New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-10
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
NEW EDITION OF HIS WORKS.

lie edition in sixteen octave volumes OF which
six have been published. Illustrated with two
PORTRAITS and fron.ispleces by American artists.
New-York: Charles scribners Sons 1885.
Is Robert Louis Stevenson a classic? In so far
as editorial enthusiasm may be trusted the an
suer gives him at once a permanent place In the
temnle Of fame. or the splendid edition of his
works in twenty volumes edited by Mr. Colvin
ord unfinished in London only the first half has
appeared yet already there seems 10 be a
demand wide enough to call forth the present
American edition If posthumous reprinting on
eumntuous scale means anything then Steven
sons nos,tion Is secure His unoriucal admirers.
and there are many of them protest that there
never was any doubt If this. II Is possibly true.
As these volumes como forth, one by one, the In
disputable fact which they enforce Is that their
author was a man OF genius. But they inspire,
nevertheless desire to trace that genius to It's
sources and to ascertain the truth about steven
son with the accuracy valued by an impartial
render No writer Of time appeals to the
critic with a more urgent nsistence that ne may
b. saved from his friends He died In a blaze OF
glory. and there has been a more or less
hysterical fiutter over him ever since. stevenson
must have felt the irritating presage of it in his
life For many years his work has been the
special treasury of the art for arts sake" rhet-
had II dinned into our ears ad nauseam that he
was one OF the great writer's OF English prose.
He wanted the title and worked hard to win 1t.
But ne would never have been content with the
craftsman's laure.s alone. and II is not merely
short-sighted but unjust to approach him
through that pcrtico OF style which he strove so
gallantly TO adorn. After all it was only
portico to him. II he is TO become classic II
will be because he has something to say, quite
as much as because he says 1t we'll
What he has to say covers so wide field that
Stevenson threatens at the outset to relinquish
his claim to the one peculiar virtue OF the classic
sngeness OF aim accompanied by cAcentration
of power. Versatility was the condition of his
genius It gave him his strength. and combined
with his physical instability, 1t gave him also
his weakness. The point tells distinctly in his
career as a novelist. For romancer Of his
high imaginative gifts and undoubted skill, the
level Of his romantic prose huctuates curiously.
Between David Bafour" and THE Black Ar
row" a gulf is fixed And though either the
former book or its sequel, "Kidnapped,"is more,
workmanke and serious production than thN-
early Treasure Island" how much more potent
that Is in the characteristic spell OF Stevenson?
In his prime he wrote The Master Of Ballan-
trae" and no one can turn its pages without
quickening Of the pulse, 1t is so picturesque, so
full of incident and fire But in this, too. the
fascination Of his youth is missed, the inimitable
glamour Of Long John Silver and the rest Is
absent
II that glamour were something slight, unim-
portant anything less than the very lifeblood Of
Treasure Island" 1t might be readily spared
for the sake Of the maturer qualities which Ste
venson put into his later romances But the
hot vii
fact in the evolution Of our author as writer
of fiction. AS he ripened In that art of which
we hear 50 much as his constructive faculty
developed and his studies Of character grew
more profound, he drew away from the spark
which keeps alght the pages Of Treasure ISL
and" and which we know Orom other OF his
works TO which will presently return was
the very mark and pole star Of his genius. In
other words, while he made progress as novel
writer In everything that means distinction OF
design and imaginative force, he surrendered
something Of that hayward. irresponsible quality
which was at the foundation Of his nature. He
becomes a formidable rival to his cleveres, con-
temporaries, and he very nearly ecpses him.
self. Read the longer stories which belong to
his middle and elder years, and they throw you
back for the absolute expression of his genius
upon Treasure Island" and the shorter fam
tastes which he printed separately or gathered
together at various times into various volumes.
Turn then. to the New Arabian Nights" to
The Dynamiter." TO Prince OTTO" I'm the
Wrong Box" These repeat the magic of his
first genuine success by liberating all the elfsh
Enthusiastically of his mind, by giving free play
to that debonair whlmsicality which was part
Of his very fibre and to which the true lover Of
Stevenson looks first and last to the secret Of
a.
has none of the audacity Of The Suicide Club"
for example, but both belong In the region of
shimmering improbabity. to that no-man's land
In which mystery is not heavy, black, impene-
trabe. but always lighted by CLEANS Of fun, by
the implication that the author and reader I'M
derstand one another very we'll and will keep
up the illusion with good humor until the end.
Stevenson in short. when he is at his best,
tablishes a personal understanding between HIM
self and his public. The latter pay with an in
dulgent creduty for the numberless graces
which this many-sided author h.ngs over his
first bold invention. prince Otto Is read with
a disposition TO meet the author halfway, so
that the unities Of the piece. so 10 speak. may
be preserved 1t does not suffice to say that
there is no pasteboard in Stevenson's scenery,
that his people are not puppets The fact re-
mains that except for extremely naive reader
1t is obvious that his public is assisting at a
play
Stevenson could not write play. His essays
In collaboration with Mr.. Henley make delight
full reading. but essays they remain. Robert
Macaire" and Beau Austin" are interesting ex-
periments. which could never hold the stage.
Yet delicate almost mpalpable. theatricality
envelops his most Characteristic prose That ne
could not successfully mould that prose into the
Dramatic FORM nor into the perfect novel which
Is the latter's nearest Of kin. Is explained by n
judgment which may possibly seem paradoxcal
&c those who regard Stevenson as a devotee II
form. Form. In the great sense. he never
achieved. The very fact that he tried 50 hard
for 1t throws some light on his comparative fall
ure. Form s instructive with the masters OF IT,