THE R. L. STEVENSON ORIGINALS.
The it. L. Stevenson Originals. By E. B. Simpson. (T. N. Fauns. 6s. net.)—It is a singularly indiscreet curiosity that seeks to lift the veil which cloaks the lives of writers from their public. Distilling their true character into their books, they should have left for daily intercourse little more than the husks of themselves, into which it is unwise and unkind to pry. But the doings and letters of R. L. Stevenson have acquired so wide a publicity that at this time of day it is idle to complain. And in any event the memory of that sunny, boyish temperament need never fear investigation. His very failings as a writer— his waywardness and preciosity—were charming in the matt. Miss Simpson's contribution to the catalogues of Stevenson is thus less unwelcome from the outset than the majority of its kind, and almost tempts inquiry, gratified in this case without rifliag graves, to triumph over principle. Her Sketch of " Cummy," Stevenson's devoted nurse, is as charming as
it had every right to be, and in her portraits generally there is a Scottish kindliness and twinkling sense that make criticism appear churlish. Especially interesting, and more legitimately so from the writer's standpoint, is her account of the Appin murder, the foundation of "Kidnapped" and "Catriona."
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