[Rarebooks] FS: Rare Robert Louis Stevenson Ephemera

[Allington Books]

Greetings to All.
We offer the below-described Rare set of Original Plans for an Addition to
Skerryvore, the home of Robert Louis Stevenson, together with Original
Plans for road improvements to Middle Road (the street which runs to Alum
Chine Road) noting Skerryvore (and Stevenson) as well as providing the
names of the owners and tenants of the Middle Road properties.  Over 20
images are posted on our site at  www.allingtonbooks.com.
*Immediate payment is required.  To purchase, please do so directly at
www.allingtonbooks.com <http://www.allingtonbooks.com> or email us and we
will send the Buyer a PayPal invoice.  (*Please do not send payment until
we contact you with an email confirmation of purchase separate from that
automatically sent by our site.)  Alternatively, Buyer may call us to
provide his or her credit card information.
The set is returnable (in the same condition as delivered to Buyer) within
15 days of delivery (or attempted delivery, if earlier) of the items to
Buyer's mailing address.  Shipping costs will exceed the amount quoted by
our site.
The items are subject to prior sale.
With Thanks for your consideration of this rare set of Stevenson ephemera
and
Best Wishes,
Stephen
Allington Antiquarian Books, LLC


Stevenson, Robert Louis; Sumner, Heywood
RARE: Original Plans for an Addition to Skerryvore Together With Original
Plans for Improvements to Middle Road Showing Robert Louis Stevenson as
owner of Skerryvore and showing the Owners and Tenants of Neighboring
Properties [Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]

Bournemouth: 1900. First Edition. GREATLY DISCOUNTED. WAS $7,500 NOW
$2,350. RARE: ORIGINAL PLANS FOR AN ADDITION TO SKERRYVORE, Robert Louis
Stevenson's home in Bournemouth where John Singer Sargent painted Stevenson
and his wife and where Stevenson had the famous dream which inspired his
great work "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", which tale, among
other great works, he wrote at Skerryvore. The Plans were prepared in 1900
for Heywood Sumner, Esq., a successor in ownership, for the addition of a
Studio to the house. [Heywood Sumner -- George Heywood Maunoir Sumner --
was the well-known English painter, illustrator and art-craftsman who was
closely involved with the Arts and Crafts movement and the late-Victorian
London art world. Sumner, who was qualified as a Barrister, also employed
much of his time as an amateur archaeologist, geologist, naturalist, and
folklorist.] Skerryvore, whose lawns ran down from the house to Alum Chine
Road, is where Stevenson lived from 1885 until his departure for Samoa
(where he died in 1894). Thus, the Plans were prepared soon after his
departure and show the house as it existed when Stevenson owned it,
together with the proposed Studio addition. A "wedding present" from
Stevenson's father to Stevenson and his wife, Fanny, approximately four
years after their marriage -- most likely the father's attempt to keep his
peripatetic son near to him in his last years -- Stevenson came to legal
ownership of it upon his father's death in 1887. Named after "Skerryvore",
the tallest lighthouse in Scotland and one designed by his uncle, Alan
Stevenson, who, like Stevenson's father, was a leading lighthouse engineer,
the house was destroyed by German bombs on November 16, 1940. There now
stands in its place a memorial garden containing a statue of the lighthouse
for which the home was named. [One frame measures approximately 28 3/4
inches x approximately 20 inches and the other frame measures approximately
15 1/8 inches x 29 7/8 inches.] With some tears and minor loss, these
ORIGINAL PLANS are in quite nice condition overall, are UNIQUE TO THE
MARKET, and likely comprise the only plans for this important house
available, or hereafter likely to be available, for purchase. TOGETHER
WITH: Original Plans (comprised of two sheets) for Improvements to Middle
Road Showing Robert Louis Stevenson as owner of Skerryvore and showing the
Owners and Tenants of Neighboring Properties. The first page of the Plans
for the Middle Road Improvements are dated January 6, 1885. With some
tears, minor loss, and fold lines these ORIGINAL PLANS are in quite nice
condition overall, and are unique to the market. Each page has been
archivally mounted to, and removable from, a white archival non-wooden
board.) [The front, and smaller sheet, measures approximately 27 inches x
approximately 35 inches, and the second, and larger, sheet measures
approximately 40 1/2 inches x 26 3/4 inches.] Notably, they show the names
of the owners of the properties along Middle Road as well as the residents
of such properties who were neighbors to Stevenson's Skerryvore property,
and show Skerryvore as the property of "R. L. Stevenson". Presumably, many,
if not all, of the residents along Middle Road named on the Plans certainly
would have been in residence there when Stevenson and his bride took
possession of Skerryvore in April, 1885. Each of the four sheets show some
relevant stamps and relevant pencil notes. Altogether these Plans
constitute an important record of Stevenson's home, a LITERARY LANDMARK and
a rare opportunity for the Collector. A WONDERFUL GROUP OF RARE ROBERT
LOUIS STEVENSON ITEMS. RARE INDEED. [PLEASE NOTE: Buyer's shipping cost for
this group will exceed the shipping cost quoted by this site as the items,
with protective packaging, together weigh approximately 55 pounds.]. Very
Good +. Item #981

Stephen Johnson
Allington Antiquarian Books, LLC
Rare and Collectible Books, both Antiquarian and Modern
www.allingtonbooks.com
336-414-0435