With an engaging and distinctive style, Robert Louis Stevenson’s personal essays draw on his own experience and observations to explore a broad range of topics from illness and evolution to marriage and dreams, and from literal and literary travel to the behavior of children and the character of dogs. Stevenson examines beggars and university students, immigrants and engineers, invalids and nurses. Grappling with many of the cultural, aesthetic, and ethical questions of his time, he draws conclusions while resisting dogma. Stevenson’s personal essays are still widely considered classic models of the form, and in thisvolume, the Editor presents them alongside editorial introductions and notes in order to enrich the reader's experience.