STEVENSON, Robert Louis

Master of Ballantrae, The

London: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1889. Item #06264

First Issue of Stevenson’s 'The Master of Ballantrae'

STEVENSON, Robert Louis. The Master of Ballantrae. A Winter's Tale. London: Cassell & Company, Limited., 1889.

First edition, first issue. Octavo (7 5/16 x 5 inches; 186 x 127 mm.). viii, 332 pp. [20 advertisements dated "5 G. 7.89" & "5 B. 7.89"].

Publisher's red cloth, front cover decorated and lettered in black, rear cover decorated in black, spine decorated in black and lettered in gilt. Small corner piece missing on page 239, not affecting text. Floral endpapers, light fading to spine. A near fine copy.

Set against the backdrop of the 1745 Jacobite rising, the novel follows the Durie family of Durrisdeer, who decide - fatally - that one son will throw in his lot with the loyalists, while the other joins Prince Charles Edward Stuart. The consequences of this split allegiance reverberate across decades and continents: from Scotland to India, from the high seas to the American wilderness, where the tale culminates in a memorable confrontation.

Stevenson wrote the novel during his extensive travels in the United States and the Pacific, and his wanderings lend the narrative a cosmopolitan sweep unusual in Jacobite fiction. Part adventure, part psychological study of fraternal rivalry, The Master of Ballantrae stands among Stevenson’s most complex works. Its enduring appeal inspired a 1953 film adaptation starring Errol Flynn.

Prideaux.

Price: $600.00