Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes and the Amateur Emigrant [Paperback]

In 1878, Robert Louis Stevenson was suffering from poor health, struggling to survive on the income derived from his writings, and tormented by his infatuation with Fanny Osbourne, a married American woman. His response was to embark on a journey through the Cevennes with a donkey, Modestine, and a notebook, which he later transformed intoTravels with a Donkey. Just a few months after publication, Stevenson was off again—this time crossing the Atlantic and the breadth of America in the hope of being re-united with Fanny, an experience he recorded inThe Amateur Emigrant. Both pieces are classics of travel writings, which reveal as much about Stevenson's character as the landscape he travels through.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.Robert Louis Stevenson(1850-94) was born in Edinburgh and studied engineering and law, before turning to writing full time. He wrote essays, travel literature, poetry, and fiction.

Christopher MacLachlanis a senior lecturer in English at St Andrews. He has written widely on 18th-century English and Scottish literature, the Scottish Enlightenment, and modern Scottish literature.GB