{"id":373,"date":"2026-09-09T01:12:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T05:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/?p=373"},"modified":"2026-09-09T01:43:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T05:43:07","slug":"treasure-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/?p=373","title":{"rendered":"Treasure Island"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Title:<\/strong> Treasure Island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author:<\/strong> Robert Louis Stevenson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original Publication Date:<\/strong> ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Book’s Publisher:<\/strong> The Franklin Library, Franklin Center, Pennsylvania (1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Book’s Illustrator:<\/strong> Walter Paget<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book’s Story:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some stories never lose their pull, and Treasure Island is one of them. Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale of Jim Hawkins, a mysterious map, and the unforgettable Long John Silver has been thrilling readers since it first appeared in the 1880s, and it’s credited with shaping nearly every pirate story that came after it, from buried treasure to talking parrots to the black spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevenson wrote the novel partly to entertain his young stepson, and it grew out of a treasure map he sketched for fun one rainy afternoon in Scotland. He went on to become one of the most beloved adventure writers of his era, also known for works like Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This particular edition features the artwork of Walter Paget, whose illustrations for Treasure Island have become classics in their own right, first created for a British edition at the turn of the century and still considered some of the finest visual interpretations of the story. This copy comes bound in leather with gilded page edges, part of a handsome collector’s series produced for home libraries in the 1980s, and makes a lovely edition to hold and to give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author’s Story:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1850, the son of a family of lighthouse engineers. Though he trained for both engineering and law, his true calling was writing, and he became one of the most beloved storytellers of the Victorian era. Treasure Island, first serialized in a boys’ magazine before becoming a novel, made his name and gave the world its enduring image of pirates, treasure maps, and desert islands. He went on to write other classics like Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Stevenson spent his final years in the South Pacific for his health, and died in Samoa in 1894 at just 44 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illustrator’s Story:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walter “Wal” Paget was an English illustrator born in London in 1862, one of three artist brothers alongside Henry and Sidney Paget (Sidney famously illustrated the original Sherlock Holmes stories). Walter trained at the Royal Academy of Arts, where he earned a gold medal, and built a career illustrating adventure fiction for authors like G. A. Henty. His illustrations for Treasure Island, first created around the turn of the century, remain some of the most celebrated visual interpretations of Stevenson’s story, capturing the swashbuckling drama and atmosphere that generations of readers have loved. Paget continued illustrating until shortly before his death in 1935.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Story:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Franklin Library was founded in Philadelphia in 1973 as the publishing arm of the Franklin Mint, quickly becoming the nation’s largest publisher of fine leather-bound collector’s editions. Rather than sell books in stores, Franklin Library operated on a subscription model: members received one beautifully bound volume a month, gradually building a home library of literary classics over the course of years. Books were designed and bound by the Sloves Organization, one of the few American binderies dedicated entirely to fine leather work, and featured hallmarks like gilded page edges, raised spine bands, and exclusive interior illustrations commissioned specifically for Franklin’s editions. The company published in three binding styles: full genuine leather, imitation leather, and quarter-bound leather, with full-leather editions running throughout its history and the other two styles largely confined to the 1970s and 80s. Franklin Library closed its doors in 2000, but its editions remain popular with collectors today for their craftsmanship and their exclusive artwork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Title: Treasure Island Author: Robert Louis Stevenson Original Publication Date: ? Our Book’s Publisher: The Franklin Library, Franklin Center, Pennsylvania (1984) Our Book’s Illustrator: Walter Paget Book’s Story: Some stories never lose their pull, and Treasure Island is one of them. Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale of Jim Hawkins, a mysterious map, and the unforgettable Long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vintage-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":392,"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions\/392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ossianleafandlore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}