The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and Other Stories

Utterson, the lawyer, is becoming increasingly anxious about the strange behavior of his friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and in particular, by Jekyll’s association with an ugly, violent creature by the name of Edward Hyde. Utterson resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery, and along the way, uncovers a horrific story of murder and suffering, which leads inevitably to the terrible revelation of Mr. Hyde’s true identity. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a masterpiece of Victorian literature, and one of the most potent and enduring of modern myths. The adventures of Prince Florizel of Bohemia and his running battle with the sinister machinations of "The Suicide Club" are also included in this volume as well as "The Body Snatchers," "Markheim," and "Olalla"-three of Stevenson’s memorable and well-observed short stories, which deal with similarly gothic themes.

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in 1850 in Edinburgh, the son of a surgeon. He studied sciences at Edinburgh University, and read to become a lawyer, although he never practiced. His first book, An Inland Voyage, was published in 1878, but it was with his early novels, Treasure Island (1883), The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1885), and Kidnapped (1886), that he made his name. He was dogged by health problems from early childhood onward, and was bedridden for a great deal of his life. His illness led him to seek warmer climes, and in 1888 he moved with his family to Samoa, in the South Seas, where he died in 1894 after a prolific, if brief, writing career.