COVE

Treasure Island is an adventure novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson for young boys during the Victorian era. As the nineteenth century was unfolding, children's literature began moving away from didacticism and towards entertainment. Robert Louis Stevenson spent most of his life traveling to climates where he could cope with his repiratory illness while his father expected him to follow in his footsteps as a lighthouse engineer, something Stevenson didn't want. As a compromise with his father, Stevenson agreed to study law at the University of Edinburgh and earned his degree in 1875, but rather than practice law, he chose to pursue his true passion, literature. His first book would begin in the summer of 1881 when he drew a map to entertain his stepson on a rainy day. That map would then serve as the basis for Stevenson's adventure novel, Treasure Island. In Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson presents the reader with a young boy by the name of Jim Hawkins who goes on an adventure to a faraway island in search of buried treasure and faces off against pirates. As the story unfolds, Jim develops from a meek little boy who was afraid of pirates and leaving his mother and home behind to a man who courageously faces down blood thirsty pirates at the cost of his own safety. The original copy of Treasure Island  had no illustrations, but in the years following, new editions would be printed that would feature illustrations from different illustrators, and much later movie adaptations would be made. As we see Treasure Island media develop over the many years since the first edition, we can take notice of how like Jim Hawkins, the art becomes both more mature and more adventurous, and how the art styles of different illustrators can make two moments in the text seem entirely different. 

Treasure Island serves two purposes. The first one is for Robert Louis Stevenson to live out the adventures he missed out on, and the second is to encourage young boys to seek out those adventures themselves. Through his writing, Robert Louis Stevenson creates a story that teaches young boys how to be proper and patriotic Victorian men, while also creating an entertaining piece of literature that inspires young readers even to this day.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. "Map of Treasure Island," 1883. In 1880 Robert Louis Stevenson married an American woman by the name Frances Osbourne who divorced her previous husband to be with him. Frances had two children from her previous marriage, her daughter Belle and her son Lloyd, who would accompany Stevenson and Frances as they traveled the world. It was during such trip to Scotland that Stevenson and a twelve-year-old Lloyd would draw a treasure map together to pass the time on a rainy day. This map would inspire Robert Louis Stevenson to write Treasure Island. While Stevenson used experiences from his own childhood to write Treasure Island, the fact that the idea came from a moment with his stepson reveals some pretty important things about the book; Treasure Island, even from its very conception, was meant to entertain young boys and stresses the importance and impact of fatherly love on the development of young men.

John Lawerence, Cover for Treasure Island (1883), by Robert Louis Stevenson, Kingfisher Publications 2001. Treasure Island at its core is an adventure novel made for young boys like Jim Hawkins, who appears on the cover of this edition. In a time before air travel became possible, the ship was the primary mode of transport across wide-ranging oceans and thus became a symbol of adventure and discovery. With Jim Hawkins at the helm of the ship, this cover evokes the sense of adventure that is Treasure Island and gives its readers a sense of the excitement that will unfold as they read through the story of Treasure Island.

Georges Roux, "Jim's Farewell," for Treasure Island (1883), by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1885 edition. Following the release of Treasure Island, the French illustrator Georges Roux was commissioned to make drawings for an illustrated version of the book that was released in 1885. As the first illustrated version of Treasure Island, the 1885 edition is the first time an illustrator would adapt a portion of the story into a visual format. In this particular image we have Jim Hawkins tearfully embracing his mother as he is about to leave for his journey to the island. This image is particularly striking as it is one of the few illustrations where we see Jim Hawkins being vulnerable, reminding us that while Treasure Island is a tale about what it means to be a man, Jim Hawkins (and its intended audience) is still a boy. By having Jim Hawkins show off more boyish qualities in the beginning, Georges Roux gives readers a sense of the growth that Jim will attain as he travels to the island and faces off against Long John Silver's crew.

N.C. Wyeth, "Jim's Courage Manifests," for Treasure Island (1883), by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1911 edition. If Georges Roux's illustrations were meant to depict Jim Hawkins as a boy, N.C. Weyth's illustrations portray Jim as being closer to a man. For most of the journey, Jim spends most of his time running and hiding from the pirates, so when he sneaks onto the Hispanola and faces off against the helmsman Israel Hands, it stands out as a particularly big moment for that shows us how much braver Jim Hawkins has become. Wyeth's illustration helps to illustrate this particular triumphant moment with the way it portrays Jim Hawkins and Israel Hands. Jim Hawkins sitting upright and facing down Israel Hands with two guns while Israel prepares to throw a knife at Jim gives off a sense of action and emphasizes that Jim has power over Israel, which stands in stark contrast to most of the book where the pirates are the more powerful faction. Courage is a highly prized trait in young men, which Jim Hawkins exemplifies by facing his fears and standing his ground.

Various Artists, "Treasure Planet," 2002. Eventually, Treasure Island would find its way onto the silver screen, starting with a silent film adaptation that premiered in 1918. As the years followed and movie-making became more advanced, Treasure Island would see itself adapted to film again and again. These new Treasure Island adaptations would include the first one to feature sound in 1934, the Walt Disney 1950 version which was the first to feature in color, the first animated version in 1973, and of course the eternally beloved classic of Muppets Treasure Island in 1996. One adaptation that people might remember less well is Treasure Planet, a Disney animated film that reimagines Treasure Island as a sci-fi story and most of its characters as aliens. Aside from the sci-fi aesthetic and use of both 3D and 2D animation, the most striking thing about the movie is how it approaches the relationship between Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins. While Silver and Jim do interact in the other adaptations, their relationship isn't as heavily developed as it is in Treasure Planet. In Treasure Planet, we see Long John Silver become a father figure to Jim Hawkins and inspire him to chart his own course. In this promotional art piece here, we can see the cyborg version of Long John Silver with his hand on Jim Hawkins's shoulder while reaching his robotic hand out to the cosmos, exemplifying both their strong bond and their desire for adventure. While the movie Treasure Planet and Robert Louis Stevenson's book might be worlds apart, they both share the spirit of adventure and show just how powerful a father-son relationship can be.