Congratulations are in order for Richard Hill, Ph.D., assistant professor of English. His book Robert Louis Stevenson and the Pictorial Text: A Case Study in the Victorian Illustrated Novel has been recently published by Routledge (2017). The book is a scholarly analysis of the lifetime illustrations to the fiction of Robert Louis Stevenson. A famous 19th-century writer, Stevenson wrote books such as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the great pirate novel Treasure Island. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Stevenson also spent time in Hawaii as well as traveling through the Pacific. Over the years, Stevenson has been the subject of much serious critical scholarship. Hill’s book contributes to this scholarship by examining how Stevenson sought illustration for his work and how illustration succeeded or failed according to Stevenson’s opinion.
Hill initially did his doctorate work on Sir Walter Scott, Stevenson’s literary forebear. Hill received his Ph.D. from Edinburgh University, the alma mater of Scott and Stevenson. After Hill completed his work on Scott, he targeted Stevenson for his next endeavor. “Stevenson became the natural focus of my work,” Hill recalled. “Stevenson was another famous Scottish author but one who had come to the Pacific, like me! It was a natural fit for my focus of research.”
Hill completed the book through a series of challenges and distractions, including illness, moving from Oahu to Maui, and the birth of two children to whom the book is dedicated. “I’m very proud of the fact that the entirety of the book, from conception to publication, was produced while being a faculty member at Chaminade University,” he added. “Thanks must go to my department, dean, and the Sullivan Family Library for their support through the process.”