On a side street, away from the wineries and shops in the small wine country town of St. Helena, a fascinating collection of objects and writings connected with Robert Louis Stevenson can be found housed in the Silverado Museum bearing his name.
Why a Robert Louis Stevenson Museum in St. Helena
At first glance it seems odd that the master story teller who wrote such classic tales as “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, “Treasure Island”, and “Kidnapped” should have a museum dedicated to him in the Napa Valley town of St. Helena. After all, Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and lived there through his youth and young adulthood. Being sickly, Stevenson sought climates more suited to his needs and thus was born his lifelong love of travel.
While visiting a friend in Paris, Stevenson met and fell in love with a married American woman, Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne. His family was elated when she returned to California but soon thereafter Stevenson followed her. The trip across the ocean and the American continent was arduous and he arrived ill and penniless but found his sweetheart now divorced and his joy complete as they were wed.
For their honeymoon, the couple found their way to St. Helena, and joined the generation of squatters living in abandoned silver mining bunkhouses. The two months they spent there gave Stevenson a chance to write novels of his adventures and gave him background scenery for future tales.
Nearby, in the hills around St. Helena, there is a California State Park named in honor of Robert Louis Stevenson where the site he spent his honeymoon can be found. Stevenson continued to feel connected to this area even though life took him elsewhere.
Benefactor of the Robert Louis Stevenson Silverado Museum
A museum cannot exist without a collection to be displayed and the Robert Louis Stevenson Silverado museum is the beneficiary of the largess of Norman H. Strouse and his wife, Charlotte. Mr. Strouse, former President of J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency, was an avid collector of Stevenson’s works and artifacts from his life, as well as photographs of the author and his travels. In 1969, the Strouses retired to St. Helena and shared their Stevenson memorabilia through a museum that was later moved to more spacious quarters in a wing of the town library built in 1979.
Visiting the Robert Louis Stevenson Silverado Museum
The free museum housing countless books, manuscripts, letters, paintings and personal items of Robert Louis Stevenson vividly tells the story of his life and works. Beginning with his birth in Edinburgh, the Strouses collected all manner of items including framed snips of his baby curls, clothing he wore and toys with which he played.
Display cases line the walls of the main room and feature photographs, drawings, writings and intriguing artifacts from Stevenson’s romance with Fanny, their marriage, and their continued travels. Because of his ill health, they went in search of warmth and fresh air, which took them sailing through the Pacific South Seas until his eventual death at age 44 in Samoa.
Quotes from Stevenson’s writings are interspersed with the photographs, drawings and paintings of places he visited that became locales for his stories. There is a wealth of detail regarding his life and journeys, his craft and his adventures.
Rare Editions Abound at the Stevenson Museum
For the serious scholar or any bibliophile, the sheer volume of written material including many first editions beguile the senses. Norman and Charlotte Strouse were avid collectors and endowed the museum with shelves full of books authored by Stevenson and written about him.
There are comfortable tables and chairs for perusing the library editions as well as magazines and articles in current print. For researchers, an hourly fee is charged but the curators make available the full body of work.
Hours are 12 noon to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. When traveling in the wine country of the Napa Valley, this museum provides a pleasurable diversion.
Source:
Robert Louis Stevenson [Internet]. 2011.http://www.biography.com/people/robert-louis-stevenson-9494571, December 31
Pamphlet from Robert Louis Stevenson Silverado Museum
Ethel Brodie - Intrigued by the world, encouraged to write my observations, published in newspapers and magazines, and sharing special places.
