This article made its first appearance in the volume _Memories and
Portraits_ (1887). It was divided into three parts. The interest of
this essay is almost wholly autobiographical, telling us, with more or
less seriousness, how its author "learned to write." After Stevenson
became famous, this confession attracted universal attention, and is
now one of the best-known of all his compositions. Many youthful
aspirants for literary fame have been moved by its perusal to adopt a
similar method; but while Stevenson's system, if faithfully followed,
would doubtless correct many faults, it would not of itself enable a
man to write another _Aes Triplex_ or _Treasure Island_. It was
genius, not industry, that placed Stevenson in English literature.
[Note 1: _Pattern of an Idler_. See his essay in this volume, _An
Apology for Idlers_.]
[Note 2: _A school of posturing_. It is a nice psychological question
whether or not it is possible for one to write a diary with absolutely
no thought of its being read by some one else.]
[Note 3: _Hazlitt, to Lamb, to Wordsworth, to Sir Thomas Browne, to
Defoe, to Hawthorne, to Montaigne, to Beaudelaire, and to Obermann_.
For Hazlitt, see Note 19 of Chapter II above. Charles Lamb
(1775-1834), author of the delightful _Essays of Elia_ (1822-24), the
_tone_ of which book is often echoed in Stevenson's essays.... Sir
Thomas Browne (1605-1682), regarded by many as the greatest prose
writer of the seventeenth century; his best books are _Religio Medici_
(the religion of a physician), 1642, and _Urn Burial_ (1658). The
300th anniversary of his birth was widely celebrated on 19 October
1905.... Daniel Defoe (1661-1731), an enormously prolific writer; his
first important novel, _Robinson Crusoe_ (followed by many others) was
written when he was 58 years old.... Nathaniel Hawthorne, the greatest
literary artist that America has ever produced was born 4 July 1804,
and died in 1864. His best novel (the finest in American Literature)
was _The Scarlet Letter_ (1850).... Montaigne. Stevenson was heavily
indebted to this wonderful genius. See Note 4 of Chapter VI above. ...
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) wrote the brilliant and decadent
_Fleurs du Mai_ (1857-61). He translated Poe into French, and was
partly responsible for Poe's immense vogue in France. Had Baudelaire's
French followers possessed the power of their master, we should be
able to forgive them for writing.... Obermann. _Òbermann_ is the title
of a story by the French writer Etienne Pivert de Sénancour
(1770-1846). The book, which appeared in 1804, is full of vague
melancholy, in the Werther fashion, and is more of a psychological
study than a novel. In recent years, _Amiel's Journal_ and
Sienkiewicz's _Without Dogma_ belong to the same school of literature.
Matthew Arnold was fond of quoting from Sénancour's _Obermann_.]
[Note 4: _Ruskin ... Pasticcio ... Bordello ... Morris ... Swinburne
... John Webster ... Congreve_. These names exhibit the astonishing
variety of Stevenson's youthful attempts, for they represent nearly
every possible style of composition. John Ruskin (1819-1900) exercised
a greater influence thirty years ago than he does to-day Stevenson in
the words "a passing spell," seems to apologise for having been
influenced by him at all.... Pasticcio, an Italian word, meaning
"pie": Swinburne uses it in the sense of "medley," which is about the
same as its significance here. _Sordello_: Stevenson naturally
accompanies this statement with a parenthetical exclamation.
_Sordello_, published in 1840, is the most obscure of all Browning's
poems, and for many years blinded critics to the poet's genius.
Innumerable are the witticisms aimed at this opaque work. See, for
example, W. Sharp's _Life of Browning_ ... William Morris (1834-96),
author of the _Earthly Paradise_ (1868-70): for his position and
influence in XIXth century literature see H.A. Beers, _History of
English Romanticism_, Vol. II.... Algernon Charles Swinburne, born
1837, generally regarded (1906) as England's foremost living poet, is
famous chiefly for the melodies of his verse. His influence seems to
be steadily declining and he is certainly not so much read as
formerly.... For John Webster and Congreve, see Notes 37 and 26 of
Chapter IV above.]
[Note 5: _City of Peebles in the style of the Book of Snobs._
Thackeray's _Book of Snobs_ was published in 1848. Peebles is the
county town of Peebles County in the South of Scotland.]
[Note 6: _My later plays_, etc. Stevenson's four plays were not
successful. They were all written in collaboration with W.E. Henley.
_Deacon Brodie_ was printed in 1880: _Admiral Guinea_ and _Beau
Austin_ in 1884: _Macaire_ in 1885. In 1892, the first three were
published in one volume, under the title _Three Plays_: In 1896 all
four appeared in a volume called _Four Plays_. At the time the essay
_A College Magazine_ was published, only one of these plays had been
acted, _Deacon Brodie_, to which Stevenson refers in our text. This
"came on the stage itself and was played by bodily actors" at Pullan's
_Theatre of Varieties_, Bradford, England, 28 December 1882, and in
March 1883 at Her Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, "when it was styled a
'New Scotch National Drama.'"--Prideaux, _Bibliography_, p. 10. It was
later produced at Prince's Theatre, London, 2 July 1884, and in
Montreal, 26 September 1887. _Beau Austin_ was played at the Haymarket
Theatre, London, 3 Nov. 1890. _Admiral Guinea_ was played at the
_Avenue Theatre_, on the afternoon of 29 Nov. 1897, and, like the
others, was not successful. _The Athenaeum_ for 4 Dec. 1897 contains
an interesting criticism of this drama.... _Semiramis_ was the
original plan of a "tragedy," which Stevenson afterwards rewrote as a
novel, _Prince Otto_, and published in 1885.]
[Note 7: _It was so Keats learned_. This must be swallowed with a
grain of salt. The best criticism of the poetry of Keats is contained
in his own _Letters_, which have been edited by Colvin and by Forman.]
[Note 8: _Montaigne ... Cicero_. Montaigne, as a child, spoke Latin
before he could French: see his _Essays_. Montaigne is always
original, frank, sincere: Cicero (in his orations) is always a
_Poseur_.]
[Note 9: _Burns ... Shakespeare_. Some reflection on, and
investigation of these statements by Stevenson, will be highly
beneficial to the student.]
[Note 10: The literary scales. It is very interesting to note that
Thomas Carlyle had completely mastered the technique of ordinary prose
composition, before he deliberately began to write in his own
picturesque style, which has been called "Carlylese"; note the
enormous difference in style between his _Life of Schiller_ (1825) and
his _Sartor Resartus_ (1833-4). Carlyle would be a shining
illustration of the point Stevenson is trying to make.]
No notes have been added to the second and third parts of this essay,
as these portions are unimportant, and may be omitted by the student;
they are really introductory to something quite different, and are
printed in our edition only to make this essay complete.