Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, musician 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. Stevenson was a literary celebrity during his lifetime, and now ranks as the 26th most translated author in the world

Charles Robinson was a prolific book illustrator. The first full book he illustrated was Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses (1895) which includes over 100 pen and ink drawings. It was extremely popular, going through many reprints, and generated numerous commissions. He illustrated many fairy tales and children's books throughout his career, including Eugene Field's Lullaby Land (1897), W. E. Cule's Child Voices (1899), Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's Sintram and His Companions (1900), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1907), Grimm's Fairy Tales (1910), Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden (1911), and books written by Walter Copeland Jerrold and himself.