{ "id": "treasure-island", "shelfNumber": "07", "title": "Treasure Island", "subtitle": "An adventure at sea", "authors": [ "Robert Louis Stevenson" ], "kind": "An adventure novel", "themes": [ "adventure", "place" ], "theme": "sea", "layout": "chart", "tagline": "A chart is only the beginning.", "dek": "A voyage, a dangerous company and a young narrator learning to judge people. Follow the voices as closely as the map.", "context": { "heading": "Set out with Jim. Keep your judgment awake.", "paragraphs": [ "Jim Hawkins is drawn from an ordinary coastal life into a voyage after buried treasure. The pleasure of the story lies in movement, uncertainty and the company assembled around the journey.", "Stevenson gives his characters distinct voices and competing desires. Notice who can persuade others, who can change sides and what Jim can actually know at each stage.", "There is room for enjoyment and scrutiny together. A map can promise control over a place; the people who arrive there complicate that promise. The artwork on this shelf is an original atmosphere, not Stevenson’s map or a navigational chart." ], "sourceIds": [ "rls-chronology", "rls-timeline" ] }, "authorNote": { "text": "Stevenson’s adventure writing invites a listener as much as a silent reader. The scholarly sources also distinguish the magazine serialization from the first book publication; the edition cards identify the actual modern copies linked here.", "sourceIds": [ "rls-chronology", "rls-timeline" ] }, "entryPoints": [ { "id": "voices", "label": "Voices", "title": "Listen for a motive.", "prompt": "Read a short exchange aloud from your lawful copy. Ask how vocabulary, rhythm and silence help you judge the speaker." }, { "id": "judgment", "label": "Judgment", "title": "What does Jim know?", "prompt": "At a decision, separate what Jim sees, what someone tells him and what he suspects. How much must he act without certainty?" }, { "id": "map", "label": "The map", "title": "A promise of a place.", "prompt": "Notice what a map or plan appears to settle. Compare that promise with one thing the people or landscape refuse to make simple." } ], "pathways": [ { "label": "First voyage", "title": "Let the chapters pull you on.", "text": "Read for the movement of the adventure. Keep nautical words from interrupting every scene; look up one when it becomes essential." }, { "label": "Second voyage", "title": "Follow one voice.", "text": "Choose a character and note a few changes in speech or allegiance. Compare your first impression with what the whole book makes possible." }, { "label": "Read together", "title": "Take a scene aloud.", "text": "Choose a brief exchange in a lawful copy and give its voices different readers. Discuss what changed when you heard it rather than saw it." } ], "rightsNote": "The linked Gutenberg text is identified as public domain in the United States. Check your jurisdiction. Modern editing, introductions, cover art and illustrations are not automatically free with the original novel.", "readerNote": null, "deeper": { "themes": [ { "title": "Trust and charisma", "text": "How does a persuasive voice affect what Jim and the reader are willing to believe? Where do admiration and distrust coexist?" }, { "title": "Treasure and cost", "text": "After the adventure, what is gained, what is lost and what does the narrative leave difficult to count?" }, { "title": "The story of a voyage", "text": "How does looking back shape Jim’s account? Consider what a narrator can understand later that a participant could not know then." } ], "questions": [ "Which judgment would you revise after the ending, and which would you keep?", "What does the book suggest about loyalty when interests change?", "How do the voyage’s pleasures and dangers affect your response to its conclusion?" ] }, "series": null, "related": [ { "title": "Mistborn: The Final Empire", "url": "/books/mistborn-the-final-empire/", "why": "Another uncertain venture where companions, plans and hidden motives matter." } ], "checkedAt": "2026-10-03", "art": { "src": "/images/bookshelf/treasure-island.webp", "alt": "Copper and teal sea surrounding an imagined island coast, with a distant sailing ship and faint map-like contours.", "width": 1536, "height": 1024, "caption": "Original AI-generated atmosphere for PointCast. Not a cover, archival work or historical document." }, "firstPublished": "1883", "firstPublicationNote": "First revised book publication: November 14, 1883, by Cassell in London. The earlier Young Folks serial ran from October 1881 to January 1882 under Stevenson’s pseudonym Capt. Geo. North.", "sources": [ { "id": "rls-chronology", "label": "Works Chronology — The RLS Website", "url": "https://robert-louis-stevenson.org/works-chronology/", "type": "University-developed scholarly author bibliography", "note": "Young Folks volumes 19–20; October 1881–January 1882; pseudonymous title; Revision for London Cassell book in 1883." }, { "id": "rls-timeline", "label": "Timeline — The RLS Website", "url": "https://robert-louis-stevenson.org/timeline/", "type": "University-developed scholarly author chronology", "note": "Braemar beginning in August 1881; Serial begins October 1 1881; Book published November 14 1883; Author life dates." }, { "id": "pg120", "label": "Project Gutenberg ebook 120", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/120", "type": "Digital edition catalog and specific rights statement", "note": "English text; Louis Rhead listed illustrator; US public-domain status; Digital release/update dates." }, { "id": "libby", "label": "Libby — OverDrive", "url": "https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby", "type": "Official library borrowing service", "note": "General participating-library borrowing route." }, { "id": "penguin-seelye-publisher", "label": "Penguin Classics — John Seelye — publisher record", "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/292309/treasure-island-by-robert-louis-stevenson-edited-with-an-introduction-by-john-seelye-cover-illustrated-by-coralie-bickford-smith/9780140437683/", "type": "Publisher edition record", "note": "Edited by John Seelye; Introduction by John Seelye. Verified format, ISBN, pages and edition date." }, { "id": "penguin-seelye-used", "label": "Penguin Classics — John Seelye — used ISBN route", "url": "https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/9780140437683/", "type": "Used-copy marketplace", "note": "Verified ISBN-specific listings. Check individual seller condition, edition and delivery; no price or availability guarantee." }, { "id": "oxford-hunt-publisher", "label": "Oxford World's Classics — Peter Hunt — publisher record", "url": "https://global.oup.com/academic/product/treasure-island-9780199560356", "type": "Publisher edition record", "note": "Introduction and explanatory notes by Peter Hunt; Glossary of nautical terms; Bibliography and chronology; One map; Note on the Text discussing serial/book variants; Appendices: My First Book; The Persons of the Tale; parallels from Stevenson's sources. Verified format, ISBN, pages and edition date." }, { "id": "oxford-hunt-used", "label": "Oxford World's Classics — Peter Hunt — used ISBN route", "url": "https://www.abebooks.com/9780199560356/Treasure-Island-Oxford-Worlds-Classics-0199560358/plp", "type": "Used-copy marketplace", "note": "Verified ISBN-specific listings. Check individual seller condition, edition and delivery; no price or availability guarantee." } ], "editions": [ { "id": "penguin-seelye", "label": "Penguin Classics — John Seelye", "format": "Paperback", "publisher": "Penguin Classics / Penguin Publishing Group", "isbn": "9780140437683", "publicationDate": "1999-12-01", "pages": 240, "extras": "Edited with an introduction by John Seelye. Notes or an essay appendix were not verified for this ISBN.", "why": "A compact paperback for a first reading, with Seelye's introduction to return to after the story.", "sourceId": "penguin-seelye-publisher", "links": [ { "kind": "new", "label": "Publisher edition and retailer links", "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/292309/treasure-island-by-robert-louis-stevenson-edited-with-an-introduction-by-john-seelye-cover-illustrated-by-coralie-bickford-smith/9780140437683/", "note": "Publisher edition and external buying options. Current regional availability and retailer terms apply." }, { "kind": "used", "label": "Search used copies by ISBN", "url": "https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/9780140437683/", "note": "ISBN-specific discovery. Check condition, edition, seller and delivery information." }, { "kind": "borrow", "label": "Find your library in Libby", "url": "https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby", "note": "Connect your own library card, then search Treasure Island and Robert Louis Stevenson. For print, search your local library catalogue by title, author, or a card's ISBN. Ask about interlibrary loan if the edition you want is absent. General library discovery only; no title holding or license of this print ISBN was verified." } ] }, { "id": "oxford-hunt", "label": "Oxford World's Classics — Peter Hunt", "format": "Paperback", "publisher": "Oxford University Press", "isbn": "9780199560356", "publicationDate": "2011-01-29", "pages": 272, "extras": "Introduction and explanatory notes by Peter Hunt; Glossary of nautical terms; Bibliography and chronology; One map; Note on the Text discussing serial/book variants; Appendices: My First Book; The Persons of the Tale; parallels from Stevenson's sources", "why": "For readers who want help with nautical language and a closer look at how the serial became a book. The textual note and appendices offer a useful second pass.", "sourceId": "oxford-hunt-publisher", "links": [ { "kind": "new", "label": "Publisher edition", "url": "https://global.oup.com/academic/product/treasure-island-9780199560356", "note": "Publisher edition and external buying options. Current regional availability and retailer terms apply." }, { "kind": "used", "label": "Find used copies of this ISBN", "url": "https://www.abebooks.com/9780199560356/Treasure-Island-Oxford-Worlds-Classics-0199560358/plp", "note": "ISBN-specific discovery. Check condition, edition, seller and delivery information." }, { "kind": "borrow", "label": "Find your library in Libby", "url": "https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby", "note": "Connect your own library card, then search Treasure Island and Robert Louis Stevenson. For print, search your local library catalogue by title, author, or a card's ISBN. Ask about interlibrary loan if the edition you want is absent. General library discovery only; no title holding or license of this print ISBN was verified." } ] } ], "digitalRoutes": [ { "id": "gutenberg", "label": "Read the historical English text at Project Gutenberg", "description": "A historical English text, distinct from the modern annotated editions linked here.", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/120", "rights": "Project Gutenberg labels this specific ebook public domain in the USA. Outside the United States, check the law where you are before downloading or reusing it. Project Gutenberg makes no worldwide rights guarantee. This historical digital edition is distinct from the modern Penguin and Oxford editions. Public-domain status of the novel does not make modern introductions, annotations, translations, covers or new illustrations free to reuse.", "sourceId": "pg120", "type": "public-domain" } ], "canonical": "https://pointcast.xyz/books/treasure-island/", "artworkProvenance": "/images/bookshelf/provenance.json", "commerce": "External discovery links. Providers determine availability, prices, condition, and library eligibility. No PointCast stock, checkout, payment, or fulfilment.", "reproducedBookText": false, "quotationsUsed": 0, "artworkIsOfficialCover": false }