RLS first edition signed by his mother goes on auction

A RARE first-edition book of poems by Robert Louis Stevenson signed by the author’s mother is being auctioned for charity.

A Child’s Garden Of Verses was anonymously handed into an Oxfam shop in Glasgow, and will be sold to raise funds for the charity.

The book is signed by Stevenson’s mother Margaret, who gave the book to her niece and nephew as a gift, inscribing it: “To my GG Niece and Nephew at Chudleigh with kind love.”

A slip of paper inside the book revealed that it came from the library of Dr Adam Watson, the Treasure Island author’s contemporary at Edinburgh University and his first cousin once removed.

The book is expected to sell for between £400 and £800 next week.

John Connolly, manager of the Oxfam shop, said: “First-edition donations are rare so I’m delighted an Oxfam supporter has given us the book.”