Chapter 11 of The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 is here in full — 384 sentences across 77 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 is here in full — 384 sentences across 77 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
R. L. S. TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883]. MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections. As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me. The £40 was a heavenly thing.
Chapter 11 of The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 is here in full — 384 sentences across 77 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/76 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
the department of local government that is responsible for managing the treatment of convicted offenders
From this reading “MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.”
enclose or enfold completely with or as if with a covering
From this reading “MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.”
possessive form of “gilder” — someone whose occupation is to apply an overlay of gold or gilt
relating to or inhabiting a divine heaven
From this reading “The £40 was a heavenly thing.”
the commercial activity of buying and bringing in goods from a foreign country
From this reading “As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.”
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading “As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.”
the act of receiving
From this reading “MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.”
a state of social isolation
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The £40 was a heavenly thing.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The £40 was a heavenly thing.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
the department of local government that is responsible for managing the treatment of convicted offenders
From this reading MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.
dearly loved
From this reading MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
enclose or enfold completely with or as if with a covering
From this reading MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
possessive form of “gilder” — someone whose occupation is to apply an overlay of gold or gilt
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
relating to or inhabiting a divine heaven
From this reading The £40 was a heavenly thing.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.
the commercial activity of buying and bringing in goods from a foreign country
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
a metric unit of capacity, formerly defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water under standard conditions; now equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters (or approximately 1.75 pints)
From this reading R. L. S.
a white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily; occurs in rare earth minerals and is usually classified as a rare earth
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
a unit of radiation exposure; the dose of ionizing radiation that will produce 1 electrostatic unit of electricity in 1 cc of dry air
From this reading R. L. S.
the act of receiving
From this reading MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading R. L. S.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
a state of social isolation
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
carry out
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading MY DEAR GOSSE,—I enclose the receipt and the corrections.
a special situation
From this reading The £40 was a heavenly thing.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
a unit of electrical power in an AC circuit equal to the power dissipated when 1 volt produces a current of 1 ampere
From this reading TO EDMUND GOSSE _La Solitude_, _Hyères-les-Palmiers_, _Var_, [_May_ 20, 1883].
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The £40 was a heavenly thing.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading As for your letter and Gilder’s, I must take an hour or so to think; the matter much importing—to me.
Chapter 11 of The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson holds 384 sentences, grouped into 77 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 11 holds 384 sentences of The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1, unabridged, divided into 77 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 384 sentences, grouped into 77 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 77 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 77 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 11 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5587 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #622 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #622, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 465 minutes of reading across 1118 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
