As part of a Robert Louis Stevenson exhibit in the Widener Memorial Room, three woodcut plates designed by the author are shown, with several old Spanish coin, or "pieces of eight," and a first edition of "Treasure Island." Three original water color drawings by William Blake are also on display, with "the Book of Job," illustrated by Blake.

Stevenson designed and cut the three woodcut plates to illustrate poems, which he had written to amuse his stepson, who owned a small printing press, and printed the verses with Stevenson's illustrations. Two of these books are shown, with the titles. "Lawks! What a Beautiful Flower," and "Moral Emblems."

To amuse his stepson further, Stevenson drew a map of an island, with hidden treasure, which later led to the writing of "Treasure Island." A reproduction of this map is given as the frontispiece of the first edition.

"Pieces of eight" has become a byword in connection with Treasure Island. The coins displayed are dated in the 1690's and are the crude money of which Stevenson wrote. Instead of being minted, the silver coins were cut from the end of rough silver bars, and stamped with a design in the center. The edges remained irregular.

Three original Blake water colors, "The Union of Body and Soul," "The Grave", and "America", together with "The Book of Job" and Robert Blair's "The Grave", both illustrated by Blake, are included in the Memorial Room Exhibit. One of the few copies of Edward Young's "Night Thoughts" in which the artist colored the printed illustrations completes the exhibit.