Record Number: 12847

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I have just returned from reading a chapter of your book to my wife and her daughter. There was not a dry eye at the table, and the reader had to suspend operations, choking upon sobs. They were tears of pride and sympathy. I beg to offer you this family anecdote as a testimony to the success of your reminiscences. Of making books there is said to be no end, and I have made many. But if I could only think once, before I died, that I had given so much and such noble pleasure to a reader, I should be more than rewarded. You have made me proud and glad to be a Scotsman.'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 19 May 1894 and 21 May 1894

Country:

Samoa

Time

n/a

Place:

specific address: 'Vailima', Samoa
location in dwelling: Dining room

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Robert Louis Stevenson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

13 Nov 1850

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer

Religion:

Chruch of Scotland

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

Samoa

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

Fanny Stevenson and Isobel Strong. Possibly Austin Strong (Isobel's son) was also present.

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

William Forbes-Mitchell

Title:

Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny 1857-9

Genre:

History, Autobiog / Diary, Memoir and Military History

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

London: Macmillan, 1894. First edition.

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

12847

Source:

Manuscript

Author:

Robert Louis Stevenson

Title:

Letter to William Forbes-Mitchell, dated 21 May 1894

Location:

ALS, Beinecke Special Collections, Yale University

Call No:

n/a

Page/Folio:

n/a

Additional Information:

This letter is reprinted in full in Bradford A. Booth and Ernest Mehew (eds), 'The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson', (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1994-5), vol. 8, p.294.

Citation:

Robert Louis Stevenson, Letter to William Forbes-Mitchell, dated 21 May 1894, ALS, Beinecke Special Collections, Yale University, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=12847, accessed: 14 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

Stevenson's copy of Forbes-Mitchell's 'Reminiscences' is in the Stevenson Collection in the Beinecke Library, Yale University; call mark IpSt48Zz7908. The volume is heavily marked in pencil in the margins. The frontispiece contains the following statement in the hand of Stevenson's step-grandson, Austin Strong: 'This book has a value as R.L.S. use [sic] to read it to us all at Vailima.'