[Rarebooks] FS: Fine Autograph Letter from Robert Louis Stevenson to his cousin Bob

[Charles Agvent]

STEVENSON, Robert Louis. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS): "one regrets 
one's youth more sharply in England than in France" n.p., n.d. . An 
important two-page letter in Stevenson's hand and SIGNED twice by him 
with his initials "R.L.S." on two sides of a 9" x 8" sheet of paper so 
that each page of writing has a blank verso. Interesting and 
characteristic content addressed to his cousin, Robert Alan Mowbray 
Stevenson, about his health and contrasting England and France. In part: 
"I have not got the cold. Fanny is better.... I am so dry-rotten that I 
can do nothing. I have been as dry-rotten in the Savile Club (the old 
building) where it was endemic, like hospital gangrene; but never 
anywhere else. It is blame cold. As soon as you have got the pontoon 
started, better let me see. Do not be stumped by difficulty of 
beginning; remember that is always hard.... Dry rot is, I think, 
English; though I have felt its hand in Parry on the gay bullyvard. The 
cure is a voyage.... It is odd: one regrets one's youth more sharply in 
England than in France. The Climate calls more for exercise, activity, 
the tightened nerve, change of scene, a little hardship, and much open 
air. In France I was quite willing to become ventripotent, sluggish and 
quadragenarian; here I want to leap, and run, and --- can't." A bit of 
staining in the margins. Near Fine, framed between two pieces of glass 
with a 1917 auction description for this letter glued to one side over 
blank space.

Robert Alan Mowbray Stevenson (known as "Bob") was perhaps the most 
important person in RLS's life when he was a student at the University 
of Edinburgh studying engineering. Bob forsake the family profession to 
study art, and he must have played some part in RLS abandoning both 
engineering and Christianity to become a writer and a Bohemian. The two 
were members of the LJR (Liberty, Justice, Reverence) Club whose 
constitution stated: "Disregard everything our parents have taught us." 
Among their friends at the time was the painter John Singer Sargent. 
(#017293)        $5,000.00

http://www.charlesagvent.com/shop/agvent/017293.html?id=pnGfpWTY

-- 
All books subject to prior sale. Cash with order; institutions may be 
billed. Postage additional: $10.00 for the first item; $5.00 for each 
thereafter. Overseas postage billed at approximate cost. Pennsylvania 
residents must add 6% sales tax. Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and 
Discover accepted. Books may be returned within 10 days of receipt for 
any reason provided they are in the same condition as sent and prior 
notice is given. Please insure returns for their full value. We carry a 
diverse stock with major specialties including Modern and 19th Century 
Literary First Editions, Signed Books, Presidential Autographs, 
Illustrated Books, and the world's largest inventory of Limited Editions 
Club books. *We have been in business since 1987 and are proud to be 
members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and 
the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB).* Please feel 
free to contact us with any wants or offerings. Thank you.

CHARLES AGVENT

291 Linden Road

Mertztown, PA 19539-8750

610-682-4750

info at charlesagvent.com

Please visit our shop: http://www.charlesagvent.com