Books

First Dulac edition. Hughey describes Dulac's watercolour illustration for Treasure Island as his "most careful and superb painting", and Dulac himself considered them his best work. Octavo (233 x 180 mm). Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in tan morocco, dark green morocco label with two raised bands, twin rule to turn-ins gilt, dark green endpapers, gilt edges. With 12 colour plates by Edmund Dulac, uncoloured illustrations in the text. Couple of minor spots otherwise an excellent copy in a fine binding. Ann Connolly Hughey, Edmund Dulac, his book illustrations: a bibliography, 1995.

Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of 'buccaneers and buried gold.' It was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881 and 1882 under the title 'Treasure Island or, the mutiny of the Hispaniola', with Stevenson adopting the pseudonym Captain George North. Traditionally considered a coming-of-age story, it is an adventure tale known for its atmosphere, characters, and action. It is also noted as a wily critique of the ambiguity of morality—as seen in Long John Silver—unusual for children's literature. It is one of the most frequently dramatized of all novels. The influence of Treasure Island on popular perceptions of pirates is enormous, including such elements as treasure maps marked with an 'X', schooners, the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen bearing parrots on their shoulders.