"Quarterdeck of Casco" , p. 36

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

19349

Title

p. 36, Quarterdeck of Casco

Description

A photograph of the quarterdeck of the Casco when docked in Honolulu. A large group are gathered on deck comprising of, from left to right, Fanny Stevenson, Ah Fu the cook, King Kalakaua of Hawaii, Belle Strong, Margaret Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, Robert Louis Stevenson, "Hawaiian Officer" and members of the crew behind. The group are gathered round a trunk with a brass bell on top, in front of which is the ship's wheel. Over head part of the sails can be seen.

Underneath are the names of the people in the photograph in pen.

The image is from the photograph album entitled 'The Cruise of the Casco' of Robert Louis Stevenson's travels around Hawaii and French Polynesia in 1888.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1889

Size

14.5 x 20 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Writers' Museum

The photograph was one of several taken on the afternoon of 1st February 1889 when the King visited the Casco and was entertained with music and readings. The Stevenson party arrived in Honolulu on 24 January 1889, where they were met by Fanny's daughter Belle, her husband Joe Strong and son Austin, aged 8. They were taken for a meal to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and made the acquaintance of King Kalakaua and other members of the Hawaiian royal family. David Kalakaua (1836-1891) was the last king of Hawaii from 1874-1891. He is sometimes referred to as The Merrie Monarch.

Born in Edinburgh on 13th November 1850, Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, playwright and travel writer. Although he was plagued by ill health all his life, he was extraordinarily well-travelled, visiting Europe, America and the South Seas. He married American born Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne in 1880 and is best-known for works like Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (both 1886). From the late 1880s, Stevenson stayed in the South Pacific with his family on his own estate in Vailima in Samoa. He died here on the 3rd December 1894 of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 44, leaving what many consider his best work, Weir of Hermiston (1896) unfinished.

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Related subjects

People > Entertainment and sports > Authors

People > Military activities > Sailors

People > Politics and government > Kings

Places > North America > Hawaii

Transport > Water > Boats

Transport > Water > Ships

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