Discussion

Some good things have come from Davos …

“It was here that Robert Louis Stevenson overcame his writer’s block and finished Treasure Island; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle started skiing in the Alps; and Thomas Mann thought of the idea for The Magic Mountain”

1/5

https://lithub.com/a-brief-literary-history-of-davos/

#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #Victorian #RobertLouisStevenson #SirArthurConanDoyle #Davos #writersblock #skiing #ThomasMann

Assoc for Scottish Literature

@scotlit@mastodon.scot replied · yesterday

Davos was also where Stevenson produced his MORAL EMBLEMS – a parody of Victorian didactic rhymes for children. His 12-year-old stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, printed the chapbooks on a toy printing press & hawked them around the sanatorium.

#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #Victorian #RobertLouisStevenson #parody #kidlit #Childrensliterature #Davos

Title page of MORAL EMBLEMS, by Robert Louis Stevenson, printed in a variety of fonts:

MORAL
EMBLEMS

A
Collection of Cuts and Verses
by
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
Author of
The Blue Scalper, Travels with a Donkey, Treasure Island, Not I etc.

Printers:
S. L. OSBOURNE & COMPANY.
Davos-Platz — Title page of MORAL EMBLEMS, by Robert Louis Stevenson, printed in a variety of fonts: MORAL EMBLEMS A Collection of Cuts and Verses by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. Author of The Blue Scalper, Travels with a Donkey, Treasure Island, Not I etc. Printers: S. L. OSBOURNE & COMPANY. Davos-Platz

Assoc for Scottish Literature

@scotlit@mastodon.scot replied · yesterday

Lloyd Osbourne’s “Davos Press” enjoyed sufficient commercial success to pay Stevenson (very small) royalties. You can find scans of the originals on the National Library of Scotland website

https://digital.nls.uk/rlstevenson/browse/archive/99384212

#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #Victorian #RobertLouisStevenson #parody #kidlit #Childrensliterature #Davos

An advert, printed on a toy printing press in a variety of serif and sans-serif fonts. The words NOTICE and ILLUSTRATED are in a bold display font. Some letters are slightly under- or over-inked. The text reads:

NOTICE
Today is published by S. L. Osbourne & Co.
Ilustrated
BLACK CANYON,
or
Wild Adventures in the FAR WEST.
AN
Instructive and amusing TALE written by
SAMUEL LLOYD OSBOURNE
PRICE 6D.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
Although Black Canyon is rather shorter than ordinary for that kind of story, it is an excellent work. We cordially recommend it to our readers.
Weekly Messenger

S. L. Osbourne's new work (Black Canyon) is splendidly illustrated. In the story, the characters are hold and striking. It reflects the highest honor on its writer.
Morning Call.

A very remarkable work. Every page produces an effect. The end is as singular as the beginning. I never saw such a work before.
R. L. Stevenson. — An advert, printed on a toy printing press in a variety of serif and sans-serif fonts. The words NOTICE and ILLUSTRATED are in a bold display font. Some letters are slightly under- or over-inked. The text reads: NOTICE Today is published by S. L. Osbourne & Co. Ilustrated BLACK CANYON, or Wild Adventures in the FAR WEST. AN Instructive and amusing TALE written by SAMUEL LLOYD OSBOURNE PRICE 6D. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. Although Black Canyon is rather shorter than ordinary for that kind of story, it is an excellent work. We cordially recommend it to our readers. Weekly Messenger S. L. Osbourne's new work (Black Canyon) is splendidly illustrated. In the story, the characters are hold and striking. It reflects the highest honor on its writer. Morning Call. A very remarkable work. Every page produces an effect. The end is as singular as the beginning. I never saw such a work before. R. L. Stevenson.

Assoc for Scottish Literature

@scotlit@mastodon.scot replied · yesterday

And OF COURSE there are pirates …

#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #Victorian #RobertLouisStevenson #parody #kidlit #Childrensliterature #Davos #pirates

A copy of a double-page spread from Robert Louis Stevenson's MORAL EMBLEMS. On the left-hand page there is a crude woodcut illustration of a figure wearing a broad-brimmed hat, crouched on a rock and peering out to sea through a telescope. Above the sketched-in sea are clouds and two simple v-shapes representing birds in flight. On the right-hand page is a short poem:

Industrious pirate! see him sweep
The lonely bosom of the deep,
And daily the horizon scan
From Hatteras or Matapan.
Be sure, before that pirate’s old,
He will have made a pot of gold,
And will retire from all his labours
And be respected by his neighbours.
You also scan your life’s horizon
For all that you can clap your eyes on. — A copy of a double-page spread from Robert Louis Stevenson's MORAL EMBLEMS. On the left-hand page there is a crude woodcut illustration of a figure wearing a broad-brimmed hat, crouched on a rock and peering out to sea through a telescope. Above the sketched-in sea are clouds and two simple v-shapes representing birds in flight. On the right-hand page is a short poem: Industrious pirate! see him sweep The lonely bosom of the deep, And daily the horizon scan From Hatteras or Matapan. Be sure, before that pirate’s old, He will have made a pot of gold, And will retire from all his labours And be respected by his neighbours. You also scan your life’s horizon For all that you can clap your eyes on.

bonfire.cafe

A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate

bonfire.cafe: About · Code of conduct · Privacy · Users · Instances

Bonfire social · 1.0.1 no JS en

Automatic federation enabled