LLOYD OSBOURNE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 12/08/1910 - HFSID 341356

LLOYD OSBOURNE
Handwritten, signed letter from the author and stepson of Robert Louis Stevenson, writing an associate on her writing and saying that he quite enjoyed it and that he has seldom read a more admirable characterization. Extremely rare!
Autograph letter signed: "Lloyd Osbourne", in black ink, 2 pages (integral leaf), 4½x7¼. December 8, 1910. New York City, New York. In full: "Dear Madam, I endear you will not think me presumptuous if I write to late you [illegible]. I enjoyed your work last Monday night. In [illegible] I have seldom had a more [illegible] admirable characterization. For once we may say "perfect", which is a silly word of criticism". Lloyd Osbourne (1868-1947) was the stepson of famed author Robert Louis Stevenson, who married Fanny Osbourne in 1880. On a rainy day in 1881, Stevenson entertained the boy by drawing and coloring the map of an island; this exercise proved the inspiration for the Stevenson's beloved Treasure Island. Lloyd Osbourne accompanied his mother and stepfather to Samoa, co-wrote three books with Stevenson (The Ebb-Tide, The Wrecker, The Wrong Box). After Stevenson's death in 1894, Osbourne served as US Vice Consul in Samoa (appointed 1897). Osbourne was himself an author of several books, (including Wild Justice: Stories of the South Seas, 1921), though he failed to achieve the literary prominence of his stepfather. Multiple folds. Light surface creases. Pencil notes (unknown hand) on top margin of first page. Lightly soiled, more heavily on front page. Small stain on lower half of front page. Otherwise, fine condition.