Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$256.65 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: An early, illustrated, copy of Treasure Island, likely the 2nd issue of the illustrated Treasure Island, which was first released by Cassell & Co in 1885. 14 pages of adverts to the rear, dated 5 G.g.86, no tissue guard to frontispiece, map page separating from spine. A water stain on the top right hand corner of the front cover, which goes through, ever decreasingly, to the Title page, which has only the slightest hint, after which the text block is completely clear. No foxing, inscriptions, signatures or book plates, text block clean, some mild cracking. A good copy.
Seller: Berrishill Books, Whitley Bay, United Kingdom
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. Cassell, London, 1883.
Price: US$500.01 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: VIII, 292, 4 (ads), (2). Frontis map. Fourth printing of the first edition published in 1883. Possesses 2 of the four points of the first printing of the first edition. Original pale purple cloth over boards. Book shaken in binding but holding. Cloth rippling and there are spots and areas of discolouration to the covers. Hinges cracked. Old tape repair to endpapers. Contents good and the good quality paper bears no foxing. Early editions of Treasure Island are rare and are evidence of the immense early popularity of the book.
Seller: Sellers & Newel Second-Hand Books , Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$769.96 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hardcover. Fourth Edition (printing). Octavo, viii, 292, [8 adverts] [2] pages. Tissue-guarded frontis map printed in four colours, original slate paste downs. Bound in red cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Bumping/shelf-wear to spine ends and corners, text clean. Very neat gift inscription/signature dated Xmas 1884 at the top of the half title page. A very good, early, and scarce copy of Treasure Island.
Seller: Berrishill Books, Whitley Bay, United Kingdom
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. Cassell & Company, Limited, London, 1883.
Price: US$6500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing with the following First Issue points "Dead Man's Chest" is not capitalized on page 2 and on page 7, on page 40, has "rain" instead of "vain" the 7 on page 127 number is larger, and "worst" is mispelled as "worse" in the third line of p 197. This book is bound in the original publisher's green cloth. The binding is tight with minor wear to the boards. The pages are clean with the original black endpapers. There is NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A lovely copy of this TRUE FIRST EDITION in collector's condition. Includes a custom clamshell slipcase for preservation.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Price: US$7659.37 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 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 issue points, all present here.
Seller: Ulysses Rare Books Ltd. ABA, ILAB, Dublin , Ireland
Stevenson, Robert Louis. TREASURE ISLAND. Cassell & Company, Limited, London, 1883.
Price: US$8000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First printing of this beloved tale of pirates and treasure maps, the touchstone for the modern concept of the peg-legged pirate with unexpected depth of character. With numerous film, TV, and theater adaptations that cast everyone from Orson Welles to Tim Curry and the Muppets as Long John Silver and company, the cultural reach of TREASURE ISLAND is extremely broad. Robert Louis Stevenson penned what would become his breakout success while recovering from one of his many illnesses, and it originally appeared serially in YOUNG FOLKS magazine. William Francis Prideaux observes that TREASURE ISLAND was "a comparative failure" in its serial form, and only found success when it was published as a complete work (27). Prideaux notes that TREASURE ISLAND was first issued in several different colors of cloth with no priority, however the first print run of 2000 copies was split into groups issued over a few months at the end of 1883. The ads of this copy mark it as one of the last bindings in the first printing. 7.5'' x 4.75''. Original sage green cloth binding with gilt lettering to spine. Black coated endpapers, uncut edges. Color cartographic frontispiece with tissue guard. "Dead Man's Chest" not capitalized on pp. 2 and 7; "7" on page 127 stamped in and rear ads dated "5R-10.83" (first edition, first printing, 2/3/4 binding; ref. McKay 241). 292, [8] pages. Housed in custom green cloth clamshell with gilt spine lettering. Faded ownership inscription to half-title page, dated October 30 1883; "first edition" in faint blue ink to verso of front fly leaf. Hinges expertly repaired. Binding with light bumping to corners and spine ends, a bit of faint soiling; a touch of toning to spine. Leaves with occasional soiling to margins, barely visible repair to corner of rear flyleaf. Firm and clean.
Seller: Type Punch Matrix, Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island. Cassell & Co, London UK, 1883.
Price: US$10266.12 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: A first edition, first state with the required 8 pages of advertisements and following points: "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, the "7" overstamped in the pagination on page 127, the full stop not present following "opportunity" in line 20 on page 178, with "worse" in line 3 of page 197, and the first advertisments (5R-1083) state October (not July or November as in later states). Original sage green cloth boards with faded gilt lettering on the spine. Significant lean to the book. Covers are lightly rubbed with mild wear to extremities. Light darkening to the spine colour. Rear hinge is cracked. Clean dark end papers. Gift inscription, "Sibyl Brooke from a Father, New Years Day 1884"on the head of the half title page. Clean map illustration facing title page with intact tissue guard. The contents are clean. 8vo 292 pp.
Seller: Rare And Antique Books PBFA, Exeter, DEVON, United Kingdom
STEVENSON, Robert Louis.. Treasure Island.. London: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1883, 1883.
Price: US$11228.57 + shipping
Description: First edition of this classic of children's literature, the greatest of all pirate tales. Treasure Island was inspired by the now-famous treasure map the author had drawn to entertain his young stepson "on a rainy day in the Scottish Highlands" (Grolier). It was first serialized in Young Folks magazine from October 1881 to January 1882 under the pseudonym "Captain George North". It was only with the appearance of this first edition in book form, however, that it received serious attention, and "was immediately hailed by critics as a classic" (ibid.). This copy has the points indicative of earliest issue: "dead man's chest" not capitalized on page 2, line 6 nor page 7, line 19; the full stop not present following "opportunity" in line 20, and the first state advertisements coded "5R-1083". Carter, Binding Variants, p. 154; Grolier Children's 100, 48; Osborne 2: 1030; Prideaux 11. Octavo. Original green cloth (issued in various colours without priority), spine lettered in gilt, black endpapers. Housed in custom blue cloth solander box. Frontispiece map with captions printed in red, brown, and blue; with 8 pp. of publisher's advertisements. 20th-century bookplate to front pastedown. Slight wear along joints and minor rubbing to cloth, inner hinges splitting but firm, contents toned; nonetheless a bright, very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$12212.98 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Original brown silk-grained cloth, bordered in blind, black coated endpapers, gilt spine lettering (issued in various colours without priority). Pp. viii, 292, followed by 4 pages of publisher's advertisements numbered 5G-783. Original frontispiece map in 4 colours with tissue guard. Bookplate of noted British bibliophile, Eric S. Quayle, to front pastedown, covers lightly soiled, very slight lean, upper corner lightly bruised, paper over rear joint split which has been somewhat crudely repaired, housed in a custom, highly durable, clamshell box of brown/maroon pebbled cloth with inset mounted copy of map and lettered in gilt, double gilt-stamped leather spine labels. A very good copy, with first edition points as follows: P. 2 & 7: "deadman's chest" not capitalized; P. 40, last two lines: the "v" in vain, and also the "m" in the word miscreant above is broken; P. 63: "A" missing in line 6; P. 83: the "8" in pagination is supposed to be missing, here it is present; P. 127: "7" is missing from page number; P. 178: full-stop missing following "opportunity" in 4th paragraph; P. 197, Line 3: "worse" for worst. Prideaux 11.
Seller: Karol Krysik Books ABAC/ILAB, IOBA, PBFA, Toronto, ON, Canada
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. Cassell & Company, Limited, London, 1883.
Price: US$12500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing. This TRUE FIRST EDITION has the First Issue points "4 page publisher's list dated 1883", "Dead Mans Chest" is NOT capitalized on pages 2 & 7", "the number 2 on page 2 varies in size", "the period is missing after the word "opportunity" on page 178", "the word worst is misspelled as worse in the third line of page" and "the ORIGINAL map is present" This book is bound in the original green cloth with some repair.The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning. The boards are crisp with minor wear to the edges. The pages are clean with some discoloration to a few pages but NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A wonderful copy with a custom acetate dustjacket to protect the book. We buy Stevenson First Editions.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
STEVENSON, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. Cassell & Company, London, 1883.
Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, first issue with "dead man's chest" not capitalized on pp. 2 and 7; The first letter for "rain" or "vain" in the last line of p. 40 is broken so we can't tell which state it is; the "a" is not present in line 6 of p. 63; the "8" is not present in the pagination on p. 83; the "7" is larger and bolder in pagination on p. 127; the period is lacking following "opportunity" in line 20 of p. 178; "worst" is mispelled as "worse" in the third line of p 197. Treasure Island is listed as having 304 pages on p. 2 of the publisher's advertisements. Octavo (7 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches; 191 x 124 mm). viii, 292, [8 pp. advertisements, "dated 5R-12.83."] pp. Frontispiece map of Treasure Island, printed in four colors and has the original tissue guard. Only 2000 copies of this first book edition published and bound in a variety of cloth colors, no priority. Original rare royal blue diagonal fine-ribbed cloth with covers ruled in blind and spine ruled and lettered in gilt. Original black coated endpapers. Previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown. Contemporary ink inscription to bookplate owner Rev. Edward D. Elam on half-title. Headcap, tailcap and corners slightly bumped and rubbed. Spine slightly darkened and boards with some light spots. A few instances of finger smudging and page 137 rough opened at top margin, not affecting text. Still a near fine copy. Housed in a chemise and quarter blue morocco slipcase. "Treasure Island established itself as a classic, drawing plaudits from the widest range of literary sensibilities. In 1890 W.B. Yeats wrote to tell [Stevenson] that the book was the only one in which his seafaring grandfather had ever taken any pleasure and that he reread it on his deathbed with infinite satisfaction. Jack London, in so many ways RLS's true spiritual heir, declared: 'His Treasure Island will be a classic to go down with Robinson Crusoe, Through the Looking Glass and The Jungle Books'" (Frank McLynn, Robert Louis Stevenson, p. 203). Beinecke 240-241. Gumuchian 5443. Morgan Library, Early Children's Books and Their Illustration, 206. Osborne Collection II, p. 1030. Prideaux 11. HBS 68739. $15,000.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
STEVENSON, Robert Louis.. Treasure Island.. London: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1883, 1883.
Price: US$16040.82 + shipping
Description: First edition in book form, with all the points of first issue, of Stevenson's classic adventure story of "buccaneers and buried gold", his first great success as a novelist. Treasure Island was inspired by the now-famous treasure map the author had drawn to entertain his young stepson - to whom the book is dedicated - "on a rainy day in the Scottish Highlands" (Grolier). In a later essay, Stevenson remembered: "[the map] was elaborately and (I thought) beautifully coloured; the shape of it took my fancy beyond expression; it contained harbours that pleased me like sonnets; and with the unconsciousness of the predestined, I ticketed my performance "Treasure Island". The map was the most of the plot. I might almost say it was the whole. A few reminiscences of Poe, Defoe, and Washington Irving, a copy of Johnson's Buccaneers, the name of the Dead Man's Chest from Kingsley's At Last, some recollections of canoeing on the high seas, and the map itself, with its infinite, eloquent suggestion, made up the whole of my materials" (pp. 117-29). The original title was "The Sea Cook", then changed by the publishers into "The Treasure Island" upon first publication in Young Folks magazine, were the story was serialized from October 1881 to January 1882 under the pseudonym "Captain George North". It was only with the appearance of the book-form edition, however, that Stevenson's pirate tale received serious attention and "was immediately hailed by critics as a classic" (Grolier). This copy has the points indicative of earliest issue: "dead man's chest" not capitalized on page 2, line 6, nor page 7, line 19; the first letter of "vain" broken in the last line, page 40; the "a" not present in line 6, page 63; the "7" not present in the pagination of page 127; the full stop not present following "opportunity" in line 20, page 178; and "worse" in line 3, page 197. The book was published on 14 November 1883. The first printing comprised 2,000 copies; of these, the first 750 were bound up with the advertisements dated "5G-783" (July 1883), present here. Copies with the July advertisements are known in different cloth colours, including green, red, and blue, with no established priority (see Carter, p. 154). Beinecke 240; Carter, Binding Variants, p. 154; Grolier Children's 100, 48; Prideaux 11; Slater, p. 42. Robert Louis Stevenson, "My First Book: Treasure Island", in Essays in the Art of Writing, 1905. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, black coated endpapers. Housed in custom blue cloth solander box by Rivière & Son. Map frontispiece with captions printed in red, brown, and blue; with 8 pp. of publisher's advertisements at rear. With 20th-century typed bookseller's cataloguing slip and three other pieces of ephemera loosely inserted. Extremities rubbed, spine darkened, two marks on front cover, rear cover remaining quite bright, front inner hinge cracked, but firm, occasional spot of foxing or light mark, else clean. A very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. Cassell & Company, London, 1883.
Price: US$17500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing with the 4 page publisher's list and the ORIGINAL map is present. A wonderful copy bound in the ORIGINAL publisher's cloth with light wear to the boards. The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning and the boards are crisp with minor wear. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. An attractive copy of this First Edition housed in a custom clamshell slipcase.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. Cassell & Company, London, 1883.
Price: US$30000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing SIGNED by Robert Louis Stevenson on a laid in signature. This book has ALL this First Issue points including the 4 page publisher's list dated 1883, "Dead Mans Chest" is NOT capitalized on pages 2 & 7, the number 2 on page 2 varies in size, the period is missing after the word "opportunity" on page 178, the word worst is misspelled as worse in the third line of page and the ORIGINAL map is present. A wonderful copy bound in the ORIGINAL publisher's cloth with minor wear to the spine and edges. The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A sharp copy SIGNED by the author in collector's condition. Includes a custom clamshell slipcase for preservation.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.