The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean
Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1859. First American Edition. 12mo, viii, 346 pages, period quarter leather over marbled boards. Raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean is Robert Michael Ballantyne’s classic Victorian boys’ adventure novel, following three young castaways, Ralph Rover, Jack Martin, and Peterkin Gay, after they are shipwrecked on a South Pacific island. Combining the tradition of Robinson Crusoe with episodes of exploration, survival, pirates, native island life, and Christian missionary themes, the book became one of the defining 19th-century adventure stories for young readers. This 1859 Boston edition, published by Phillips, Sampson and Company shortly after the original British publication, represents an early American appearance of Ballantyne’s most famous work. The novel later gained additional literary importance as one of the optimistic imperial adventure tales to which William Golding’s Lord of the Flies famously responded. Some signs of rubbing and wear, top hinge tender, scuffs to leather, some discoloration and foxing, else in very good condition. Item #403
Price: $1,000.00