Every year on November 13, the city of Edinburgh goes all-out for the birthday of a hometown hero: author Robert Louis Stevenson.

 #RLSDay is, in the words of Edinburgh's City of Literature, "a moustache-twirling, velvet-clad celebration" of the prolific and influential author. Stevenson is best known for his short stories and novels for children and adults: Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Child's Garden of Verses, and many more. 

Not only does NYPL have plenty of books by and about Stevenson in our catalog, we also hold a selection of his archival material in our Berg Collection—including an 1875 holograph (an original manuscript written by an author him or herself) of A Summer Night in our Digital Collections. 

City of Literature also hosts an online birthday celebration in honor of Stevenson, asking people to tweet their favorite quotes from his work with the hashtag #RLSDay. Here are a few of our favorites:

And here are a few from Twitter users in Scotland and around the world: 

A little #MondayMotivation on #WorldKindnessDay! Robert Louis Stevenson, born #onthisday in 1850. #RLSDay pic.twitter.com/HzxahR8WKh

— Independent Age (@IndependentAge) November 13, 2017

Robert Louis Stevenson once said 'It takes hard writing to make easy reading.'

...though if all else fails, watch The Muppets Treasure Island.#RLSDay pic.twitter.com/ZzgQxecRrJ

— Orkney Library (@OrkneyLibrary) November 13, 2017

‘To become what we are capable of becoming is the only end in life’ – #RLSDay 2017! https://t.co/Cowk9fNdLS pic.twitter.com/titMFKP8oq

— kaggsy59 (@kaggsy59) November 13, 2017

Happy Robert Louis Stevenson Day!#Edinburgh #RLSDay pic.twitter.com/zlDJEtqnNz

— Edinburgh Spotlight (@edinspotlight) November 13, 2017

‘To become what we are capable of becoming is the only end in life’ – #RLSDay 2017! https://t.co/Cowk9fNdLS pic.twitter.com/titMFKP8oq

— kaggsy59 (@kaggsy59) November 13, 2017

“A Christmas Sermon” was written by Stevenson in the winter of 1887, when he thought that he might be dying #RLSDayhttps://t.co/0nHxDQ96TM pic.twitter.com/Z3eW37fPTg

— ASLS (@scotlit) November 12, 2017

Want to be a part of #RLSDay? Check out this list on Goodreads and let us know in the comments or on Twitter.

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First image from the official RLS Day site; quote images from Wikimedia Commons.

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