Treasure Island
- London: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1883
London: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1883. First edition. Very Good. Octavo: viii, 292, [8 pgs. advertisements correctly dated "5R-10.83" for the first printing]. Frontispiece map of Treasure Island printed in four colors lacking the original tissue guard. This copy has these additional points sometimes cited for priority: "dead man's chest" is not capitalized on pgs. 2 and 7; "rain" for "vain" in the last line of pg. 40; the "a" is not present in line 6 of pg. 63; the "8" is present in the pagination on pg. 83, which is sometimes lacking; the "7" is lacking in the pagination on pg. 127 (some copies have bold-stamped "7"); the period is lacking following "opportunity" in line 20 of pg. 178; "worse" for "worst" in line 3 of pg. 197; and "Treasure Island" is listed as having 304 pages on pg. 2 of the publisher's advertisements.
Original burgundy cloth with covers ruled in blind and spine lettered in gilt. Original black-coated endpapers, starting to separate at the front inner joint, but holding. Spine a bit cocked, some wear at the spine ends and corners. Several leaves with finger smudges or opened a bit roughly. Light foxing throughout. A Very Good copy overall.
The most famous pirate tale ever written and the prototype for adventure novels: "Treasure Island established itself as a classic, drawing plaudits from the widest range of literary sensibilities. In 1890 W.B. Yeats wrote to tell [Stevenson] that the book was the only one in which his seafaring grandfather had ever taken any pleasure and that he reread it on his deathbed with infinite satisfaction. Jack London, in so many ways RLS's true spiritual heir, declared 'His Treasure Island will be a classic to go down with Robinson Crusoe, Through the Looking Glass and The Jungle Books'" (Frank McLynn, Robert Louis Stevenson, pg. 203)
Beinecke 240-241. Gumuchian 5443. Morgan Library, Early Children's Books and Their Illustrations, 206. Osborne Collection II, pg. 1030. Prideaux 11. Princeton 22. Very Good.
Original burgundy cloth with covers ruled in blind and spine lettered in gilt. Original black-coated endpapers, starting to separate at the front inner joint, but holding. Spine a bit cocked, some wear at the spine ends and corners. Several leaves with finger smudges or opened a bit roughly. Light foxing throughout. A Very Good copy overall.
The most famous pirate tale ever written and the prototype for adventure novels: "Treasure Island established itself as a classic, drawing plaudits from the widest range of literary sensibilities. In 1890 W.B. Yeats wrote to tell [Stevenson] that the book was the only one in which his seafaring grandfather had ever taken any pleasure and that he reread it on his deathbed with infinite satisfaction. Jack London, in so many ways RLS's true spiritual heir, declared 'His Treasure Island will be a classic to go down with Robinson Crusoe, Through the Looking Glass and The Jungle Books'" (Frank McLynn, Robert Louis Stevenson, pg. 203)
Beinecke 240-241. Gumuchian 5443. Morgan Library, Early Children's Books and Their Illustrations, 206. Osborne Collection II, pg. 1030. Prideaux 11. Princeton 22. Very Good.