John Singer Sargent and Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife. 1885 painted by John Singer Sargent via Wikipedia

I am reading The Amateur Emigrant from Delphi Classics complete Robert Louis Stevenson collection on my Kindle. Every time I look at Stevenson’s face on the cover, I like him more. And I already love his fiction.

The Amateur Emigrant is the first of Stevenson’s trilogy about traveling to California. (The other two books are Across the Plains and The Silverado Squatters.) It is altogether delightful, informative, insightful, and common sensical. It goes perfectly with the kind-looking face on the cover. So when I saw this painting by Sargent, who is one of my all-time favorite painters, I just couldn’t resist.