posted on 18 Jan 2016

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson  illustrated by John Lawrence

I have to admit that I didn't read Treasure Island when I was a boy, or even as a teenager. When I came to it in my mid-twenties I was rather glad I hadn't tried at a younger age. I was not an enthusiastic or especially precocious reader back in my early days and I think I might have struggled with the quite complex plot and a language that doesn't make too many concessions to age. It would have been a pity to have been put off it back then because it is a cracking adventure story.

However, having not read the book didn't mean I was unaware of the basic story. In my childhood there were plenty of weekly comics and monthlies that I did read and which often Bowdlerised these classics - some better than others. But for me the story of Treasure Island was essentially the film version with Robert Newton as Long John Silver. Newton was the stuff of legend in that role and is still the go-to model for anyone wanting to say the word 'Ahh, Jim lad!' in a mock pirate accent. I think some of the power he put into this part came from his typecasting as a villainous hard man because if my memory serves me well he was a truly terrifying and violent Bill Sykes in the film of Oliver Twist - which was also a Sunday afternoon staple on the television of my childhood and youth.

When we first saw this large format, collectors edition of Treasure Island illustrated by John Lawrence it was obvious we had to have it. In fact, I think that if I saw it again in a second hand bookshop I'd buy it again to give away to someone so they could share it's magnificent representations of Stevenson's characters. John Lawrence is a renowned artist and illustrator who often works with wood block prints (which is what I think these are) or lithographic images and this one is just a triumph from beginning to end.

His use of colour is actually quite restrained but when he lets it go it is eye-popping. Wood blocks like these lend themselves to contrast - particularly light and shade - and his use of heavy dark charcoal black is really effective. There's a real energy and even menace in these illustrations and I think it would go down a storm with anyone over the age of 9 or 10.

This collectors edition was published in 2009 by Walker Books and might cost you a little over £25 on the second hand market.

 

Terry Potter

January 2016