Robert Louis Stevenson was born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson on 13 November 1850 in Edinburgh. A citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, he attended the University of Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh School of Law. Writing in English, he worked across an unusually broad range of forms, serving at various points as a novelist, poet, essayist, travel writer, journalist, playwright, short story writer, children's writer, and songwriter.

Stevenson wrote in the genres of adventure fiction and Gothic literature, and several of his works became fixtures of both. Treasure Island, published in 1883, was among his notable novels, and 1886 saw the appearance of both Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. His poetry collection A Child's Garden of Verses, issued in 1885, demonstrated his range as a children's writer, extending his output well beyond prose fiction into verse. Prince Otto is also among his notable works, alongside his contributions as a short story writer, playwright, and essayist throughout his career.

Stevenson died on 3 December 1894 in Vailima, at the age of forty-four. His output across novels, poetry, essays, travel writing, journalism, and drama reflected the breadth of his engagement with English-language literature over the course of his writing life.