Robert Louis Stevenson was a restless soul, plagued by ill health and the itchy feet of inveterate explorers. But he could spin a great yarn. And what stories they were. Born in Scotland, but dead by 44, on the other side of the world, he is still admired for his novels like Treasure Island and The Strange Tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I just love the twinkle in his eyes in this portrait, captured so perfectly by Henry Walter Bennett Barnett.

He wrote so much – and yet so little is still read today. Alas alack. Time to rectify the situation, methinks. There is plenty to explore in the shop…

So, off you go, hunting and gathering with abandon…

Barnett, Henry Walter 1893 - Robert Louis Stevenson
Portrait by Henry Walter Barnett, taken the year before RSL died. (State Library of New South Wales)