Treasure Island

The most popular pirate story ever written in English. Young Jim Hawkins, while running the Benbow Inn with his mother, comes into possession of a treasure map. Three adventures - Jim, Squire Trelawney, and Dr. Livesey - set out to find the trea...

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
Release Date: March 13, 1994 [EBook #120]
Last Updated: June 11, 2019

To S.L.O., an American gentleman in accordance with whose classic taste the following narrative has been designed, it is now, in return for numerous delightful hours, and with the kindest wishes, dedicated by his affectionate friend, the author.

TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER

   If sailor tales to sailor tunes,
      Storm and adventure, heat and cold,
   If schooners, islands, and maroons,
      And buccaneers, and buried gold,
   And all the old romance, retold
      Exactly in the ancient way,
   Can please, as me they pleased of old,
      The wiser youngsters of today:

   —So be it, and fall on!  If not,
      If studious youth no longer crave,
   His ancient appetites forgot,
      Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave,
   Or Cooper of the wood and wave:
      So be it, also!  And may I
   And all my pirates share the grave
      Where these and their creations lie!