20 Feb 2022
Books, On This Day, Reading
20 February 2022 Cheryl

20 February 1877: R.L. Stevenson’s first published work of fiction appears

An Old Song by R.L. Stevenson

The London Magazine is England’s oldest literary periodical, with a history stretching back to 1732. It is, in fact, the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and miscellaneous topics. [1]

An Old Song is a novella written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1883 anonymously in four episodes in the periodical The London Magazine.

Published between 1876 and 1879, The London Magazine at this time was a weekly periodical that featured anonymously written articles on politics, finance, and the arts, including theatre, fine arts, essays, music, and book reviews. A feature was the serialisation of a work of fiction published in instalments. Stevenson’s friend, William Henley edited the magazine from December 1877 until it ceased publication on 5 April 1879. Henley placed An Old Song as the second serialised work, commencing with the 4th issue in February 1877. Instalments ran for 4 weeks until March, and, like those before and after it, it was published anonymously.

Due to The London’s policy of anonymous publishing, An Old Song was not attributed to Stevenson until a leading authority on Stevenson, Roger G. Swearingen, identified it on the basis of manuscript evidence some 100 years later at Yale University.

Set in late 18th century Scotland, An Old Song is a grim and sometimes bitter story of mutual misapprehensions and distorted motives. The main characters are John and Malcolm Falconer of Grangehead and their guardian Colonel Falconer. Rather than giving portraits of Victorian villainy, where characters are cardboard cutouts personifying an evil to be vanquished, Stevenson provides these characters with cause, effect, motivations, and complexity. Stevenson tells this story without cluttering it with detail, observation, or more scenes than he needs. It has no moral and as the story’s title suggests it’s an old story. It is a beautifully crafted and poignant work that showcases Stevenson’s talent for storytelling and his ability to capture the complex emotions of his characters.

An Old Song is arguably the earliest work of fiction by Stevenson to have survived except for a few stories he wrote during his childhood.