Samuel Lloyd Osbourne was an American author and the stepson of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson with whom he co-authored three books. He provided input and ideas on others.
This is another antique "find" of mine. It is a gem of a book that lets us peek in on the life and personality of Robert Louis Stevenson as seen through the eyes of his stepson, Lloyd Osbourne.
Many hours Robert, the bohemian in love with all things french, spent playing in the attic with Lloyd on the floor/battlefield with 600 tin soldiers in wars lasting weeks or playing with an expensive puppet theatre handed down to Lloyd from a boy that died of tuberculosis in a hotel set up for the "fresh air" treatment of the disease.
From reading his vibrant and energetic novels, I would never have guessed how sickly Stevenson really was. It is amazing to think that many of his best works were written from his sick bed. It was originally thought he suffered from tuberculosis, but more recently it is believed he may have had bronchiectasis or sarcoidosis. In either case, he succombed to a cerebral hemmorrhage at the young age of 44.
This is a wonderful little book worth reading by bibliophiles or fans of Robert Louis Stevenson.