Imaginary Worlds in Literature: The Map of Treasure Island

One rainy day in the summer of 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson entertained his stepson by sketching out on paper the rocky contours of an island, chiseling the coastline with creeks, marking the interior with forests and swamps. Reading the map, we are struck by place names like Skeleton Island and Rum Creek, rich in the promise of adventure. In the lower part of the map, a compass rose reminds us of nautical charts. Hazardous navigational areas are marked, and soundings indicate the depth of the waters. Next to these apparently codified cartographic elements, three handwritten crosses stand out to the west of the island, one of which is inscribed with the following indication: “Bulk of the treasure is here”. With a few cleverly arranged lines, Stevenson blends reality and fiction to give substance to the novel, which finds meaning and credibility in this mysterious map that the reader discovers alongside Jim Hawkins, the main character in the story.