# Treasure Island (1909)

Layout 2
Merrill's English Texts
TREASURE ISLAND STEVENSON
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
Merrill's English Texts
TREASURE ISLAND
BY
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY FRANKLIN T. BAKER, A.M.,
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN TEACHERS
COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK CHARLES E. MERRILL CO. 44–60 East Twenty-third Street
Copyright, 1909 BY CHARLES E. MERRILL CO.
EDITOR'S PREFACE
This little classic of Stevenson's is now definitely placed in the category of school books. It has taken this rank because of its undoubted appeal to young readers, and because of the high order of its workmanship. If, however, its place among school books means that it is to be made, through mistaken editorial and pedagogical zeal, a task instead of a pleasure to the boy, the choice of it for such purposes is a grave mistake. The present editor has therefore sought only to furnish such notes as will save the reader from the inconvenience of going to the dictionary, and such comments as will enlighten him regarding the high place the book has won with readers of cultivated tastes.
F. T. B.
October 1, 1909.
PUBLISHERS' NOTE
Merrill's English Texts
This series of books will include in complete editions those masterpieces of English Literature that are best adapted for the use of schools and colleges. The editors of the several volumes will be chosen for their special qualifications in connection with the texts to be issued under their individual supervision, but familiarity with the practical needs of the classroom, no less than sound scholarship, will characterize the editing of every book in the series.
In connection with each text, a critical and historical introduction, including a sketch of the life of the author and his relation to the thought of his time, critical opinions of the work in question chosen from the great body of English criticism, and, where possible, a portrait of the author, will be given. Ample explanatory notes of such passages in the text as call for special attention will be supplied, but irrelevant annotation and explanations of the obvious will be rigidly excluded.
Charles E. Merrill Co.
CONTENTS
TOPICS AND QUESTIONS FOR STUDY
Under what circumstances was this book written? See Introduction, p. 14.
PART I
* In what way is it made clear that the new guest of the Admiral Benbow Inn was an unusual man? How is it suggested that he may have been a pirate? When do we know this defi- nitely?
* Why did he fear such a man as Dr. Livesey?
* Does “the sea-faring man with one leg” set you won- dering?
* 4. What hint does the story of ‘Black Dog’s”’ meeting with the “Captain” give you?
* What was the ‘“‘Captain’s”’ real name? Why was he in hiding?
* By what means is the blind man made terrible? Why did Bones fear him?
* What was “the black spot’’?
* Which of the events that followed Bones’s death do you think most exciting?
* Why were the country people afraid to come to the Inn?
* What things did the dead seaman’s box contain? What article in it was of most importance?
* Why did Jim carry the papers to Dr. Livesey? What did they contain?
* What scheme did Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney hit upon?
* From the reference to Bristol, in what part of England do you think these events took place
* Retell the principal incidents of Part I orally or in writing.
PART II
* Why was Jim so excited over the coming voyage?
* What indiscreet thing had the Squire done at the outset?
* What did he think of the crew he had got? What did Captain Smollett think of them? Who had really selected them?
* What hint do you get from the fact that "Black Dog" appeared at Silver's Inn?
* How did Silver allay Jim's suspicions? What did the Squire and the Doctor think of Silver?
* What are the first hints of coming trouble that Captain Smollett sees? "Why does he say "Treasure is ticklish work"?
* Note the song that the men sing as the ship sails. Where have you read it before?
* What was Jim's "adventure of the apple barrel? Note how the whole situation comes out in Silver's talk.
* What qualities does Jim show in this incident? What saved him from discovery?
* What steps do the owners of the vessel take when they hear his story?
* Retell in writing one of the incidents of the voyage which you think interesting.
PART III
* What signs of coming trouble does Jim observe?
* How does John Silver act?
* Why were the men sent "on shore leave"?
* What came of Jim's going ashore without leave?
* What was the island ike?
* Describe Silver's interview with Tom.
* Who was "the man of the island"? How does he show that he has lived a long time alone?
* What hint is there that he may be of use to the Squire and his friends?
PART IV
* Why are these chapters (XVI-XVIII) told by the doctor
* Why did his party decide to occupy the old stockade?
* What adventures did they have in landing their supplies?
* How many men are in the faithful party? .
* How did Ben Gunn help them?
* How did the men in the stockade prepare to resist attack?
* Describe Silver's embassy.
* What were the results of the fight at the stockade?
PART V
* Why did Jim steal away from his friends? What results came of his escapade? What did he do with Ben Gunn’s boat? What did he see in the ship?
* Describe his adventures with Israel Hands.
* How did he finally get the ships into the harbor?
* In what instances has Jim helped his friends? In which cases has he done it through luck or through love of adventure?
* How have the buccaneers been defeating their own cause and destroying themselves?
PART VI
* How many of the pirates were left alive at this point of the story? Who were they?
* What quarrel arose among them?
* Why did Silver decide to save Jim? How does he again show his capacity?
* Describe the interview between Jim and the Doctor.
* Why did the pirates detain Jim?
* Tell how they found their way to the place where Flint had buried the treasure? Describe the scene there.
* How did the Squire’s party manage to be in time to save Jim?
* What had become of the treasure?
* What finally became of Silver?
* Which scenes in the whole story stand out most clearly in your memory?
* Which characters seem most real? Which most interesting?
* Who is the hero of the book: Jim Hawkins or John Silver?
LIST OF TITLES IN
Merrill’s English Texts
The dates following the name of the book indicate the years for which it is scheduled for Uniform College Entrance Requirements in English
A double star (**) indicates that an edition of the book is in preparation
Addison, Steele, and Budgell. The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers in "The Spectator," 1909–1915. Price, 30 cents.
Browning. Cavalier Tunes, The Lost Leader, How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix, Evelyn Hope, Home Thoughts from Abroad, Home Thoughts from the Sea, Incident of the French Camp, The Boy and the Angel, One Word More, Hervé Riel, Pheidippides, My Last Duchess, Up at a Villa—Down in the City. 1909–1915. Price, 25 cents.
Bunyan. Pilgrim’s Progress. Part I. 1909–1915. Price, **
Coleridge. The Ancient Mariner. 1909–1915. Price, 25 cents.
Coleridge—The Ancient Mariner, and Lowell—The Vision of Sir Launfal, Combined. 1909–1915. Price, 40 cents.
Defoe. Robinson Crusoe, Part I. 1913–1915. Price, **
​Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities. 1909–1915. Price, 50 cents.
Eliot (George). Silas Marner. 1909–1915. Price, 40 cents.
Emerson. Essays. (Selected.) 1909–1912. Price, 40 cents.
Goldsmith. The Deserted Village. 1909–1915. Price, 25 cents.
Gray—Elegy in a Country Churchyard, and Goldsmith—The Deserted Village, Combined. 1913–1915. Price, 30 cents.
Hawthorne. The House of the Seven Gables. 1909–1915. Price, 40 cents.
Lamb. Essays of Elia. 1909–1912. Price, 50 cents.
Lincoln, Selections from. Including the two Inaugurals, the Speeches in Independence Hall and at Gettysburg, the Last Public Address, and Letter to Horace Greeley, along with a brief memoir or estimate. 1913–1915. Price, 25 cents.
Lowell. The Vision of Sir Launfal. 1909–1915. Price, 25 cents.
Macaulay. Essays on Lord Clive and Warren Hastings. 1913–1915. Price, 40 cents.
Macaulay—Lays of Ancient Rome, and Arnold—Sohrab and Rustum, Combined. 1909–1915. Price, 30 cents.
Milton. Lycidas, Comus, L'Allegro, and Il Penseroso. 1909–1915. Price, 25 cents.
Poe—The Raven, Longfellow—The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Whittier—Snow-Bound, Combined. 1913–1915. Price, 25 cents.
Stevenson. Inland Voyage and Travels with a Donkey. 1913–1915. Price, **
Stevenson. Treasure Island. 1913–1915. Price, 40 cents. Thoreau. Walden. 1913–1915. Price,**
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1949, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 74 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse