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Books Quiz - Author - Robert Louis Stevenson (Questions)

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on the 13th of November 1850. He studied engineering with the intention of following his father into the lighthouse design business but found this profession dull and instead changed his studies to law. After graduation he never practised law, turning his mind to art and embarking on a career as a writer.

His first work An Inland Voyage, was published in 1878, and his breakthrough came 5 years later when Treasure Island was published. He went on to write 13 novels, most notably Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1886 and The Master of Ballantrae in 1889. He also had several collections of his short stories published. He died on the 3rd of December 1894, aged just 44.

Robert Louis Stevenson is reported to be amongst the 30 most translated authors in the world and he was greatly admired by many of his contemporaries. How much do you know about him and his works?

1. Stevenson was born in 1850 in which Scottish city?
[ ] Dundee
[ ] Edinburgh
[ ] Glasgow
[ ] Perth
2. What was the original title of the novel Treasure Island?
[ ] The Cabin Boy
[ ] The Hispaniola
[ ] The Pirate
[ ] The Sea Cook
3. In the novel Kidnapped, who gets kidnapped?
[ ] David Balfour
[ ] Alan Breck
[ ] Henry Durie
[ ] Jim Hawkins
4. In which Stevenson story is MP Sir Danvers Carew murdered?
[ ] The Body Snatcher
[ ] The Bottle Imp
[ ] The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
[ ] Thrawn Janet
5. In Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, what is the name of his stubborn donkey?
[ ] Claudine
[ ] Delphine
[ ] Francine
[ ] Modestine
6. What is the name of the inn that features in the first chapter of Treasure Island?
[ ] Admiral Benbow
[ ] Admiral Nelson
[ ] Spouter Inn
[ ] Spyglass Inn
7. Across the Plains is Stevenson's travel memoir about a train journey across which country?
[ ] Australia
[ ] Canada
[ ] South Africa
[ ] The USA
8. What is the title of Stevenson's 1885 collection of children's poems?
[ ] A Child's Garden of Adventure
[ ] A Child's Garden of Delights
[ ] A Child's Garden of Make-believe
[ ] A Child's Garden of Verses
9. What is the title of Stevenson's 1893 novel, the sequel to Kidnapped?
[ ] Caroline
[ ] Cassandra
[ ] Catherine
[ ] Catriona
10. Stevenson died in 1894 on the island of Upolu, part of which Pacific island group?
[ ] Aleutian Islands
[ ] Cook Islands
[ ] Marshall Islands
[ ] Samoan Islands

 

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Books Quiz - Author - Robert Louis Stevenson (Answers)
1. Stevenson was born in 1850 in which Scottish city?
[ ] Dundee
[x] Edinburgh
[ ] Glasgow
[ ] Perth
He was born at 8 Howard Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, on the 13th of November 1850. His father was the lighthouse engineer, Thomas Stevenson
2. What was the original title of the novel Treasure Island?
[ ] The Cabin Boy
[ ] The Hispaniola
[ ] The Pirate
[x] The Sea Cook
Originally titled The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys, it was first published as a serial in the children's magazine Young Folks with the title Treasure Island, or the mutiny of the Hispaniola
3. In the novel Kidnapped, who gets kidnapped?
[x] David Balfour
[ ] Alan Breck
[ ] Henry Durie
[ ] Jim Hawkins
It's Alan Breck who rescues him
4. In which Stevenson story is MP Sir Danvers Carew murdered?
[ ] The Body Snatcher
[ ] The Bottle Imp
[x] The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
[ ] Thrawn Janet
Carew, a kind and elderly MP, is murdered by Hyde when he is in a rage
5. In Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, what is the name of his stubborn donkey?
[ ] Claudine
[ ] Delphine
[ ] Francine
[x] Modestine
The book is an account of Stevenson's 12-day, 120-mile journey through the barely populated and poor areas of the Cévennes mountains in France
6. What is the name of the inn that features in the first chapter of Treasure Island?
[x] Admiral Benbow
[ ] Admiral Nelson
[ ] Spouter Inn
[ ] Spyglass Inn
The inn is named after the real life Admiral John Benbow, who fought against France during the Nine Years War from 1688–97
7. Across the Plains is Stevenson's travel memoir about a train journey across which country?
[ ] Australia
[ ] Canada
[ ] South Africa
[x] The USA
It is part of The Amateur Emigrant
8. What is the title of Stevenson's 1885 collection of children's poems?
[ ] A Child's Garden of Adventure
[ ] A Child's Garden of Delights
[ ] A Child's Garden of Make-believe
[x] A Child's Garden of Verses
It includes such favourites as My Shadow and The Lamplighter
9. What is the title of Stevenson's 1893 novel, the sequel to Kidnapped?
[ ] Caroline
[ ] Cassandra
[ ] Catherine
[x] Catriona
Catriona was written in 1893 and tells the further adventures of David Balfour
10. Stevenson died in 1894 on the island of Upolu, part of which Pacific island group?
[ ] Aleutian Islands
[ ] Cook Islands
[ ] Marshall Islands
[x] Samoan Islands
Stevenson died of a cerebral haemorrhage whilst straining to open a bottle of wine. He was forty-four years old