Stevenson, Robert Louis

Autograph letter signed, 4 pages (7 x 4 1/2 in.; 181 x 117 mm), on pale blue embossed stationery of the Union Club Sydney, [no date but after 25 February 1890], to Andrew Chatto; contemporary ink splotch at lower left margin of first page affecting two characters of one word of text, light scattered spotting, mounting remnants at corners of blank versos.

Letter to Dr. Hyde and a thin book of ballads. Stevenson writes to his publisher, Andrew Chatto, regarding current literary endeavors. He opens with pithy commentary on his open letter to the Reverend Dr. Hyde of Honolulu of 25 February 1890: "The letter to Dr. Hyde is yours, as any man's. I will never touch a penny of remuneration; I do not stick at murder, I draw the line at cannibalism, I could not eat a penny roll that piece of bludgeoning had gained for me."  Stevenson proceeds to inform his correspondent he will soon receive "sheets of a thin book of ballads from Scribners. "He asks Chatto to relay them to Clarks in Edinburgh and make sure the American spellings are removed and "see that 'O!' is  always 'O!' and never 'Oh!' . . ." In a lengthy postscript, Stevenson lists a host of individuals to whom Chatto should send copies of his book of ballads, replete with addresses.