and in 1887 he and his family traveled abroad in search of a more suitable climate, settling for a time in the Adirondack Mountains, where he began The Master of Ballantrae (1889). An ocean voyage was recommended, so in June 1888, aboard a chartered yacht, he and his entourage departed San Francisco for the South Pacific. Over the next three years Stevenson visited the Hawaiian Islands (where he befriended King David Kalakaua), and thoroughly explored the Gilbert Islands, the Marquesas, Tahiti and Samoa. These remote islands, their extensive but vanishing folklore and customs (including the practice of cannibalism), greatly fascinated Stevenson and his Pacific writings remain a valuable record of a unique culture in rapid transformation. In 1890 he purchased property in the Samoan Islands and built an estate he christened Vailima. Stevenson was drawn into Samoan politics and internecine conflict between claimants to the throne, while colonial powers, behind the scenes, vied for influence, as recounted in A Footnote to History (1892). The exotic setting was good for Stevenson's health and proved a productive spur to his late works, including Catriona (1893, a sequel to Kidnapped ), Island Nights' Entertainment (1893), The Ebb-Tide (1894, a grim tale of whites in the Pacific), (1895) and Weir of Hermiston (unfinished, published posthumously in 1896). The Samoan natives honored him with the name "Tusitala," or Teller of Tales. In an editorial note prefacing the first book-form publication of Stevenson's South Seas articles, in the Edinburgh Edition (1896), Sidney Colvin wrote: "...Before setting out on his Pacific travels, the author had contracted to write an account...in the form of letters for serial publication. The plan by and by changed in his mind into that of a book partly of travel and partly research...He began to compose the chapters of such a book on board the Janet Nicoll [April to September 1890], and continued the task during the first ten months of his residence in Samoa (October 1890, to July 1891)." Significant portions are very likely a first draft; at least two sections ("The Lazaretto of Today" and "Manahiki"), are present in two versions. Some material, including the "Manahiki" chapters, does not appear to have been previously published. Some sequences are incomplete, and, given Stevenson's penchant for occasionally writing on both sides of the sheet, and re-numbering, the overall structure is in places difficult to reconstruct. Future close study of this newly discovered manuscript and its relation to other surviving manuscripts will shed valuable light on the genesis of this remarkable book. (For other manuscripts see R.G. Swearingen, Prose Writings of Robert Louis Stevenson A Guide , pp.134-137. We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Swearingen's assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.) A rough outline of the contents follows, arranged in four groups: Summary of Contents: 1) Table of contents, 1 p., listing chapters numbered from I to XXXIX, verso numbered "1" with 14 lines commencing "I came on deck at four i
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
