Marking 170 years since birth of RLS – on birthday he gave away
The 170th anniversary of his birth will be celebrated around the world today but, in the last years of his life, Robert Louis Stevenson legally gave his birthday away.
Famed for his novels including Kidnapped and Treasure Island, it is probably less well known that the writer legally transferred his birthday to a friend in Samoa.
Born at 8 Howard Place, Edinburgh, Stevenson, despite poor health, travelled the world in search of love and adventure and settled in Samoa, where he built a grand house, Villa Vailima, in 1890.
It was there he met Annie Ide, the older daughter of Henry Ide, the American consul and later chief justice in Apia. Mitchell Manson, of the Robert Louis Stevenson Club, said the author became friendly with the Ide family and struck up a friendship with Annie.
Mr Manson said: “Stevenson felt sorry for Annie, whose birthday fell on Christmas Day. So with his training in law Stevenson, around 1892, drafted a formal legal document transferring the ownership of his own birthday, November 13, to
Annie so that she could have a day unique to herself on which to celebrate her birthday.”
The document was a mix of legal and humorous language, with Stevenson declaring he had reached an age where “I have no further use for a birthday”. He would have been about 42 at the time.
A penalty clause should Annie cease celebrating her new birthday was also included. “I hereby revoke the donation and transfer my rights of the said birthday to the President of the United States,” Stevenson wrote.
Mr Manson said that the Stevenson Club of Monterey, California, makes a point of celebrating the writer’s “unbirthday” every November 13.
The city is where Stevenson took lodgings while waiting for his future wife Fanny Osbourne to divorce her first husband.
The club has contributed to RLS Around The World In Under An Hour, an event where fans in nine countries have given a reading which relives the writer’s life journey as he criss-crossed the globe.
From Edinburgh to Bournemouth, France, the United States and Samoa, the 170th birthday celebration, which can be watched online, connects the places to the author and the words they inspired.
Stevenson’s travels were perhaps all the more remarkable because of his lifelong battle with lung problems, with his determination also celebrated today.
Jon Cossar, former foundation vice-dean of the Faculty of Travel Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, will give an online talk that explores the links between Stevenson’s work, travels and health problems and the risks he endured on the road.
Meawhile the anniversary will be celebrated today at the Writers’ Museum in Edinburgh with a programme of digital events.
The Robert Louis Stevenson Club, which was set up to “keep the memory of this extraordinary man and fine writer ever green,” also celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2020.
Mr Manson said: “We have around 300 members worldwide and all of us have a reason for loving this writer. For me, I think it is because he led such an adventurous life despite his illness. He rose above the disability and travelled the world.”