1883’s Treasure Island might have told of the high seas and tropical new lands, but it’s inspiration was rather different. Trying to entertain his stepson during a holiday in the tiny Scottish village of Braemar, the pair spent an afternoon drawing a map together of an imaginary far away island filled with adventure…

The map that would inspire the novel was no mere scribble to pass the time on a rainy afternoon. It depicted a rugged, unconquered world named Treasure Island, with the hills and bays, water depths, latitude and longitude all named as well as a compass rose to determine its location. As for the treasure that would draw Stevenson’s hero Jim Hawkins away from his life in Bristol and on an adventure to find the treasure hidden by the infamous pirate Captain Flint, those were marked with a large cross. From here, Stevenson built out his world and millions of readers have followed him there.

​In 1886, Stevenson’s ambition and desire to break new ground saw him abandon sunny climbs and sharp cutlasses to produce The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The novella tells the story of the Dr Henry Jekyll, an honourable doctor, dedicated to his patients, who hides a terrible dark secret. At night, he transforms himself with a home-brewed potion into the diabolical, murderous Mr Hyde, a brutal killer who spreads fear and terror through the streets of London. The novel is one of the defining books of the gothic genre, and for its origins, Stevenson looked deep within, He described his own duality in a letter with the words ‘I have called the one person myself, and the other the other fellow’. It was an inner darkness never seen on the page before and one that still sends chills with every read.

Stevenson’s travels were not just confined to the pages of his books. Driven by a lifelong desire for freedom and for immersion in another world, despite several bouts of ill health, he travelled widely across North America and Australasia. Most notably was his adventures in Samoa, where he spent the final years of his life, and became so immersed in the culture of the island that the local inhabitants named him ‘Tusitala’. It’s meaning could not be more fitting: Teller of stories.