William Ernest Henley is most noted for his poetry of which he wrote several volumes with the outstanding contribution being the poem 'Invictus'. His life was overshadowed by a great deal of ill health and although he died at the young age of 53 he contributed much to Victorian literature. His partner in the plays we publish here made a somewhat greater contribution to the literary world. Indeed in the Scottish canon to be placed alongside Burns is high praise indeed but it's a rightful place for one of Scotland's finest novelists. Born in 1850 he managed to cram much into his 44 years travelling widely to France, the United States, Samoa and the South Seas. Of course he is widely feted for his classics Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde, Treasure Island and poetry volumes such as A Child's Garden Of Verses. Together these two fine minds bring us some largely forgotten works which we are pleased to publish here.

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850 - 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and A Child's Garden of Verses. A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks as the 26th most translated author in the world. His works have been admired by many other writers, including Jorge Luis Borges, Bertolt Brecht, Marcel Proust, Arthur Conan Doyle, Henry James, Cesare Pavese, Emilio Salgari, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Jack London, Vladimir Nabokov, J. M. Barrie, and G. K. Chesterton, who said of him that he "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins." William Ernest Henley (23 August 1849 - 11 July 1903) was an influential poet, critic and editor of the late-Victorian era in England who is spoken of as having as central a role in his time as Samuel Johnson had in the eighteenth century. He is remembered most often for his 1875 poem "Invictus," a piece which recurs in popular awareness (e.g., see the 2009 Clint Eastwood film, Invictus). It is one of his hospital poems from early battles with tuberculosis and is said to have developed the artistic motif of poet as a patient, and to have anticipated modern poetry in form and subject matter. As an editor of a series of literary magazines and journals-with right to choose contributors, and to offer his own essays, criticism, and poetic works-Henley, like Johnson, is said to have had significant influence on culture and literary perspectives in the late-Victorian period. Odin's Library Classics is dedicated to bringing the world the best of humankind's literature from throughout the ages. Carefully selected, each work is unabridged from classic works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama.

"The Plays of William Ernest Henley and Robert Louis Stevenson" from William Ernest Henley. English poet, critic and editor (1849-1903).

Differentiated book- It has a historical context with research of the time-The Plays of William Ernest Henley and Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson.Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (Edinburgh, Scotland, November 13, 1850-Vailima, near Apia, Samoa, December 3, 1894) was a British novelist, poet and essayist. His legacy is a vast work that includes travel chronicles, adventure and historical novels, as well as lyrics and essays. He is best known for being the author of some of the most classic fantasy and adventure stories in young adult literature, including Treasure Island, the adventure novel Kidnapped, the historical novel The Black Arrow, and the popular horror novel The Stranger. case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, dedicated to the subject of the phenomena of the split personality and that can be classified as a psychological horror novel. Several of his novels continue to be very famous and some of them have been taken several times to the cinema of the 20th century, in part adapted for children. His essayistic work was also important, brief but decisive as regards the structure of the modern novel of adventures. He was highly valued in his time and continued to be so after his death. It had continuity in authors such as Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene, G. K. Chesterton and H. G. Wells and in the Argentineans Adolfo Bioy Casares and Jorge Luis Borges.

This early work by William Ernest Henley was originally published in 1903 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'In Hospital' is a collection of poetry he wrote during a three year stay at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and is notable as one of the earliest examples of free verse written in England. William Ernest Henley was born on 23rd August 1849, in Gloucester, England. In 1867, Henley passed the Oxford Local Schools Examination and set off to London to establish himself as a journalist. Unfortunately, his career was frequently interrupted by long stays in hospital due to a diseased right foot which he refused to have amputated. Henley's best-remembered work is his poem "Invictus", written in 1888. It is a passionate and defiant poem, reportedly written as a demonstration of resilience following the amputation of his leg.