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There does not exist in English literature–or in any other literature, as far as I know–another kind of writing quite like Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The novel (if novel it may be called) defies classification; its origin is attended by the peculiar and mysterious circumstances that often surround the creation of a prodigy or a great classical form. We are told, for instance, that the entire structure of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde unfolded before the author in clear lines adn detail in a nightmare. He had gone to bed brooding over his ill health and awoke in extreme agitation; he began to write furiously, completed the first draft and the final polished work in six days. During this week, Stevenson remained completely undisturbed, locked in his study, denying access even to his wife and adopted son. One is immediately struck with that passage in “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case” wherein Jekyll, no longer able to control his hideous metamorphoses in to Hyde, remains locked in his study and refuses admission to servants and friends.