Stevenson, Robert Louis; Sumner, Heywood

RARE: Original Plans for an Addition to Skerryvore the Home of Robert Louis Stevenson [Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]

Bournemouth: 1900. First Edition. Framed Plans. 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. Altogether these Plans constitute an important record of Stevenson's home, a LITERARY LANDMARK and a rare opportunity for the Collector. A WONDERFUL SET 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, they together weigh approximately 55 pounds.]. Very good +. Item #3563

Price: $6,450.00