''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure novel by
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
author
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
coming-of-age story In genre studies, a coming-of-age story is a genre of literature, theatre, film, and video game that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, or "coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or internal ...
and is noted for its atmosphere, characters, and action.
The novel was originally serialised from 1881 to 1882 in the children's magazine '' Young Folks'', under the title ''Treasure Island or the Mutiny of the Hispaniola'', credited to the pseudonym "Captain George North". It was first published as a book on 14 November 1883 by Cassell & Co. It has since become one of the most often dramatized and adapted of all novels, in numerous media.
Since its publication, ''Treasure Island'' has had significant influence on depictions of pirates in popular culture, including elements such as deserted tropical islands, treasure maps marked with an "X", and one-legged seamen with parrots perched on their shoulders.Cordingly, David (1995) ''Under the Black Flag: the romance and reality of life among the pirates''; p. 7
Plot
The plot is set in the mid-18th century, when an old sailor who identifies himself as "The Captain" starts to lodge at the rural Admiral Benbow Inn on England's
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...
. He tells the innkeeper's son, Jim Hawkins, to keep a lookout for "a one-legged seafaring man". A former shipmate named Black Dog confronts The Captain about a chart. They get into a violent fight, causing Black Dog to flee. The Captain, proper name Billy Bones, suffers a stroke. That night, Jim's father dies suddenly. A few days later, a blind beggar named Pew visits the inn, delivering a summons to Bones called "the black spot". Shortly thereafter, Bones suffers another stroke and dies. Pew and his accomplices attack the inn, but are routed by excise officers, and Pew is trampled to death. Jim and his mother escape with a mysterious packet from Bones' sea chest, which is found to contain a map of the island on which the infamous pirate Captain Flint hid his treasure. Jim shows the map to the local physician Dr. Livesey and the
squire
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.
Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...
John Trelawney, and they decide to make an expedition to the island, with Jim serving as a
cabin boy
''Cabin Boy'' is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film, directed by Adam Resnick and co-produced by Tim Burton, which starred comedian Chris Elliott. Elliott co-wrote the film with Resnick. Both Elliott and Resnick worked for '' Late Night with Dav ...
.
They set sail on Trelawney's
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
, the ''Hispaniola'', under
Captain Smollett
Captain Alexander Smollett is the fictional captain of the schooner ''Hispaniola'' in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel ''Treasure Island''. He plays an important part in disciplining the main characters on the ship as the story progresses, and ...
and Jim forms a strong bond with the ship's one-legged cook, Long John Silver. The crew suffers tragedy when first mate Mr. Arrow, a drunkard, is washed overboard during a storm. While hidden in an apple-barrel, Jim overhears a conversation among the Hispaniola's crew which reveals that many of them are pirates who had served on Captain Flint's ship, the ''Walrus'', with Silver leading them. They plan to mutiny after the salvage of the treasure, and to murder the captain and the few remaining loyal crew.
Arriving at the island, Jim joins the shore party and they begin to explore. He meets a
marooned Marooned may refer to:
* Marooning, the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area
Film and television
* ''Marooned'' (1933 film), a British drama film
* ''Marooned'' (1969 film), an American science-fiction film
* ''Marooned ...
pirate named Ben Gunn, who is also a former member of Flint's crew. The mutineers arm themselves and take the ship while Smollett's loyal men take refuge in an abandoned stockade on the island. After a brief truce, the mutineers attack them, with casualties on both sides of the battle. Jim makes his way to the ''Hispaniola'' and cuts the ship from its anchor, drifting it along the ebb tide. He boards the ship and encounters the pirate Israel Hands, who had been injured in a drunken dispute with one of his companions. Hands helps Jim beach the schooner in the northern bay, then attempts to kill Jim with a knife, but Jim shoots him dead with two pistols.
Jim goes ashore and returns to the stockade, where he is horrified to find only Silver and the pirates. Silver tells Jim that when everyone found the ship was gone, Captain Flint's party had agreed to a truce whereby they take the map and allow the besieged party to leave. In the morning, Livesey arrives to treat the wounded and sick pirates and tells Silver to look out for trouble once he's found the site of the treasure. After a dispute over leadership, Silver and the others set out with the map, taking Jim along as a hostage. They find a skeleton with its arms oriented toward the treasure, unnerving the party. Scaring the crew, Ben Gunn shouts Captain Flint's last words from the forest, making the pirates believe that Flint's ghost is haunting the island. They eventually find the treasure cache, but it is empty. The pirates prepare to kill Silver and Jim, but they are ambushed by the officers along with Gunn. Livesey explains that Gunn had already found the treasure and taken it to his cave long ago. The expedition members load a portion of the treasure onto the ''Hispaniola'' and depart the island, with Silver as a prisoner. At their first port, in Spanish America, Silver steals a bag of money and escapes. The rest of them sail back to
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and divide up the treasure. Still, Jim says that there is more left on the island, but he will not undertake another voyage to claim it.
Background
Stevenson conceived the idea for the novel based on a map of an imaginary, romantic island which he drew with his stepson
Lloyd Osbourne
Samuel Lloyd Osbourne (April 7, 1868 – May 22, 1947) was an American author and the stepson of the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, with whom he co-authored three books, including '' The Wrecker'', and provided input and ideas on oth ...
, during a holiday in
Braemar, Scotland
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an elevation of .
The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' pro ...
in the summer of 1881. He had clearly started work by 25 August, writing to a friend, "If this don't fetch the kids, why, they have gone rotten since my day. Will you be surprised to learn that it is about Buccaneers, that it begins in the Admiral Benbow public house on the
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
coast, that it's all about a map and a treasure and a mutiny and a derelict ship... It's quite silly and horrid fun – and what I want is the ''best'' book about Buccaneers that can be had".
Stevenson originally gave the book the title ''The Sea Cook''. One month after conceiving of the book, chapters began to appear in the pages of the '' Young Folks'' magazine. After completing fifteen or nineteen chapters rapidly, Stevenson was interrupted by illness; he left Scotland and continued working on the first draft near London, where he and his father discussed points of the tale, and his father suggested elements that he included. The novel eventually ran in seventeen weekly instalments from October 1, 1881, to January 28, 1882. The book was later republished as the novel ''Treasure Island'' and proved to be Stevenson's first financial and critical success. The Liberal politician
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
, who served four terms as British Prime Minister between 1868 and 1894, was one of the book's biggest fans.
Two general types of sea novels were popular during the 19th century: the navy yarn, which places a capable officer in adventurous situations amid realistic settings and historical events, and the desert island romance, which features shipwrecked or marooned characters confronted by treasure-seeking pirates or angry natives. Around 1815, the latter genre became one of the most popular fictional styles in Great Britain, perhaps because of the philosophical interest in Rousseau and Chateaubriand's "
noble savage
A noble savage is a literary stock character who embodies the concept of the indigene, outsider, wild human, an "other" who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness. Besides appearing in man ...
". ''Treasure Island'' was a climax of this development. The growth of the desert island genre can be traced back to 1719 when
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
's '' Robinson Crusoe'' was published. A century later, novels such as S. H. Burney's ''The Shipwreck'' (1816), and
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
's '' The Pirate'' (1822) continued to expand upon Defoe's classic. Other authors, in the mid-19th century, continued this trend, with works including
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...
's ''
The Pilot
A pilot is a person who flies or navigates an aircraft.
Pilot or The Pilot may also refer to:
* Maritime pilot, a person who guides ships through hazardous waters
* Television pilot, a television episode used to sell a series to a television netw ...
'' (1823). During the same period,
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
wrote " MS Found in a Bottle" (1833) and " The Gold-Bug" (1843). All of these works influenced Stevenson's end product.
Stevenson also consciously borrowed material from previous authors. In a July 1884 letter to Sidney Colvin, he wrote that "''Treasure Island'' came out of
Kingsley Kingsley may refer to:
People
* Kingsley (given name)
* Kingsley (surname)
Places Australia
* Kingsley, Western Australia
Canada
* Rural Municipality of Kingsley No. 124, Saskatchewan
England
* Kingsley, Cheshire
* Kingsley, Hampshire
*Kingsley ...
's ''At Last'', where I got the Dead Man's Chest—and that was the seed—and out of the great Captain Johnson's '' History of the Notorious Pirates''". Stevenson also admits that he took the idea of Captain Flint's pointing skeleton from Poe's '' The Gold-Bug'' and he constructed Billy Bones' history from the "Money-Diggers" section ("Golden Dreams" in particular) of ''
Tales of a Traveller
''Tales of a Traveller, by Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' (1824) is a two-volume collection of essays and short stories composed by Washington Irving while he was living in Europe, primarily in Germany and Paris. The collection was published under Irvi ...
'' by
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
, one of his favorite writers.
Half of Stevenson's manuscripts are lost, including those of ''Treasure Island'', '' The Black Arrow'', and '' The Master of Ballantrae''. Stevenson's heirs sold his papers during World War I; many of his documents were auctioned off in 1918.
Characters
Main
* Jim Hawkins: The narrator of most of the novel. Jim is the son of an innkeeper near Bristol, England, and appears to be in his mid-teens. He is eager to go to sea and hunt for treasure. Jim consistently displays courage and heroism, but is also sometimes impulsive and impetuous. He exhibits increasing sensitivity and wisdom as the journey progresses.
* Long John Silver: The one-legged cook aboard the ''Hispaniola''. Silver is the secret leader of the pirates. He is deceitful and greedy, but also charismatic, and his physical and mental strength are impressive. He is kind toward Jim and appears genuinely fond of him. Silver was based in part on Stevenson's friend and mentor William Ernest Henley.
* Dr. David Livesey: A doctor and
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
; he narrates a few chapters of the novel. He exhibits common sense and rationality, and is fair-minded, treating wounded pirates just as he does his own comrades. Some years prior to the events of the novel, he had participated in the
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by th ...
, during which he was wounded in action.
* Captain Alexander Smollett: The captain of the ''Hispaniola''. He is savvy and is rightly suspicious of the crew that Trelawney hires. Smollett is a real professional, taking his job seriously and displaying skill as a negotiator. Smollett believes in rules and does not like Jim's disobedience, but later in the novel states that he and Jim shouldn't go to sea together again as Jim was too much of the born favourite for him.
* Squire John Trelawney: A wealthy landowner who arranges the voyage to the island. He is too trusting and is duped by Silver into hiring pirates as the ship's crew.
* Billy Bones: An old seaman who resides at the Admiral Benbow Inn. He used to be Flint's first mate, and is surly and rude. He exhorts Jim to be on the lookout for a one-legged man. A treasure map in his possession set the events of the novel in motion.
* Ben Gunn: A former member of Captain Flint's crew who was found on Treasure Island, having been marooned there by Flint's crew several years earlier. He is described as being "insane", at least partially, and has a craving for
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
.
**In the semi-official prequel story ''
Porto Bello Gold
Arthur D. Howden Smith (; 1887–1945) was an American historian and novelist.Robert Sampson, ''Yesterday's Faces: Violent Lives'', Bowling Green State University, 1993, , pp. 177–78.
Life
Arthur Douglas Howden Smith was born in New York. In ...
'' by
Arthur D. Howden Smith
Arthur D. Howden Smith (; 1887–1945) was an American historian and novelist.Robert Sampson, ''Yesterday's Faces: Violent Lives'', Bowling Green State University, 1993, , pp. 177–78.
Life
Arthur Douglas Howden Smith was born in New York. In ...
, Ben Gunn was the servant of captain Andrew "Rip-Rap" Murray, Flint's associate and the mastermind behind the capture of the treasure ship ''Santissima Trinidad'', whence the buried treasure was taken. Murray described Ben Gunn as a "half-wit" whom he kept as servant specifically because he considered him intellectually incapable of treachery. After Flint's crew killed Murray and overpowered his crew, Ben Gunn went to serve Flint and fled the ''Walrus'' in Savannah after Flint's death.
**According to ''
The Adventures of Ben Gunn
''The Adventures of Ben Gunn'' is a 1956 adventure novel by the British writer R.F. Delderfield. It is a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's ''Treasure Island''.
In 1958 it was adapted into a BBC television The Adventures of Ben Gunn (TV series) ...
'', he was Nic Allardyce's servant and friend from back home.
Minor
* Alan: An honest sailor who is killed by the mutineers during the landing on the island and whose death scream is heard across the isle. The incident occurs just before Long John murders Tom.
* Allardyce: One of the six members of Flint's Crew who, after burying the treasure and silver and building the blockhouse on Treasure Island, are all killed by Flint, who returns to his ship alone. Allardyce's body is lined up by Flint as a compass marker to the cache.
**In ''
Porto Bello Gold
Arthur D. Howden Smith (; 1887–1945) was an American historian and novelist.Robert Sampson, ''Yesterday's Faces: Violent Lives'', Bowling Green State University, 1993, , pp. 177–78.
Life
Arthur Douglas Howden Smith was born in New York. In ...
'', one sailor on Flint's ship is named "Tom Allardyce". A lanky fellow with rather long, yellow hair, he is an antagonistic ringleader of sailors opposing Flint in at least two "fo'c'sle councils". Flint thinks they may present him with the Black Spot; he eventually challenges Allardyce to bring six friends and bury the treasure together.
**According to ''
The Adventures of Ben Gunn
''The Adventures of Ben Gunn'' is a 1956 adventure novel by the British writer R.F. Delderfield. It is a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's ''Treasure Island''.
In 1958 it was adapted into a BBC television The Adventures of Ben Gunn (TV series) ...
'', his first name was "Nic", he was surgeon on Flint's crew, and Ben Gunn was his servant and friend from back home.
* Job Anderson: The ship's boatswain and one of the leaders of the mutiny. He participates in the storming of the blockhouse and is killed by Gray while attacking Jim. He is probably one of Flint's old pirate hands, though this is never stated. Along with Hands and Merry, he tipped a Black Spot on Silver and forced Silver to start the mutiny before the treasure was found.
* Mr. Arrow: The first mate of the ''Hispaniola''. He is an alcoholic and is useless as a first mate. He disappears before they get to the island and his position is filled by Job Anderson. Silver had secretly given Mr. Arrow alcohol and he fell drunkenly overboard on a stormy night. In his BBC adaptation of 1977, John Lucarotti gives him the first name "Joshua". His first name was not stated in the novel.
* Black Dog: Formerly a member of Flint's pirate crew, later one of Pew's companions who visits the Admiral Benbow to confront Billy Bones. He is spotted by Jim in Silver's tavern and slips out to be chased by two of Silver's men (in order to maintain the ruse that Silver and his men are not associated with him). Two fingers are missing from his left hand.
*Pew: A vicious, deadly, and sinister blind beggar who served as a member of Flint's crew. Despite his blindness, he proves to be a dangerous adversary and can even be considered a ringleader amongst his fellow crewmen. He is the second messenger to approach Billy Bones and the one to deliver the Black Spot. He is trampled to death by the horses of revenue officers riding to assist Jim and his mother after the raid on their inn. Silver claims Pew spent his share of Flint's treasure at a rate of £1,200 per year, and that for two years until his accident at the "Admiral Benbow", he begged, stole, and murdered. Stevenson avoided predictability by making the two most fearsome characters a blind man and an amputee. In the play ''Admiral Guinea'' (1892), Stevenson gives him the full name "David Pew". Stevenson's novel ''
Kidnapped
Kidnapped may refer to:
* subject to the crime of kidnapping
Literature
* ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
* ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...
'' (1886) also features a dangerous blind man.
**In ''Porto Bello Gold'', it is Pew who fatally stabs captain Murray, working in concert with Long John Silver. From the context, it seems that Silver means Pew when he addresses one man as "Ezra" just prior.
* Mr. Dance: Chief revenue officer (titled Supervisor) who ascends with his men upon the Admiral Benbow, driving out the pirates, and saving Jim Hawkins and his mother. He then takes Hawkins to see the squire and the doctor.
* Dogger: One of Mr. Dance's associates, who doubles Hawkins on his horse to the squire's house.
* Captain J. Flint: A pirate who was captain of a ship called the ''Walrus'', and who is dead before the events of the novel begin. In life he was the leader of the pirates and they refer to him often. He was the original possessor of the treasure, and buried it on the island. Long John Silver's parrot is named after him.
* Abraham Gray: A ship's
carpenter
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...
's mate on the ''Hispaniola''. He is almost incited to mutiny but remains loyal to the Squire's side when asked to do so by Captain Smollett. He saves Hawkins' life by killing Job Anderson during an attack on the stockade, and he helps shoot the mutineers at the rifled treasure cache. He later escapes the island together with Jim Hawkins, Dr. Livesey, Squire Trelawney, Captain Smollett, Long John Silver, and Ben Gunn. He spends his part of the treasure on his education, marries, and becomes part owner of a full-rigged ship.
* Israel Hands: The ship's coxswain and Flint's old gunner. He tries to murder Jim Hawkins, who shoots him in self-defence.
* Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins: The parents of Jim Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins dies early in the story.
* John Hunter: A manservant of Squire Trelawney. Dr. Livesey considers him to be the most steady and capable of Livesey's servants to have in a fight. He accompanies Trelawney to the island but is later knocked unconscious in an attack on the stockade. He dies of his injuries while unconscious.
* John: A mutineer who is injured while trying to storm the blockhouse. Throughout the latter narrative he is primarily referred to by Hawkins as 'the man with the bandaged head' and ends up being killed at the rifled treasure cache.
* Dick Johnson: The youngest of the mutineers, who has a Bible. The pirates use one of its pages to make a Black Spot for Silver, only to have him predict bad luck on Dick for sacrilege. Soon becoming mortally ill with
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
, Dick ends up being marooned on the island after the deaths of George Merry and John.
* Richard Joyce: One of the manservants of Squire Trelawney who accompany the squire to the island, a mild-mannered valet inexperienced in firearms. He is shot through the head and killed by a mutineer during an attack on the stockade.
* George Merry: A mutinous and hostile member of Silver's crew, who disobeys orders and occasionally challenges Silver's authority. He launches the mutiny prematurely, forcing Long John to flee to the island with Jim as an improvised hostage. With Anderson and Hands, he forces Silver to attack the blockhouse instead of waiting for the treasure to be found. Later killed at the empty cache just as he is about to kill both Silver and Hawkins.
* Tom Morgan: An ex-pirate from Flint's old crew. He ends up marooned on the island with Dick and one other mutineer.
* O'Brien: A mutineer who survives the attack on the blockhouse and escapes. He is later killed by Israel Hands in a drunken fight on the ''Hispaniola''. He is referred to by Hawkins as the pirate 'with the red nightcap' throughout most of the narrative, until Hands reveals to Hawkins that the fellow was an Irishman named O'Brien.
* Tom Redruth: The gamekeeper of Squire Trelawney. He accompanies the Squire to the island but is shot and mortally wounded by the mutineers as the captain's party are relocating from the ship to the stockade.
* Tom: An honest sailor who is killed by Silver for refusing to join the mutiny.
Among other minor characters whose names are not revealed are the four pirates who were killed in an attack on the stockade along with Job Anderson; the pirate killed by the honest men minus Jim Hawkins before the attack on the stockade; the pirate killed by Ben the night before the attack on the stockade; the pirate shot by Squire Trelawney when aiming at Israel Hands, who later died of his injuries; and the pirate marooned on the island along with Tom Morgan and Dick.
Historical allusions
Real pirates and piracy
Historian Luis Junco suggests that ''Treasure Island'' is a combination of the story of the murder of Captain
George Glas
George Glas (1725 – 30 November 1765) was a Scottish seaman and merchant adventurer in West Africa.
The son of John Glas, the divine, Glas was born at Dundee in 1725, and is said to have been brought up as a surgeon.
He obtained command of a ...
on board the ''Earl of Sandwich'' in 1765 and the taking of the ship ''Walrus'' off the island of La Graciosa near
Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
. The pirates of La Graciosa buried their treasure there, and were subsequently all killed in a bloody battle with the British navy; the treasure was never recovered.
In his book ''Pirates of the Carraigin'', David Kelly deals with the piracy and murder of Captain Glas and others on board a ship travelling from Tenerife to London by the Ship's Cook and his gang. The perpetrators of this crime also buried the considerable treasure they had stolen but most of it was later recovered. They were all executed in Dublin in 1766. In his research, Kelly showed that Stevenson was a neighbour of the named victim in Edinburgh, and so was aware from an early age of these events, which had been a scandal at the time. Stevenson and his family were members of a church congregation set up by the victim's father. Although he never visited Ireland, Stevenson based at least two other books, ''
Kidnapped
Kidnapped may refer to:
* subject to the crime of kidnapping
Literature
* ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
* ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...
'' and ''
Catriona
Catriona (pronounced "ka-TREE-nah" is a feminine given name in the English language. It is an Anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish Caitríona or Scottish Gaelic Catrìona, which are forms of the English Katherine (given name), Katherine.
...
'' on real crimes that were perpetrated in Dublin; these crimes were all reported in detail in ''
The Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...
'', published in Dublin and Edinburgh.
Other allusions to real piracy include:
* Five real-life pirates mentioned are
William Kidd
William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd ( – 23 May 1701), was a Scottish sea captain who was commissioned as a privateer and had experience as a pirate. He was tried and executed in London in 1701 for murder a ...
Edward England
Edward England ( –1721) was an Irish pirate. The ships he sailed on included the ''Pearl'' (which he renamed ''The Royal James'') and later the ''Fancy'', for which England exchanged the ''Pearl'' in 1720. His flag was the classic Joll ...
(1717–1720),
Howell Davis
Howell Davis (ca. 1690 – 19 June 1719), also known as Hywel and/or Davies, was a Welsh pirate. His piratical career lasted just 11 months, from 11 July 1718 to 19 June 1719, when he was ambushed and killed. His ships were the ''Cadogan'', ' ...
Israel Hands
Israel Hands, also known as Basilica Hands, was an 18th-century pirate best known for being second in command to Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. His name serves as the basis for the name of the villainous sidekick in Robert Louis Steven ...
" was taken from that of a real pirate in Blackbeard's crew, whom Blackbeard maimed (by shooting him in the knee) simply to ensure that his crew remained in terror of him. Allegedly, Hands was taken ashore to be treated for his injury and was not at Blackbeard's last fight (the incident is depicted in Tim Powers' novel ''
On Stranger Tides
''On Stranger Tides'' is a 1987 historical fantasy supernatural novel by American writer Tim Powers. It was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and placed second in the annual Locus poll for best fantasy novel.
''On Stranger ...
''), and this alone saved him from the gallows. Supposedly, he later became a beggar in England.
* Silver refers to "three hundred and fifty thousand" pieces of eight at the "fishing up of the wrecked plate ships". This remark conflates two related events: first, the salvage of treasure from the
1715 Treasure Fleet
The 1715 Treasure Fleet was actually a combination of two Spanish treasure fleets returning from the New World to Spain, the "Nueva España Fleet", under Capt.-General Don Juan Esteban de Ubilla, and the "Tierra Firme Fleet", under Don Antonio de ...
which was wrecked off the coast of Florida in a hurricane; second, the seizure of 350,000 salvaged pieces of eight the following year (out of several million) by privateer
Henry Jennings
Henry Jennings (died possibly 1745) was an 18th-century Kingdom of England, English privateer from the colony of Bermuda, who served primarily during the War of the Spanish Succession and later served as leader of the pirate haven or "Pirates' ...
. This event is mentioned in the introduction to
Johnson's
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...
'' General History of the Pyrates''.
* Silver refers to a ship's surgeon from Roberts' crew who amputated his leg and was later hanged at Cape Coast Castle, a British fortification on the Gold Coast of Africa. The records of the trial of Roberts' men list Peter Scudamore as the chief surgeon of Roberts' ship ''Royal Fortune''. Scudamore was found guilty of willingly serving with Roberts' pirates and various related criminal acts, as well as attempting to lead a rebellion to escape once he had been apprehended. He was, as Silver relates, hanged, in 1722.
* Stevenson refers to the ''Viceroy of the Indies'', a ship sailing from
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
, India (then a
Portuguese colony
The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...
), which was taken by
Edward England
Edward England ( –1721) was an Irish pirate. The ships he sailed on included the ''Pearl'' (which he renamed ''The Royal James'') and later the ''Fancy'', for which England exchanged the ''Pearl'' in 1720. His flag was the classic Joll ...
off Malabar while John Silver was serving aboard England's ship the ''Cassandra''. No such exploit of England's is known, nor any ship by the name of the ''Viceroy of the Indies''. However, in April 1721, the captain of the ''Cassandra'',
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to:
Academics
*John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487
*John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar
*John Taylor (English publisher) (178 ...
(originally England's second in command who had marooned him for being insufficiently ruthless), together with his pirate partner, Olivier Levasseur, captured the vessel ''Nostra Senhora do Cabo'' near
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
island in the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese galleon was returning from Goa to
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
with the Conde da Ericeira, the recently retired Viceroy of Portuguese India, aboard. The viceroy had much of his treasure with him, making this capture one of the richest pirate hauls ever. This is possibly the event that Stevenson referred to, though his (or Silver's) memory of the event seems to be slightly confused. The ''Cassandra'' was last heard of in 1723 at Portobelo, Panama, a place that also briefly figures in ''Treasure Island'' as "Portobello".
* The preceding two references are inconsistent, as the ''Cassandra'' (and presumably Silver) was in the Indian Ocean during the time that Scudamore was surgeon on board the ''Royal Fortune'', in the Gulf of Guinea.
* A real life 1800s smuggling gang, the ''"Benbow Brandy Men"'', operated out of the Benbow pub in
Penzance
Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...
, smuggling gin, brandy, and tobacco to avoid paying the massive import taxes imposed by
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
to fund its foreign wars.
Other allusions
* 1689: A pirate whistles "
Lillibullero
"Lillibullero" (also spelled Lillibulero, Lilliburlero, or Lilli Burlero) is a march attributed to Henry Purcell that became popular in England at the time of the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
Background
Henry Purcell is alleged to have c ...
".
* 1702: The Admiral Benbow Inn on the Devon coast, where Jim and his mother live, is named after the real life Admiral John Benbow (1653–1702).
* 1733: Foundation of
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
, where Captain Flint died in 1754.
* 1745: Doctor Livesey was at the
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by th ...
(1745).
* 1747: Squire Trelawney and Long John Silver both mention "Admiral Hawke", i.e.
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, KB, PC (21 February 1705 – 17 October 1781), of Scarthingwell Hall in the parish of Towton, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of the third-rate , he took part in the Battle of T ...
(1705–81), promoted to rear admiral in 1747.
* 1749: The novel refers to the Bow Street Runners (1749).
* ''Treasure Island'' was in part inspired by
R. M. Ballantyne
Robert Michael Ballantyne (24 April 1825 – 8 February 1894) was a Scottish author of juvenile fiction, who wrote more than a hundred books. He was also an accomplished artist: he exhibited some of his water-colours at the Royal Scottish Acade ...
's '' The Coral Island'', which Stevenson admired for its "better qualities." Stevenson alludes to Ballantyne in the epigraph at the beginning of ''Treasure Island'', "To the Hesitating Purchaser", "...If studious youth no longer crave, His ancient appetites forgot,
Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
, or Ballantyne the brave, Or
Cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
Edward Trelawney
Edward Trelawney (c. 1653 – October 1726), of Coldrenick, near Liskeard, Cornwall, was an English clergyman who served as dean and archdeacon of Exeter between 1717 and 1726.Ursula Radford (1955). "An Introduction to the Deans of Exeter". Repor ...
, Governor of
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
1738–52.
* Dr. Livesey may have been named for
Joseph Livesey
Joseph William Livesey (5 March 1794 – 2 September 1884) was an English temperance campaigner, social reformer, local politician, writer, publisher, newspaper proprietor and philanthropist.
Early life
Livesey was born on 5 March 1794 at Wal ...
(1794–1884), a famous 19th-century temperance advocate, founder of the tee-total "Preston Pledge". In the novel, Dr. Livesey warns the drunkard Billy Bones that "the name of rum for you is death."Reed, Thomas L. 2006. ''The Transforming Draught: Jekyll and Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the Victorian Alcohol Debate mustache.'' pp. 71–73.
Treasure Island
Various claims have been made that one island or another inspired Treasure Island:
* Isla de Pinos near
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, which served as a supply base for pirates for about 300 years, is believed to have inspired Treasure Island.
*
Norman Island
Norman Island is an island at the southern tip of the British Virgin Islands archipelago. It is one of a number of islands reputed to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's pirate novel ''Treasure Island''.
History
It is said that ...
in the
British Virgin Islands
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = Territorial song
, song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands"
, image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg
, map_caption =
, mapsize = 290px
, image_map2 = Brit ...
was supposedly mentioned to Stevenson by a sailor uncle, and also possesses a "Spyglass Hill" like the fictional Treasure Island."Where's Where" (1974) (Eyre Methuen, London)
*
Cocos Island
Cocos Island ( es, Isla del Coco) is an island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica, approximately southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It constitutes the 11th of the 13 districts of Puntarenas Canton of the Province of Puntarenas ...
off Costa Rica has many similarities with the fictional treasure island. British trader Captain William Thompson buried the stolen treasury of Peru there in 1820; an original inventory showed 113 gold religious statues (one a life-sized Virgin Mary), 200 chests of jewels, 273 swords with jeweled hilts, 1,000 diamonds, solid-gold crowns, 150 chalices, and hundreds of gold and silver bars. The real treasure has never been found, despite more than 300 expeditions to the island. Stevenson mentions the buried treasure and Captain Thompson in an 1881 letter to W. E. Henley, where he also provides the earliest known title for the book: "The Sea Cook, or Treasure Island: a Story for Boys".
* Dead Chest Island, a barren rock in the British Virgin Islands, which Stevenson found mentioned in
Charles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...
's ''At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies'', and which he said "was the seed" for the phrase "Dead Man's Chest".David Cordingly. ''Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates''. .Robert Louis Stevenson. "To Sidney Colvin. Late May 1884", in ''Selected Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson'' p. 263
* Small pond in Queen Street Gardens in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, said to have been visible from Stevenson's bedroom window in Heriot Row."Brilliance of 'World's Child' will come alive at storytelling event" , (''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, where Stevenson spent his honeymoon in 1880, as narrated in his ''
The Silverado Squatters
''The Silverado Squatters'' (1883) is a Travel literature, travel memoir by Robert Louis Stevenson of his two-month honeymoon trip with Fanny Vandegrift (and her son Lloyd Osbourne) to Napa Valley, California, in 1880.
Background
In July 1879, ...
'' (1883).
* Osborn Island (now Nienstedt Island) in the
Manasquan River
The Manasquan River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 waterway in central New Jersey.
It flows from western Monmouth County, beginning in Freehold T ...
Fidra
Fidra (archaically Fidrey or Fetheray) is a currently uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth, northwest of North Berwick, on the east coast of Scotland. The island is an RSPB Scotland nature reserve.
Geography
Like the other islands near N ...
in the
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south.
Name
''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...
, visible from North Berwick where Stevenson had spent many childhood holidays.
* Unst, one of the
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
Islands, to which the map of Treasure Island bears a very vague resemblance.
*
R. F. Delderfield
Ronald Frederick Delderfield (12 February 1912 – 24 June 1972) was an English novelist and dramatist, some of whose works have been adapted for television and film.
Biography
Childhood in London and Surrey
Ronald Frederick Delderfield ...
, in ''
The Adventures of Ben Gunn
''The Adventures of Ben Gunn'' is a 1956 adventure novel by the British writer R.F. Delderfield. It is a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's ''Treasure Island''.
In 1958 it was adapted into a BBC television The Adventures of Ben Gunn (TV series) ...
'', suggests that its real name is Kidd's Island, and identifies it as an outlying island of the
Windward Islands
french: Îles du Vent
, image_name =
, image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada.
, image_alt =
, locator_map =
, location = Caribbean SeaNorth ...
, south-south-west of
Tobago
Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...
(pp. 119–120).
Claimed links to the towns of Birkenhead and Wallasey near Liverpool
In August 2022 the British Member of Parliament for Birkenhead, Mick Whitley, supported the findings of local historian John Lamb, that Robert Louis Stevenson had set his classic novel ''Treasure Island'' in the towns of Birkenhead and Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula lying opposite Liverpool. This followed a previous announcement by Alan Evans of Wirral Borough Council that the French science fiction writer Jules Verne had also set his 1874 novel ''The Mysterious Island'' in Birkenhead. Their Letters of support for Mr Lamb's claims were posted on the ''Jules Verne and the Heroes of Birkenhead'' website in August 2022.
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, and the Admiral Benbow in
Penzance
Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...
, have claimed to be an inspiration for the Admiral Benbow Inn. Stevenson visited Cornwall and Penzance in August 1877, and as inn is described in the book as being in a rural area and it was necessary to travel to Bristol, Penzance's ''"Benbow Brandy Men"'' may have inspired him to feature the Penzance Benbow in Treasure Island.
* The Hole in the Wall, in Bristol, is claimed to be the Spyglass Tavern.
* ''The Pirate's House'' in
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
, is where Captain Flint is claimed to have spent his last days, and his ghost is claimed to haunt the property.
Sequels, prequels, and worldbuilding
Literature
Stevenson's ''Treasure Island'' spawned an enormous amount of literature based one way or another upon his original novel:
*''
Porto Bello Gold
Arthur D. Howden Smith (; 1887–1945) was an American historian and novelist.Robert Sampson, ''Yesterday's Faces: Violent Lives'', Bowling Green State University, 1993, , pp. 177–78.
Life
Arthur Douglas Howden Smith was born in New York. In ...
'' (1924), a
prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term " ...
by
A. D. Howden Smith
Arthur D. Howden Smith (; 1887–1945) was an American historian and novelist.Robert Sampson, ''Yesterday's Faces: Violent Lives'', Bowling Green State University, 1993, , pp. 177–78.
Life
Arthur Douglas Howden Smith was born in New York. In ...
that was written with explicit permission from Stevenson's executor, tells the origin of the buried treasure and recasts many of Stevenson's pirates in their younger years, giving the hidden treasure some Jacobite antecedents not mentioned in the original.
*''
Back to Treasure Island
Harold Augustin Calahan (November 7, 1889 – November 25, 1965) or H. A. Calahan was a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy and an author on sailing."Harold Augustin Calahan, 76, Yachtsman and Author, Dead", ''The New York Times'', Nove ...
'' (1935) is a sequel by
H. A. Calahan
Harold Augustin Calahan (November 7, 1889 – November 25, 1965) or H. A. Calahan was a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy and an author on sailing."Harold Augustin Calahan, 76, Yachtsman and Author, Dead", ''The New York Times'', Nove ...
, the introduction of which argues that
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
wanted to write a continuation of the story.
*''
The Adventures of Ben Gunn
''The Adventures of Ben Gunn'' is a 1956 adventure novel by the British writer R.F. Delderfield. It is a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's ''Treasure Island''.
In 1958 it was adapted into a BBC television The Adventures of Ben Gunn (TV series) ...
'' (1956), by
R. F. Delderfield
Ronald Frederick Delderfield (12 February 1912 – 24 June 1972) was an English novelist and dramatist, some of whose works have been adapted for television and film.
Biography
Childhood in London and Surrey
Ronald Frederick Delderfield ...
, follows Ben Gunn from parson's son to pirate and is narrated by Jim Hawkins in Gunn's words.
*''Flint's Island'' (1972), a sequel by
Leonard Wibberley
Leonard Patrick O'Connor Wibberley (9 April 1915 – 22 November 1983), who also published under the name Patrick O'Connor, among others, was an Irish author who spent most of his life in the United States. Wibberley, who published more than 100 ...
, who notes in the introduction that it had long been a dream of his to do so.
*''Long John Silver - Den äventyrliga och sannfärdiga berättelsen om mitt liv och leverne som lyckoriddare och mänsklighetens fiende'' (1998) is a prequel by the Swedish author Björn Larsson, who tells the fictional story of the pirate Long John Silver, told in first person by Silver himself in a manuscript in his last days of life.
*''
Jim Hawkins and the Curse of Treasure Island
''Jim Hawkins and the Curse of Treasure Island'' is an 2001 adventure novel by Frank Delaney, written under the pseudonym of Francis Bryan. It is a sequel to the 1883 novel ''Treasure Island'' by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Plot summary
Twelve yea ...
'' (2001) is a sequel by
Frank Delaney
Frank Delaney (24 October 1942 – 21 February 2017) was an Irish novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He was the author of ''The New York Times'' best-seller ''Ireland'', Op-Ed Contributor: Holy Rollers and Papal Perfectas">The New York Times ...
under the pseudonym "Francis Bryan".
*''Before'' (2001) is a prequel by
Michael Kernan
Michael Jenkins Kernan Jr. (April 29, 1927 – May 4, 2005) was an American author and journalist.
Background
Kernan was born in Utica, New York and grew up outside Clinton, Oneida County, New York. His father, Michael J. Kernan (1884–1953), ...
, published in the Netherlands as ''Vóór Schateiland''.
*''Sept Pirates'' (2007) is a comic-book sequel by Pascal Bertho and artist Tom McBurnie.
*'' Long John Silver'' (2007) is a four-volume French graphic novel by Xavier Dorison and artist Mathieu Lauffray.
*''Flint & Silver'' (2008) is a prequel by John Drake, who followed with two additional books: ''Pieces of Eight'' (2009) and ''Skull and Bones'' (2010).
*''Return to Treasure Island'' (2010) is a sequel by John O'Melveny Woodswrote.
* ''Treasure Island: The Untold Story'' (2011) is a true-life prequel by John Amrhein, Jr.
* '' Silver: Return to Treasure Island'' (2012) is a sequel by former
Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently on the advice of the prime minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will writ ...
Andrew Motion
Sir Andrew Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio reco ...
.
*''Treasure Island!!!'' (2012) is a novel by Sara Levine about an American woman who becomes obsessed with ''Treasure Island'' (Europa Editions, 2012).
* ''Tread Carefully on the Sea'' (2014), by David K. Bryant, merges all the references to Captain Flint into a prequel covering the burial of the treasure.
* ''Skulduggery'' (1991/2014), a prequel written by Tony Robinson which features Ben Gunn attending a school for pirates and meeting junior counterparts of Blind Pew and Long John Silver. Originally published as part of the Silvery Jackanory compilation in 1991. ()
Film and television
A number of sequels have also been produced in film and television, including:
* ''
Return to Treasure Island
Return may refer to:
In business, economics, and finance
* Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense.
* Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment
* Tax return, a blank document or t ...
'' (1954), a film by
E. A. Dupont
Ewald André Dupont (25 December 1891 – 12 December 1956) was a German film director, one of the pioneers of the German film industry. He was often credited as E. A. Dupont.
Early career
A newspaper columnist in 1916, Dupont became a screenwri ...
* ''Return To Treasure Island'' (1986), written by Ivor Dean, Robert S. Baker, and John Goldsmith, is a HTV television series that features Silver, Hawkins, and Gunn.
* A 1992 animation version and a 1996 and 1998 TV version
* '' Black Sails'' (2014–2017), a prequel drama series by Robert Levine and
Jonathan E. Steinberg
Jonathan E. Steinberg is an American television producer, screenwriter, and director. Along with Josh Schaer and Stephen Chbosky, he co-created the television series ''Jericho (2006 TV series), Jericho'', where he served as writer, producer and e ...
, tells the story of Captain Flint and John Silver leading up to the ''Treasure Island'' story. The series is said to take place 20 years before the events of the book, in 1715; however this is actually 40 years before the dates given by Stevenson. The series consists of four seasons.
Worldbuilding
In worldbuilding, there are:
*''Admiral Guinea'' (publ. 1892), a play written by R. L. Stevenson with
W. E. Henley
William Ernest Henley (23 August 184911 July 1903) was an English poet, writer, critic and editor. Though he wrote several books of poetry, Henley is remembered most often for his 1875 poem " Invictus". A fixture in London literary circles, the ...
, features the blind ex-pirate Pew as a character under the name of "David Pew".
* In his collection ''Fables'' (1896), Stevenson wrote a
vignette
Vignette may refer to:
* Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy
* Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters
* Vignette (literature), short, i ...
called "The Persons of the Tale", in which puppets Captain Smollet and Long John Silver discuss authorship.Stevenson, Robert Louis ''Fables'' .
* In the novel ''
Peter and Wendy
''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' or ''Peter and Wendy'', often known simply as ''Peter Pan'', is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous li ...
'' (1911) by J. M. Barrie, it is said that Captain Hook is the only man ever feared by the Old Sea Cook (i.e., Long John Silver); Captain Flint and the ''Walrus'' are also referenced, among others.
* In the film ''
The Pagemaster
''The Pagemaster'' is a 1994 American live-action/animated fantasy adventure film starring Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, Frank Welker, Ed Begley Jr., and Mel Harris. The film was produced b ...
'' (1994), the hero is confronted by Long John Silver, who surrenders and leaves after he is threatened with a sword
* In the animated series ''Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates'' (based, in part, on the original Peter Pan stories), Captain Flint is referenced in the episode "Peter on Trial", as Captain Hook is stated as being the only man that a pirate named Barbecue is stated to fear, with the following statement being that, "even Flint feared Barbecue," referring to Captain Flint from ''Treasure Island''. Barbecue is the crew's nickname for Long John Silver in the novel. In the same episode, Flint is referenced as being the pirate who supposedly conceived of the idea of pirates putting members of their crew or their prisoners as the case might be, on trial in an event called 'Captain's Mast'.
*''Treasure Island'' made an appearance in '' Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island'', the 2018 entry of the popular ''
Doraemon
''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with List of Doraemon chapters, its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ' ...
'' movie series which is also a loose adaptation of the book.
Adaptations
There have been over 50 film and TV adaptations of ''Treasure Island''.
Sidney Franklin Sidney Franklin may refer to:
* Sidney Franklin (bullfighter) (1903–1976), American bullfighter
* Sidney Franklin (director) (1893–1972), American film director and producer
* Sidney Franklin (actor)
Sidney Franklin (1870–1931) was an Amer ...
and
Chester Franklin
Chester Mortimer Franklin (September 1, 1889 – March 12, 1954) was an American film director and actor active mainly in the silent era. Born in San Francisco, he was the brother of Sidney A. Franklin. In the late 1910s, he co-directed w ...
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...
'', as Long John Silver. Said to be a lost film, it was directed by
Maurice Tourneur Maurice may refer to:
People
*Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
*Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and Lo ...
and released by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
.
* '' Treasure Island'' (1934) — the first sound film version remains a lavish and energetic thriller starring Wallace Beery,
Jackie Cooper
John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive, known universally as Jackie Cooper. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first ...
and
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931) ...
Robert Newton
Robert Guy Newton (1 June 1905 – 25 March 1956) was an English actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the more popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys. Known for hi ...
, notable for being the first version in colour and the Walt Disney Studios' first completely live-action film. A sequel to this version was made (but not by Disney) in 1954, entitled '' Long John Silver'', which also starred Newton in the titular role.
* '' Treasure Island'' (1972) — starring
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
, was produced by
National General Pictures
National General Corporation (NGC) was a theater chain holding company, film distribution and production company and was considered one of the "instant majors". It was in operation from 1951 to 1974.
Divisions
Its division National General Pictu ...
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and pr ...
animated film released by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
directed by Hal Sutherland, written by Ben Starr, starring Richard Dawson as Long John Silver, Davy Jones as Jim Hawkins, and Dal McKennon as Captain Flint & Ben Gunn.
* '' Muppet Treasure Island'' (1996) — a film produced by The Jim Henson Company and released by
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...
, starring
the Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...
Jack Palance
Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...
set in space, with Long John Silver as a cyborg and many of the original characters re-imagined as aliens and robots, except for Jim, his mother and his father, who are human.
* ''
Pirates of Treasure Island
''Pirates of Treasure Island'' is a 2006 American comedy-drama film produced by The Asylum, loosely adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel ''Treasure Island''.
The film was criticized as an imitation of the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' ...
The Asylum
The Asylum is an American independent film company and distributor that focuses on producing low-budget, direct-to-video films. It is notorious for producing titles that capitalize on productions by major studios, often using film titles and sc ...
Osip Abdulov
Osip Naumovich Abdulov (russian: Осип Наумович Абдулов; in Łódź – 14 June 1953 in Moscow) was a Soviet actor.
Biography
Osip Naumovich Abdulov was born to a Jewish family in Łódź, Poland (then part of the Russian Empi ...
Nikita Bogoslovsky
Nikita Vladimirovich Bogoslovsky (russian: Ники́та Влади́мирович Богосло́вский; 22 May 1913 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire – 4 April 2004 in Moscow, Russia) was a Soviet and Russian composer. Author of more t ...
.
* ''
Between God, the Devil and a Winchester
''Between God, the Devil and a Winchester'' ( it, Anche nel west c'era una volta Dio) is a 1968 Spaghetti Western film directed by Marino Girolami. The story is based on the 1883 novel ''Treasure Island'' by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Cast
* Ric ...
'' (1968), a
spaghetti western
The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
Alexei Rybnikov
Alexey Lvovich Rybnikov (russian: links=no, Алексей Львович Рыбников; born July 17, 1945) is a modern Russian composer.
He is the author of music for Soviet and Russian musicals (rock operas) '' The Star and Death of Joaqu ...
.
* ''
Animal Treasure Island
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
'' (1971) — an
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
film directed by Hiroshi Ikeda, written by Takeshi Iijima and Hiroshi Ikeda, with story consultation by famous animator Hayao Miyazaki. This version replaces several of the human characters with animal counterparts.
* ''
The Treasure Planet
''Treasure Planet'' (Bulgarian: ) is a 1982 Bulgarian animated science fiction film directed by Rumen Petkov and produced by the Sofia Animation Studio. The 62-minute movie is a science fiction adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 adventure ...
'' (''Planetata na sakrovishtata''; 1982), a Bulgarian animated science fiction adaptation directed by
Rumen Petkov
Rumen Petkov ( bg, Румен Петков; 26 January 1948 – 10 June 2018) was a Bulgarian animator, painter and comic creator. He is best remembered for his animated series ''Choko the Stork and Boko the Frog'', which he also adapted into a c ...
.
* '' Treasure Island'' (1982) — a Soviet film in three parts; almost entirely faithful to the text of the novel. Featuring
Oleg Borisov
Oleg Ivanovich Borisov (russian: Оле́г Ива́нович Бори́сов; 8 November 1929 – 28 April 1994) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1978).
Biography
Childhood and youth
Oleg Borisov was ...
as Long John Silver.
* '' L'Île au trésor'' (1985) — a Chilean-French adaptation starring Vic Tayback as Long John Silver.
* '' Il Pianeta Del Tesoro – Treasure Planet'' (1987; aka ''Treasure Island in Outer Space'') — Italian/German science-fiction adaptation starring Anthony Quinn as Long John Silver.
* '' Treasure Island'' (1988) — a critically acclaimed Ukrainian animation film in two parts, released in the United States (1992) as ''Return to Treasure Island''.
* ''L'Île aux trésors'' (2007) — a French-British-Hungarian film directed by
Alain Berbérian
Alain Berbérian ( hy, Ալեն Բերբերյան; 2 July 1953 – 22 August 2017) was a French film director and writer of Armenia, Armenian descent.
Biography
Born in Beirut to an Armenian father and a Greek mother, Berbérian spent his yout ...
, starring
Gérard Jugnot
Gérard Jugnot (; born 4 May 1951) is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer.
Jugnot was one of the founders of the comedy ''troupe'' Le Splendid in the 1970s, along with, among others, his high-school friends Christian Cl ...
,
Alice Taglioni
Alice Taglioni (born 26 July 1976) is a French actress.
Personal life
Alice Taglioni was born in Ermont, Val-d'Oise. She is the daughter of an Italian man from Lombardy. She was Miss Corsica in 1996, but refused to participate in the election ...
,
Vincent Rottiers
Vincent Rottiers (born 17 June 1986) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than thirty films since 2002.
He is the older brother of actor Kévin Azaïs
Kévin Azaïs (born 1992) is a French actor. He is best known for his performance ...
and
Jean-Paul Rouve
Jean-Paul Rouve (born 26 January 1967) is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He is a member of the troupe "Les Robins des Bois".
He has appeared in more than thirty film and television productions since 1993.
Personal li ...
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
,
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including ...
,
Oliver Reed
Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...
,
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
and Pete Postlethwaite; written, produced and directed by Heston's son, Fraser C. Heston.
* ''Treasure Island Pirate'' (1991)
* ''Treasure Island'' (1995) — a made-for-TV movie directed by
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...
and starring
Hetty Baynes
Henrietta Sara Louise Baynes (born 16 August 1956) is an English film, television and theatre actress. She began her career in ballet by training from the age of 10 at the Royal Ballet School and made her professional debut, at the age of 12, i ...
as Long Jane Silver.
Television
* ''Treasure Island'' (1951) — a seven-part BBC series starring
Bernard Miles
Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th ce ...
as Long John Silver.
* ''
The Adventures of Long John Silver
''The Adventures of Long John Silver'' is a TV series about the Long John Silver character from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel ''Treasure Island''. It was made in 1954 in colour in Australia for the American and British markets before the ...
'' (1955) — 26 episodes shot at Pagewood Studios,
Sydney, Australia
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...
filmed in full colour and starring
Robert Newton
Robert Guy Newton (1 June 1905 – 25 March 1956) was an English actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the more popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys. Known for hi ...
.
* "Mr. Magoo's Treasure Island" (1964) — a two-part episode of the cartoon series ''
The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo
''The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo'' is an American animated television series produced by United Productions of America that aired for one season on NBC from September 19, 1964 to April 24, 1965. The television series was based on the Mr. Magoo, ...
'', was based on the novel, with
Mr. Magoo
Mr. Magoo (known by his full name: J. Quincy Magoo) is a fictional cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Mr. Magoo is an elderly, wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comical ...
in the role of Long John Silver.
* '' Treasure Island'' (1966) — a German-French co-production for German television station
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
.
* ''Treasure Island'' (1968) — a BBC series of nine 25-minute episodes starring
Peter Vaughan
Peter Vaughan (born Peter Ewart Ohm; 4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016) was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on the stage.
He is perhaps best known ...
Ashley Knight
Ashley Knight (born 19 August 1959 in Sutton, Surrey, England) is a British actor notable for child roles including Young Claudius in ''I Claudius''; Jim Hawkins in ''Treasure Island'', and Ken in ''Metal Mickey''. His film appearances included ...
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...
'' starring Alvin as Jim Hawkins, Dave as Long John Silver, Simon as Dr. Livesey, Theodore as Squire Trelawney, and Brittany as Mrs. Hawkins.
* ''
The Legends of Treasure Island
''The Legends of Treasure Island'' is a British animated television series. It had two series of 13 episodes each and each episode runs for 22–25 minutes.
The series was loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's original 1883 novel ''Treasure ...
'' (1993–1995) — an animated series loosely based on the novel, with the characters as animals.
* "Salty Dog" — an episode of ''
Wishbone
Wishbone commonly refers to:
* Furcula, a fork-shaped bone in birds and some dinosaurs
Wishbone may also refer to:
* Wish-Bone, an American salad dressing and condiment company
* Wishbone formation, a type of offense in American football
* Wish ...
'' in which the eponymous character explores the story in a children's adapted version.
* ''Treasure Island: The Adventure Begins'' (1994) — a TV movie special promoting the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.
* '' Treasure Island'' (2012) — two-part serial starring Eddie Izzard, shown on
Sky1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
(United Kingdom) from 1–2 January.
* ''Treasure Island'' (''L'isola del tesoro''; 2015) — an Italian CGI animated series by Rai Fiction and Mondo TV. It mixes the original work with new characters and mythical elements such as voodoo.
Theatre
There have been over 24 major stage adaptations made, though the number of minor adaptations remains countless.Dury, Richard Stage and Radio adaptations of ''Treasure Island'' The story is also a popular plot and setting for a traditional
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
wherein Mrs. Hawkins, Jim's mother is the
dame
''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...
.
* In 1947, a production was mounted at the St. James's Theatre in London, starring Harry Welchman as Long John Silver and John Clark as Jim Hawkins.
* For a time, in London, there was an annual production of the musical Treasure Island, based on a
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
by
Bernard Miles
Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th ce ...
Cyril Ornadel
Cyril Ornadel (2 December 192422 June 2011) was a British conductor, songwriter and composer, chiefly in musical theatre. He worked regularly with David Croft, the television writer, director and producer, as well as Norman Newell and Hal Sh ...
and the lyrics by
Hal Shaper
Hal Shaper (Born Harold David Shaper), 18 July 1931 - 8 January 2004) was a South African songwriter. After qualifying as a lawyer in 1955, he travelled to London to begin his five-decade-long musical career during which he worked with and wrote f ...
. The musical was performed at the
Mermaid Theatre
The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers' Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the first built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new thea ...
, originally under the direction of Bernard Miles, who played Long John Silver, a part he also played in a television version. Comedian
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
would often play Ben Gunn in these productions, and in 1981,
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta, is a musical adaptation by
Jule Styne
Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became s ...
.
* In 1986, a Danish language musical adaptation of ''Treasure Island'' named ''Skatteøen'' premiered at
Folketeatret, Copenhagen
Folketeatret is a theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. The theatre was founded in 1857, after an initiative from actor and theater director Hans Wilhelm Lange (1815-1873) who managed the theater until his death in 1873.
Folketeatret is now operated ...
, written by singer-songwriter
Sebastian
Sebastian may refer to:
People
* Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films and television
* ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film
* ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film
...
. Since its premiere, it has been put to stage frequently by several Danish theatre companies.
* In 2007, an adaptation of ''Treasure Island'' by
Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig is an American playwright and theatre director whose work has been performed in more than 30 countries in over 20 languages.
Personal life
Ken Ludwig was born in York, Pennsylvania. His father was a doctor and his mother was a former B ...
premiered at the Alley Theatre, Houston; played at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket on London's West End in 2008; and won the AATE Distinguished Play Award for Best Adaptation of the Year.
* An adaptation in August 2009 was run by the Henegar Center for the Arts in downtown historic Melbourne, Florida.
* ''Treasure Island: the Curse of the Pearl Necklace'' (2014–15), by Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper, is an alternative
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
that included gay, lesbian, and trans characters, and played a sold-out run at London's Above The Stag Theatre.
* In 2011, Tom Hewitt starred in
B.H. Barry
BH, Bh or bh may refer to:
Medicine
* Bernard-Horner syndrome, a combination of symptoms that arises when a group of nerves known as the sympathetic trunk is damaged
* Borderline hypertensive, an American medical classification for cases wher ...
and
Vernon Morris
Vernon Leslie Morris (13 June 1900 – 11 January 1973) was a Welsh cricketer. Morris was a right-handed Batting (cricket), batsman who bowled right-arm seam bowling, medium pace. Morris was born at Briton Ferry, Glamorgan.
Morris made his deb ...
's stage adaptation of the novel, which officially opened 5 March at the Irondale Center in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
* In July 2011, Bristol Old Vic staged a large-scale outdoor production of ''Treasure Island'' outside the theatre on
King Street, Bristol
King Street is a 17th-century street in the historic city centre of Bristol, England.
The street lies just south of the old town wall and was laid out in 1650 to develop the Town Marsh, the area then lying between the south or Marsh Wall an ...
directed by Sally Cookson, with music by Benji Bower.
* From October 2013 to 2014, Mind the Gap Theatre Company, a leading UK theatre company in working with actors with learning disabilities, embarked on a national tour of ''Treasure Island'', retold with a twist by Olivier award-winning writer Mike Kenny.
* In 2013, YouthPlays published ''Long Joan Silver'' by
Arthur M. Jolly
Arthur M. Jolly (born 1969) is an American playwright and screenwriter. In 2006, he was awarded an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for his comedy ''The Free Republic of Bobistan''.
Early life
...
, an adaptation in which all of the pirates are women.
* A version by Bryony Lavery and directed by
Polly Findlay
Polly Findlay is a British theatre director, who won the Olivier for Best Entertainment in 2011 for Derren Brown's Svengali. She has directed seven productions for the National Theatre, and four for the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she is ...
was produced at London's
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
from December 2014 to April 2015. In this version of the play, Jim is a girl. This production starred rising actor
Patsy Ferran
Patsy Ferran is a Spanish-British actress.
Early life
Ferran was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1989. Her father is from Barcelona and her mother is from Valencia. The family moved to England when Ferran was a child. She attended Notre Dame School ...
as Jim and ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' alumnus Arthur Darvill as Silver.
* As part of their 2017 Season, the Stratford Festival of Canada premiered an adaptation of ''Treasure Island'' by Canadian playwright
Nicolas Billon
Nicolas Billon (born March 22, 1978) is a Canadian writer. He is best known for his plays ''The Elephant Song'', ''Iceland'', and ''Butcher''.
Biography
Nicolas Billon was born in Ottawa, Ontario and grew up in Montreal, Quebec. He is the son ...
.
* In 2018 the newly reopened
Leicester Haymarket Theatre
The Leicester Haymarket Theatre is a theatre in Leicester, England, next to the Haymarket Shopping Centre on Belgrave Gate in Leicester City centre.
History
The Haymarket Theatre was opened by Sir Ralph Richardson and the opening season started ...
staged a new version of ''Treasure Island'', adapted by Sandi Toksvig, as their first Christmas show in 10 years.
Audio
Radio
*
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
broadcast a radio adaptation via '' The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' in July 1938, with its setting being half in England and half on the Island. The broadcast, which omits "My Sea Adventure", included music by
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely re ...
.
* William Redfield played Silver on the May 14, 1948 ''Your Playhouse of Favorites'' adaptation.
*
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...
hosted an adaptation of the novel on the April 27, 1948, broadcast of ''
Favorite Story
''Favorite Story'' is an American old-time radio dramatic anthology. It was nationally syndicated by the Ziv Company from 1946 to 1949. The program was "advertised as a show that 'stands head and shoulders above the finest programs on the air'". ...
''.
*
James Mason
James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...
played Silver opposite Bobby Driscoll's "Jim Hawkins" on the '' Lux Radio Theatres adaptation on January 29, 1951.
* There have been two BBC Radio adaptations of ''Treasure Island'', with Silver being played by
Peter Jeffrey
Peter Jeffrey (18 April 1929 – 25 December 1999) was an English character actor. Starting his performing career on stage, he would later have many roles in television and film.
Early life
Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence ...
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
performed an abridged reading of the novel in five parts as part of
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
's ''Afternoon Reading''.
* ''Treasure Island 2020'' (November 12, 2018 - January 12, 2020) is a 10-part
BYU Radio
BYU Radio is a talk radio station run by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Operating at Sirius XM channel 143 (and in northern Utah on 107.9 KUMT and 89.1-2 KBYU-HD2), it is known on-air as BYU Radio. The station features "news, current e ...
radio adaptation broadcast via ''The Apple Seed''. The audio adventure places the main trio of kids in 2019 and turns it into a time-traveling adventure that involves both them going to the past to look for treasures and Long John Silver, Billy Bones, and others coming to the present through the time vortex. The series is now available as a free podcast.
Other audio recordings
*
Basil Rathbone
Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...
Anthony Woodruff
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...
played Long John Silver in the ''
Tale Spinners for Children
Tale Spinners for Children was a series of stories and novels adapted for young audiences on vinyl records in the early 1960s. They included a collection of old fairy tales, folklore, literary classics such as ''Don Quixote'' and ''Robinson Cruso ...
'' audio adaptation of ''Treasure Island'' (United Artists Records, UAC 11013).
* A 2013
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...
audiobook adaptation of ''Treasure Island'' was written and directed by
Barnaby Edwards
Barnaby Edwards (born 20 August 1969) is a British actor, writer, director and artist. He is known as a performer for the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', in the role of a Dalek operator. He has also written, directed, p ...
and starred
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...
Edward Holtom
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
) — sixty pages, drawn by Robert Bugg
*''
Shin Takarajima
''Shin Takarajima'' ( ja, 新宝島, label=Shinjitai, ja, 新寶島, label=Kyūjitai; ; "New Treasure Island") is a Japanese manga by Sakai Shichima and Osamu Tezuka that was serialized in 1947. It is the first of Tezuka's manga to be publish ...
'' (1947) — a loose adaptation of ''Treasure Island'' by Sakai Shichima and
Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such ...
Four Color
''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...
'' #624 (April 1955,
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
) — adapted by John Ushler from Disney's 1950 film adaptation
* "La isla del tesoro", ''Joyas Literarias Juveniles'' #2 (1970,
Editorial Bruguera
Ediciones B is a Spanish publisher, which currently operates as a division of Penguin Random House. Ediciones B is headquartered in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; with branches throughout Latin America. It was established in 1986, but has its origin ...
) — adapted by José Antonio Vidal Sales and Alfonso Cerón Nuñez; translated and reprinted as "Treasure Island", ''King Classics'' #7 (1977, King Features)
*''
Pendulum Illustrated Classics
Pendulum Press was a publishing company based in West Haven, Connecticut, that operated from 1970 to 1994, producing the bulk of their material in the 1970s. The company is most well known for their comic book adaptations of literary classics. The ...
'' (1973, Pendulum Press) — adapted by John Norwood Fago and Nardo Cruz
*''
Marvel Classics Comics
''Marvel Classics Comics'' was an American comics magazine which ran from 1976 until 1978. It specialized in adaptations of literary classics such as ''Moby-Dick'', ''The Three Musketeers'', and ''The Iliad''. It was Marvel Comics' attempt to pick ...
'' #15 (1976,
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
) — adapted by Bill Mantlo and Dino Castrillo; re-issued by
Fisher-Price
Fisher-Price is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York, East Aurora, New York (state), New York. The company was founded in 1930 during the Great Depressio ...
in 1984
* '' Godspeed'' (1993) — a science-fictional novel by
Charles Sheffield
Charles Sheffield (25 June 1935 – 2 November 2002), an English-born mathematician, physicist and science-fiction writer, served as a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronautical Society.
...
that recasts the search for pirate treasure as the search for lost faster-than-light drive technology
*''Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island: The Graphic Novel'' (2005,
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Capstone Publishers) — adapted by Greg Rebis
*''Treasure Island'' #1–6, ''
Marvel Illustrated
Marvel Illustrated was a Marvel Comics publishing imprint specializing in comic book adaptations of classic literature. Each novel's story is told in the form of a limited series, the issues of which are later collected as a trade paperback. Writ ...
'' (Aug. 2007–Jan. 2008, Marvel Comics) — adapted by
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...
,
Mario Gully
Mario Gully – also known professionally as O.M.G. – is an American comic book artist, who created the comic book series ''Ant''. Ant was first picked up by Arcana Studios and later moved to Image Comics where it would deal with more adult th ...
, and Pat Davidson
*''L'Île au trésor, de Robert Louis Stevenson'' (2007–2009, Delcourt) — adapted by David Chauvel and Fred Simon; translated and reprinted as ''Papercutz Classics Illustrated Series'' #5 (2010,
Papercutz
:PAPERCUTZ (stylized as :papercutz or :PAPERCUTZ) is a Portuguese electronic music act formed as a side project in Porto that became a fully active band in 2008. Bruno Miguel is the only official member of Papercutz and solely responsible for ...
)
*''Disney Treasure Island, Starring Mickey Mouse'' (Oct. 2018,
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
) — adapted by Teresa Radice, Erin Brady (translation), and Stefano Turconi
Music
* The self-titled Ben Gunn Society album released in 2003 presents the story centred on the character of Ben Gunn, based primarily on Chapter XV, "Man of the Island", and other relevant parts of the book.
* "Treasure Island" (1992) is a song by Running Wild, from their ''
Pile of Skulls
''Pile of Skulls'' is the seventh studio album by Running Wild, released in 1992. It is their last album with guitarist Axel Morgan.
The song "Jennings' Revenge" tells about the exploits of pirate Henry Jennings.
The lyrics of "Treasure Island" ...
'' album, that tells the novel's story.
* Scottish glam rock artists
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna (1949–2019) and drummer Ted McKenna, their ...
paid tribute to the book with their 1974 song "The Tomahawk Kid." The song names many of ''Treasure Islands characters in its lyrics, and was often dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson in live performance.
* "
I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)
"I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)" is a song written by the Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik for the Disney film ''Treasure Planet''. The song was released by Rzeznik as a solo track. It was a moderately successful pop hit.
Production
John Rzezni ...
" and "Always Know Where You Are" are songs performed by Goo Goo Dolls
frontman
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's animated retelling.
*''The Cursed Island'' (2014) is an album by Skull & Bones that is based on ''Treasure Island''.
Video games
* A graphical adventure computer game based loosely on the novel was written by Greg Duddle, published by Mr. Micro (and often rebranded by Commodore) on the
Commodore 16
The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
, and
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer.
Referred to during development as t ...
. In the game, the player takes the part of Jim Hawkins travelling around the island dispatching pirates with cutlasses before getting the treasure and being chased back to the ship by Long John Silver.
* ''Treasure Island'' (1985) is an adventure game based upon the novel published by
Windham Classics
Windham Classics Corporation was a subsidiary of Spinnaker Software. The corporation was founded in 1984 and went defunct circa 1985/86 or later. The headquarters were in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Adventure games
Windham Classics publishe ...
.
* ''La Isla del Tesoro de R. L. Stevenson'' (1999) is a point-and-click adventure game based upon the novel developed, edited, and published by Barcelona Multimedia.
* '' Monkey Island'', a LucasArts adventure game, is partly based on ''Treasure Island'', lending many of its plot points and characters and using many humorous references to the book.
* '' Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon'' is one of the various video games released by Disney based on their animated film ''Treasure Planet''.
* ''Treasure Island'' (2010) is a hidden objects game launched by French publisher
Anuman Interactive
Microids (formerly Microïds) is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in 1985 by Elliot Grassiano, it attained early success with games published through Loriciel in France and other partners (including Activision ...
.
* ''
Captain Silver
is a side-scrolling hack and slash platform game released for the arcades by Data East in 1987. Home versions were released for the Master System by Sega and for the Nintendo Entertainment System, NES by Tokuma Shoten.
Plot
A young sailor an ...
'' is an arcade game that follows its protagonist, Jim Aykroyd, in his quest to find Captain Silver's hidden treasure, for which he must battle an undead Captain Silver in order to find.
References in popular culture
* The
Strong Winds series
The Strong Winds series is a series of children's books written by English author Julia Jones. The books reference many of the settings and characters of the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. The books use adventure stories about ...
Arthur Ransome
Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...
, the Blacketts' Uncle Jim has the nickname of Captain Flint and a parrot.
* A 1960 episode of Dennis the Menace is centered around the pursuit of buried treasure, inspired by Mr. Wilson reading his childhood copy of ''Treasure Island'' to Dennis and his friends.
* In 1988, The Soviet Director
David Cherkassky David Yanovich Cherkassky ( uk, Давид Янович Черкаський, translit=Davyd Yanovych Cherkas'kyi; 23 August 1932 – 30 October 2018) was a Soviet and Ukrainian animated film director and screenwriter. He made several animation pict ...
Treasure Island According to Spike Milligan
''According to Spike Milligan'' is a series of literary pastiche novels written by Spike Milligan from 1993 to 2000. Each part of the series was a rewriting of an original novel, with surreal comic elements added that fit into certain points of t ...
'' (2000) is a parody by
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
* At the beginning of a fifth-season episode of '' Arthur'' titled "
You Are Arthur
The 5th season of the television series ''Arthur'' was originally broadcast on PBS in the United States from September 25 to November 27, 2000 and contains 10 episodes. The special "Arthur's Perfect Christmas" served as the finale to this season. ...
" (2000), the titular character is seen reading ''Treasure Island''.
* In an episode of '' Survivor: Heroes vs Villains'', titled "Jumping Ship" (2010), the castaways Amanda, Colby and Danielle win an overnight trip to the former home of Robert Louis Stevenson and a screening of the 1934 version of ''Treasure Island''.
* In '' The Way Back'' (2010), one of the prisoners in the Russian
gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
briefly narrates some of ''Treasure Island'' to his fellow inmates. He mentions the characters Jim and Long John Silver.
* In the teen fiction novel ''One for Sorrow'' (2015, Fledgling Press) by
Philip Caveney
Philip Caveney (born 1951) is a British children's author, best known for the Sebastian Darke, Alec Devlin and Movie Maniacs novels. He previously wrote a number of thrillers for adults. He was born in Prestatyn, North Wales but for many y ...
, the main character, Tom Afflick, is reading ''Treasure Island'' which serves as the catalyst for his adventure.
* In ''
Blade Runner 2049
''Blade Runner 2049'' is a 2017 American neo-noir science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green. A sequel to the 1982 film ''Blade Runner'', the film stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, w ...
'' (2017),
Rick Deckard
Rick Deckard is a fictional character and the protagonist of Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?''. Harrison Ford portrayed the character in the 1982 film adaptation, ''Blade Runner'', and reprised his role in th ...
makes a continued allusion to ''Treasure Island'' upon first meeting the protagonist; in the scene, he explicitly references Ben Gunn's craving for cheese.
* In the finale of Season 3 of ''
The Handmaid's Tale
''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which h ...
'' (2019), Commander Lawrence reads an excerpt of ''Treasure Island'' to a group of runaway children.
* Barker-Benfield, Simon (2014). ''The Annotated Treasure Island''.
* Cordingly, David (1995). ''Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates''. .
* Letley, Emma, ed. (1998). ''Treasure Island (Oxford World's Classics)''. .
* Pietsch, Roland (2010). ''The Real Jim Hawkins: Ships' Boys in the Georgian Navy''. .
* Reed, Thomas L. (2006). ''The Transforming Draught: Jekyll and Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the Victorian Alcohol Debate''. .
* Watson, Harold (1969). ''Coasts of Treasure Island: A Study of the Backgrounds and Sources for Robert Louis Stevenson's Romance of the Sea''. .
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
N. C. Wyeth
Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...
A. L. Burt
A. L. Burt (incorporated in 1902 as A. L. Burt Company) was a New York City-based book publishing house from 1883 until 1937. It was founded by Albert Levi Burt, a 40-year-old from Massachusetts who had come to recognize the demand for inexpensi ...
The Mercury Theater on the Air
''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' is a radio series of live radio dramas created and hosted by Orson Welles. The weekly hour-long show presented classic literary works performed by Welles's celebrated Mercury Theatre repertory company, with mus ...
Tale Spinners for Children
Tale Spinners for Children was a series of stories and novels adapted for young audiences on vinyl records in the early 1960s. They included a collection of old fairy tales, folklore, literary classics such as ''Don Quixote'' and ''Robinson Cruso ...