Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

ISBN 9781907832154

A treasure map is found in old sailor's sea chest who once served under the pirate Captain Flint. Following the former pirate's death, young Jim Hawkins, Dr. Livesey, Squire Trelawney, and Captain Smollett set to sail aboard the Hispaniola to find Treasure Island off the coast of South America. One of the world's most enduring adventure stories of pirates sailing to exotic islands, singing Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

Treasure Island marks Stevenson's mastery of tone, pace, and vocabulary. The idea for the story initially began with a watercolour map designed as part of an intricate adventure game for his stepson. As the novel gradually evolved, Stevenson regularly shared portions of the work-in-progress with friends and relatives, taking their comments into account. The novel was first published in serial form in Young Folks' Magazine under the title 'The Sea Cook'

Treasure Island has received praise for its skilful plotting and pacing of action, its articulation of colourful characters, and its evocative setting. Much criticism of the novel has been concerned with the work's affinities with and departures from the familiar conventions of the prose romance, and specifically, adventure fiction.

To S.L.O.

An American gentleman in accordance with whose classic taste the following narrative has been designed, it is now, in return for numerous delightful hours, and with the kindest wishes, dedicated by his affectionate friend, the author.

TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER

If sailor tales to sailor tunes,
Storm and adventure, heat and cold,
If schooners, islands, and maroons,
And buccaneers, and buried gold,
And all the old romance, retold
Exactly in the ancient way,
Can please, as me they pleased of old,
The wiser youngsters of today:

—So be it, and fall on! If not,
If studious youth no longer crave,
His ancient appetites forgot,
Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave,
Or Cooper of the wood and wave:
So be it, also! And may I
And all my pirates share the grave
Where these and their creations lie!

About The Author 

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 1894), a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 30 most translated authors in the world. He has been greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Vladimir Nabokov. Stevenson inherited a tendency to coughs and fevers. When young Louis was not bed-ridden suffering from a fever or cold exacerbated by the damp and chilly Scottish weather, he was often in the company of his father and the fishermen and lighthouse keepers he worked closely with. These times would provide much fodder for his own stories as a child and adult.

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