Monthly Archives: February 2014

I am, I think, as honest as they can be in what I hold

Posted on February 27, 2014 by

In the winter of 1872-73 Stevenson is out of health; and there begins a religious quarrel with his father. Perhaps Thomas Stevenson, a true Scottish Calvinist, discovered the constitution of the L.J.R. (Liberty, Justice, Reverence) League, a club founded by … Continue reading →

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Don’t you wish you were a fool?

Posted on February 26, 2014 by

Back in Edinburgh, at  his family home, 17 Heriot Row, RLS writes to his Law school companion, Charles Baxter. Quotes: ‘Most noble Festus’: probably Acts 26, 25. ‘A mouse that hath its lodging in a cat’s ear’: J. Webster, The … Continue reading →

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An opera is far more real than real life to me

Posted on February 24, 2014 by

Still from Frankfurt am Main. La Juive is the ‘grand’ opera by J. F. Halévy, 1835. ‘W.S.’ stands for ‘Writer to the Signet’: in Scotland, a senior solicitor conducting cases in the Court of Session. [Dots between square brackets indicate … Continue reading →

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Real Teutons, with no deception, spring, or false bottom

Posted on February 21, 2014 by

The Rosengasse in Frankfurt am Main, where RLS ‘gets into lodgings’ with his friend, Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, was a centre of prostitution from the Middle Ages to 1938, when the alley was demolished. [As usual, dots between square brackets … Continue reading →

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Mein Herz ist im Hochland, mein Herz ist nicht hier

Posted on February 19, 2014 by

[Dots between square brackets indicate cuts made by Sir Sidney Colvin. For full, correct and critical edition of this letter, see Mehew 1, 105]. To his mother [Colvin 1911, pp. 45-49] Hotel Landsberg, [Frankfurt,] Thursday, 1st August 1872. […] Yesterday … Continue reading →

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The most courageous men in the world must be entomologists

Posted on February 17, 2014 by

During his summer holiday, in 1872, RLS visits Germany: here is a letter from Frankfurt am Main. [As usual, dots between square brackets indicate cuts made by Sir Sidney Colvin. For full, correct and critical edition of this letter, see … Continue reading →

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Perspiring like a terra-cotta jug or a Gruyère cheese

Posted on February 15, 2014 by

In the summer of 1872 RLS enjoys a holiday travel to Germany, together with Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson (1843–1898), 2nd baronet of Strathavon and the City of Edinburgh, one of the little group of his close friends. The Latin sentence … Continue reading →

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Follow, follow, follow me

Posted on February 13, 2014 by

In 1869 RLS has been elected to the Speculative Society (the ‘Spec.’) on the strength of his conversational powers, and he contributes several essays to its meetings. In 1872 he is elected one of the five Presidents, and Baxter is … Continue reading →

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In such weather one has the bird’s need to whistle

Posted on February 10, 2014 by

In 1871, RLS begins his Law classes at Edinburgh University. He gathers round him a group of lifelong friends, all fellow-members of the Speculative Society at the University, a famous literary and debating society, founded in 1764. After a winter … Continue reading →

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I wish I might become a man worth talking of

Posted on February 7, 2014 by

The following is the first which has been preserved of many letters to Alison Cunningham (‘Cummy’), the nurse whose care, during his ailing childhood, had done so much to preserve RLS’s life and awaken his love of tales and poetry, … Continue reading →

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