Did Robert Louis Stevenson Die of Syphilis?

That's what a new biography suggests.

From a short article in the Daily Record...

Jeremy Hodges is convinced the Treasure Island author was killed by the disease in 1894 rather than tuberculosis and “overwork”, as widely believed.

The biographer suggests letters between Stevenson and a close friend, plus extracts from his mother’s diary, lay bare Stevenson’s battle against syphilis.

He said: “It would seem some unblushing daughter of Venus did Louis a lasting injury in 1872 around the time of his 22nd birthday.”