Robert Lewis Stevenson Memorial Cottage and Museum

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Welcome!
Robert Louis StevensonMemorial Cottage
and Museum
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Saranac Lake - 1887
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Baker Family / Area Growth

• 1851- Martins, the first luxury hotel, was
  built on Lower Saranac Lake.
• 1852 - Colonel Milote Baker settled at base of
  Mount Baker
• 1854 - Baker appointed first Postmaster
• 1856 - Stories of consumption cures were
  circulating
• 1875 - Railroad to Whitehall area

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Saranac Lake and Dr. Trudeau

• 1859 - Paul Smith builds hotel on Lower St. Regis
  Lake and attracts wealthy clients
• 1871- Dr. Trudeau visits Paul Smiths and health
  improves
• 1874 Trudeau moves permanently to Saranac Lake
• 1876 Wealthy patrons help Trudeau start
  treatment center

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Stevenson arrives The Winter of 1887-1888

• Recent fame through publishing of Treasure Island
  and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• Legacy from fathers death
• Destination was Colorado Springs for pulmonary
  treatment
• Reputation of Dr. Trudeau brought family to
  Saranac Lake

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Writing while in Saranac Lake

• Twelve essays to be printed in Scribners
  Magazine for 3,500
• Preface to Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin
• Preface to Black Arrow
• The Wrong Box with Lloyd Osbourne
• The Master of Ballantrae

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Dreaming of the South Seas

• Winter
• In rigorous hours, when down the iron lane
• The redbreast looks in vain
• For hips and haws,
• Lo, shining flowers upon my window-pane
• The silver pencil of the winter draws.
• When all the snowy hill
• And the bare woods are still
• When snipes are silent in the frozen bogs, And
  all the garden garth is whelmed in mire,
• Lo, by the hearth, the laughter of the logs-
• More fair than roses, lo, the flowers of fire!
• Court and Society Review, December 1887

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Following the dream

• April 16, 1888 - The Stevensons leave Saranac
  Lake
• Mrs. Stevenson goes to San Francisco to make
  preparations for the cruise

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Requiem

• Under the wide and starry sky,
• Dig the grave and let me lie,
• Glad did I live and gladly die,
• And laid me down with a will.
• This be the verse you grave for me
• Here he lies where he longed to be,
• Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
• And the hunter home from the hill.
• Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1894

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Stevenson Memorial Committee -- 1915
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Founding Purposes

• The collection and preservation of relics of
  Robert Louis Stevenson.
• The collection and preservation of original
  manuscripts and first editions of his works.
• The collection and preservation of books relating
  to Stevenson.
• The ultimate acquiring of a permanent home for
  proper housing of the collection.

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Gutzon Borglum
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The Collection
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TheCollection
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Moral Emblems / Woodcuts

• Poem V
• Industrious pirate! see him sweepThe
  lonely bosom of the deep,And daily the horizon
  scanFrom Hatteras or Matapan.Be sure, before
  that pirate's old,He will have made a pot of
  gold,And will retire from all his laboursAnd be
  respected by his neighbours.You also scan your
  life's horizonFor all that you can clap your
  eyes on.

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• Stevenson Society of America, Inc.
• Officers Board Members
• Jim Abendroth, President
• Rita Leonard, Vice-president
• Les Hershhorn, Treasurer
• Les Parker, Secretary
• Walter Finnegan
• Paul Kok
• Mike Munn
• Nicholas Rankin, British Representative

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When to visit

• Open July 1 to Columbus Day
• Hours 930 to 12 -- 1 to 430
• Closed Mondays
• Open by Appointment
• Resident Curator, Mike Delahant [phone]
• Jim Abendroth, President [phone]
• or
• Les Hershhorn, Treasurer [phone] or (518)
  891-6406

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How to get involved

• Join the Society
• Spread the word
• Donate
• Volunteer
• Train as docent
• Help raise funds