The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson in the mid-1800s. It’s about a doctor who develops a potion that releases his evil alter-ego Mr Hyde. The good doctor should have left well alone because the transformations soon get out of control.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was first published in January 1886 as a paperback book that was distributed accross the UK for a shilling (5p) per copy. At the time, cheap books with dark content such as this were known as “shilling shockers” or “penny dreadfuls”. Stevenson’s story was also published in book form in the USA and was available a few days earlier in The States than it was in the UK. A favorable review published in The Times on 25 January helped boost sales and close to 40,000 copies of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde were sold in the following 6 months.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has been adapted for stage and film numerous times. There have also been many audio dramatizations. The story has even inspired video games.
I have added the full text to this site for those who are interested in reading the story online. There are 10 chapters in total, and this page contains the table of contents.
Table of Contents
Chapter 3. Dr Jekyll Was Quite At Ease
Chapter 4. The Carew Murder Case
Chapter 5. Incident of the Letter
Chapter 6. Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon
Chapter 7. Incident at the Window
Chapter 9. Dr Lanyon’s Narrative
Chapter 10. Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case
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