The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and a murderous criminal named Edward Hyde.
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of the most famous pieces of English literature, and is considered to be a defining book of the gothic horror genre. The novella has also had a sizeable impact on popular culture, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" being used in vernacular to refer to people with an outwardly good but sometimes shockingly evil nature.
About the Author
Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer, was born at 8 Howard Place, Edinburgh on November 13 1850. His father, Thomas Stevenson, was one of a long line of distinguished lighthouse engineers that had built all the lighthouses surrounding the Scottish coast.
From childhood Robert suffered from ill health, which affected his education. During his frequent absences from school, he was taught by a series of tutors. But despite not being able to read until the age of seven or eight years old, he was a natural storyteller and dictated his imaginary tales to his mother and his nurse. After an improvement in his heath at around the age of thirteen he was sent to a private school and subsequently entered the University of Edinburgh to study engineering.
Right from the start this subject did not interest him and he gravitated towards the arts. In 1871 he told his father that he wanted to pursue ‘a life of letters’ After this time he continued to distance himself from his upbringing, becoming bohemian in appearance and unconventional in his behaviour. He rejected Christianity and declared himself an atheist, an announcement that upset his father greatly.
Robert Louis Stevenson in Hampstead
In late 1873 Robert made his first visit to Abernethy House, Hampstead. The listed building entry for Abernethy House states: ‘by 1873 it had become a lodging house when Robert Louis Stevenson paid the first of several visits for his health’. Robert later wrote: I wish someone could explain the climate of Hampstead … it is so quiet, healthful and beautiful. In the following year, 1874, he returned to Abernethy House between 3th June and 11th July, but this time he shared rooms with his friend, Sidney Colvin. During their stay Robert took full advantage of his friend’s extensive literary connections, meeting, amongst others, Leslie Stephen, man of letters and father of Virginia Woolf.
In later life, Robert’s time was taken up with writing and travelling. On one of his journeys, a canoe voyage in Belgium and France, he met American, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne who, since separating from her husband, had supported herself by writing short stories for magazines. Fanny and Robert were married in May 1880. She was 40, he 29.
The Stevensons shuttled back and forth between the United Kingdom and the Continent until in 1884 they settled in Bournemouth. By that time Stevenson was largely bedridden although during the three years that they lived there he wrote most of his most popular work, including Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped and A Child’s Garden of Verses.
In June 1888 Stevenson chartered a yacht and set sail from San Francisco with his wife and family, meandering through the eastern and central Pacific. Their wanderings finally ended in Samoa, where Robert Louis Stevenson eventually died of a stroke in 1894.
About the Cache
You’ll be looking for a non-magnetic micro sneaky geocache that contains only the log strip. Please, bring your own pen (BYOP).
About Hampstead_Twins
We are Hampstead locals and have recently discovered geocaching activity. As we are delighted with the place where we live and with the stories we find in every corner of this locality, we decided to share some curious facts about our neighbourhood and encourage geocaching activity in the region. We hope you enjoy.
If you found any errors, had any ideas for improvement while doing the route or even just want to talk with us and encourage more caches like this one, feel free to send us a message. We will respond to everyone as soon as possible. Let’s get in touch.
What’s Next?
Did you like what you saw here? If you haven't already, how about trying to find another cache nearby? Look for ‘Captain Hook’s Grave’ cache and have fun!