Record Number: 12852

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

After lunch was always a pleasant time at Vailima...that was the time Louis usually chose to read aloud something he had written. We were an eager, attentive audience, and when he had finished he welcomed suggestions and we were free to say whatever we liked. Usually we were unanimously enthusiastic, especially over chapters of 'Weir of Hermiston'...once, however, he read a story called 'The Witch Woman' that none of us cared for very much. My mother said it showed the influence of a Swedish author Louis had been reading, and was not in his own clear, individual style. She made no comment when he sent it to his publisher, and nothing more was heard of 'The Witch Woman'.

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 7 Dec 1889 and 3 Dec 1894

Country:

Samoa

Time

afternoon: After lunch

Place:

city: Vailima, near Mount Vaea
specific address: 'Vailima'

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:

Church of Scotland

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

Samoa

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

Fanny Stevenson (wife); Isobel Field (step-daughter)

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Robert Louis Stevenson

Title:

Weir of Hermiston

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

12852

Source:

Print

Author:

Isobel Field

Editor:

n/a

Title:

This Life I've Loved

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1937

Vol:

n/a

Page:

294

Additional Comments:

Memoir of Stevenson's step-daughter, Isobel Field (previously Strong, nee Osbourne).

Citation:

Isobel Field, This Life I've Loved (London, 1937), p. 294, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=12852, accessed: 02 April 2023

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Additional Comments:

'Weir of Hermiston' was unfinished at the time of Stevenson's death on 3 December 1894.