Treasure Island. London: Cassell & Company, 1883. First Edition, First Issue. Pp viii, 292, [8]. Original brick-red cloth lettered in gilt on spine. Half-title, chart frontispiece printed in four colours with tissue guard, 8-page publisher’s catalogue at the end (numbered  “5R.1083” and incorrectly listing ‘Treasure Island’ with 304 pages), black-coated endpapers, preserved in felt lined solander box. Gilt faded on spine, mild foxing to preliminary leaves, repair & restoration to upper margin of title page (not affecting text), otherwise a fine bright copy.

The first edition was issued in various colours of cloth, and with a number of unique issue points as follows: “dead man’s chest” not capitalised on pages 2 or 7, the first letter of “vain” broken in the last line of page 40, the “a” not present in line 6 of page 63, the “8” dropped from the pagination on page 83, etc

Treasure Island had originally been serialized (under the pseudonym Captain George North) in Young Folks – a weekly children’s magazine – between October 1881 and January 1882. Remarkably it attracted little attention, but when it was published in book form as here in November 1883 it attracted a chorus of praise and has never been out of print since.  It has also inspired countless dramatic, cinematic and television adaptations, together with sequels and musicals.

“The finest tale of maritime adventure that has been told since Defoe produced his great romance” (Prideaux)