Lot 101: Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (Cloth, 1920) 18th-century Scotland

Description

Kidnapped is a historical fiction adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, written as a boys' novel and first published in the magazine Young Folks from May to July 1886. The novel has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis Borges, and Hilary Mantel. A sequel, Catriona, was published in 1893. The narrative is written in English with some dialogue in Lowland Scots, a Germanic language that evolved from an earlier incarnation of English. Kidnapped is set around real 18th-century Scottish events, notably the "Appin Murder" and the Highland Clearances, which occurred in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Many of the characters are real people, including one of the principals, Alan Breck Stewart. The political situation of the time is portrayed from multiple viewpoints, and the Scottish Highlanders are treated sympathetically. The full title of the book is Kidnapped: Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: How he was Kidnapped and Cast away; his Sufferings in a Desert Isle; His Journey in the Wild Highlands; his acquaintance with Alan Breck Stewart and other notorious Highland Jacobites; with all that he suffered at the hands of his Uncle, Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws, falsely so-called: Written by Himself and now set forth by Robert Louis Stevenson. Plot The novel opens in the (fictional) village of Essendean in the Ettrick Forest area of the Scottish Lowlands in 1751. The main character and narrator is 17-year-old David Balfour whose sole remaining parent, his father, has recently died. The minister of Essendean, Mr. Campbell, hands David a sealed letter left by his father with instructions that it be delivered to his father’s brother, Ebenezer, at his family's ancestral estate, the House of Shaws in Cramond. Mr. Campbell tells David that he believes the letter may well prove to be advantageous to him. After two days' walk cross country, David arrives at the ominou Item Specifics Format: Cloth Condition: Acceptable Publisher: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd Region: Europe Signed: No Subject: Literature & Fiction Vintage: Yes Language: English Ex Libris: Yes Inscribed: No Book Title: Kidnapped Sub-Subject: Novels Personalised: No Year Printed: 1920 Custom Bundle: No Narrative Type: Fiction Intended Audience: Adults Original/Facsimile: Original Special Attributes: Illustrated

Condition Report

Sold as described — refer to photographs.

Specifications