Some twenty years after Stevenson published Treasure Island, another work of long fiction was published that would have an outsized impact on public perceptions of piracy.
In 1902 Scottish author James Matthew Barrie penned a novel for adults, The Little White Bird, which introduced to the public a character named Peter Pan. In 1904, Barrie added pirates to the mix, and Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, became the hit of the London stage. In 1906, the Peter Pan portion of The Little White Bird was novelized as Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, and in 1911 the 1904 stage play was novelized as Peter and Wendy (the form in which the work is known to most modern readers):
A somewhat complex publishing history for a tale that has introduced millions of readers to a ticking crocodile and a pirate captain who has a hook for a hand. Not just any captain, either--Captain James Hook supposedly was Blackbeard's boatswain and was the only man that Long John Silver ever feared.
Like Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver, Captain Hook and Tick Tock have long since passed into the cultural memory of millions. In part, this is due to the extensive reprint history of the 1911 novelization (which nowadays is frequently titled, simply, Peter Pan):
Like Treasure Island, the work's influence has been considerably extended by its association with some truly great book illustrators (most notably Arthur Rackham, below left) and paper engineers like Robert Sabuda (below right):
This influence has been promulgated as well as by the numerous TV, film, radio and stage adaptations that have taken place over the past century. Like Treasure Island, Barrie's creation also has spawned a minor industry of prequels and sequels:
Then, there's an entire universe of merchandising tie-ins: peanut butter, bakery goods, a wide array of collectibles (not just the Disney stuff), and so on and so on and so on.
Much of the influence that both Peter Pan and Treasure Island exert on public perceptions of piracy must be attributed to the fact that most folks first encounter these titles when children, a time when many of our most enduring perceptions of the world are formed. The third influential title, however, was written specifically for adults, and because most folks rarely encounter this title until they reach their teens, its influence, while quite substantial, is not nearly as far-reaching as that of the two titles mentioned above. Unlike the previous two titles, this work also is largely based upon real pirates and real events.
It only took Rafael Sabatini 25 years of writing to become an overnight success. That success came in 1921, with the publication of Scaramouche (with what is arguably the best opening line in all of literature: He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad). Scaramouche was followed almost immediately (in 1922) by the even more successful Captain Blood, Sabatini's great and enduring work of piratical literature:
Captain Blood is, as mentioned above, fiction for adults, with a main character that is far more nuanced that those in the two titles previously mentioned. Cindy Vallar, whose website Pirates and Privateers is one of the most comprehensive available, has an excellent article about the historical background of Captain Blood that is a must read for devotees of this title. Like Treasure Island and Peter Pan, Sabatini's great work has been reprinted many times:
Sabatini followed up the success of Captain Blood with two books that contain short stories about the further adventures of Captain Blood. The first of these (below right) is considered by many critics to be even better written that the original novel:
As will be obvious from the above images, these later short story collections, like the original novel, have been reprinted many times.
Hollywood, too, has helped extend Captain Blood's influence on public perceptions of piracy, as have comic books and radio:
Of course, to say that a particular title had had an outsized influence on public perceptions of piracy is not to say that such title is either the best-written work about piracy or the most accurate in its depiction of piracy. As we shall see in tomorrow's post, there are any number of titles that piracy buffs feel warrant such accolades far more than the titles we have examined thus far....
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