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Welcome to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library blog! As the special collections and archives library at the University of Kansas, Spencer is home to remarkable and diverse collections of rare and unique items. Explore the blog to learn about the work we do and the materials we collect.

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The Magic of Children’s Classic Books: Treasure Island Edition

Well-loved children’s books spark the magic from the thrill of adventure to imagination of far-off, enchanted places. Beloved by generations, children’s classic stories remain with us throughout life, whether it’s re-reading childhood favorites or sharing our most loved stories with young people in our lives. These classics ignite imaginations and impart timeless lessons. They become some of our most cherished friends that stay with us throughout our lives.

Spencer Research Library has a vast children’s book collection to be explored. Some works have multiple editions published throughout the years. Different editions often have different illustrations, annotations, and even adaptations. This is the first post in a series highlighting various children’s book titles in Spencer’s holdings. First up, we bring you Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Black-and-white photograph of a man and boy looking at a large map.
Movie still from MGM’s adaptation of Treasure Island from the 1934 Grosset & Dunlap edition. Call Number: Children 5948. Click image to enlarge.

Spencer Research Library has seven holdings of Treasure Island. The publisher, publication date, and call number of each volume are listed below:

  • Cassell & Company, Limited: London, Paris, New York & Melbourne, 1886 (O’Hegarty B2959).
  • Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1913 (SC Annex 326).
  • Rand McNally: New York and Chicago, copyrighted 1916, published 1928 (Children C623).
  • Grosset & Dunlap: New York, 1934? (Children 5948).
  • Limited Editions Club: New York, 1941 (D7309).
  • Award Books: New York, 195-? (Children B2846).
  • Franklin Watts: New York, 1964 (C18419).

This introduction appears in most editions of the book:

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 to-day:

–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!

The first edition of Treasure Island – published by Cassell & Company in 1883 – featured no illustrations. Three years later, the publisher released a new edition with 18 pages of illustrations and 26 leaves of plates.

Scenes from Treasure Island depicted in black-and-white sketches with the book's title.
Frontispiece illustration from the 1886 Cassell & Company edition of Treasure Island. Call Number: O’Hegarty B2959. Click image to enlarge.

Maps of the island do not appear in every edition. Those that are included vary in detail, from topography and landmark descriptions.

Black-and-white map.
Map of Treasure Island from the 1886 Cassell & Company edition. Call Number: O’Hegarty B2959. Click image to enlarge.
Color map of Treasure Island, with the "bulk of treasure here" marked with a red "x" and a rainbow.
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Color map of "the island from the West."
Maps of Treasure Island in the 1941 Limited Editions Club version of the novel. Call Number: D7309. Click image to enlarge.

The 1941 edition of Treasure Island, published by the Limited Editions Club, was limited to 1,500 copies.  Spencer Library’s edition is numbered 1,426. Colored Illustrations signed by Edward A. Wilson – which includes a signed lithograph of Long John Silver – and the unique binding of dark blue sailcloth and gold-stamped red leather spine label makes this edition a highly sought collectible.

Black-and-white illustration of the pirate with a parrot on his shoulder and a pistol in his hand.
Signed lithograph of Long John Silver in the 1941 Limited Editions Club version of Treasure Island. Call Number: D7309. Click image to enlarge.

Rand McNally published several editions of Treasure Island over the years. Kenneth Spencer Research Library holdings include a 1928 edition copyrighted in 1916. This edition features a durable hardback binding with full-page color illustrations along with black and white drawings. 

Color illustration of a pirate walking aggressively and holding a large knife.
Cover illustration from the 1928 Rand McNally edition of Treasure Island. Call Number: Children C623. Click image to enlarge.

Details are scarce for many cover images. Several editions from this period featured Jim Hawkins or Long John Silver, given their key roles in the story. 

Meredith Phares
Operations Manager

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 2nd, 2025 at 11:12 am and is filed under Special Collections. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.