Treasure Island is an adventure novel by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, published as a book in November 1883 after appearing in installments in a boys' magazine. It is narrated by young Jim Hawkins, who finds a treasure map in the chest of a dead pirate and sails to a Caribbean island with Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesey. Along the way he must deal with the one-legged ship's cook Long John Silver, a charming and treacherous pirate. The story established many of the images that people now associate with pirates, including buried treasure, the map marked with an X and a parrot on the shoulder. Written to entertain, it also explores the moral ambiguity of its characters, and it has been adapted for film, theater and television many times.
Before and after
- 3 July 1883Birth of Franz Kafka
- 29 July 1883Birth of Benito Mussolini
- 12 August 1883The last quagga dies in Amsterdam
- 19 August 1883Birth of Coco Chanel
- 14 November 1883Publication of Treasure Island
- 1884Car
- 1884Founding of Leicester City F.C.
- 1884Publication of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- from 1884 to 1966Basutoland
More in Art, literature & culture
- 1792Publication of Dream of the Red Chamber
- 18 September 1851Founding of The New York Times
- 1857Rise of Symbolism
- 1890Rise of Art Nouveau
- 28 December 1895The Lumiere brothers hold the first public film screening
- 1909Rise of Futurism
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.