Master of Ballantrae

Name: Master of Ballantrae - Master of Ballantrae
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894

To Sir Percy Florence and Lady Shelley

Here is a tale which extends over many years and travels into many countries. By a peculiar fitness of circumstance the writer began, continued it, and concluded it among distant and diverse scenes. Above all, he was much upon the sea. The character and fortune of the fraternal enemies, the hall and shrubbery of Durrisdeer, the problem of Mackellar’s homespun and how to shape it for superior flights; these were his company on deck in many star-reflecting harbours, ran often in his mind at sea to the tune of slatting canvas, and were dismissed (something of the suddenest) on the approach of squalls. It is my hope that these surroundings of its manufacture may to some degree find favour for my story with seafarers and sea-lovers like yourselves.

And at least here is a dedication from a great way off: written by the loud shores of a subtropical island near upon ten thousand miles from Boscombe Chine and Manor: scenes which rise before me as I write, along with the faces and voices of my friends.

Well, I am for the sea once more; no doubt Sir Percy also. Let us make the signal B. R. D.!

R. L. S.

WAIKIKI, May 17, 1889

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Chicago: Robert Louis Stevenson, "Master of Ballantrae," Master of Ballantrae, ed. Macaulay, G. C. (George Campbell), 1852-1915 and trans. Curtin, Jeremiah, 1835-1906 in Master of Ballantrae Original Sources, accessed April 7, 2025, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=YSWN75KRJWTGJWQ.

MLA: Stevenson, Robert Louis. "Master of Ballantrae." Master of Ballantrae, edited by Macaulay, G. C. (George Campbell), 1852-1915, and translated by Curtin, Jeremiah, 1835-1906, in Master of Ballantrae, Original Sources. 7 Apr. 2025. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=YSWN75KRJWTGJWQ.

Harvard: Stevenson, RL, 'Master of Ballantrae' in Master of Ballantrae, ed. and trans. . cited in , Master of Ballantrae. Original Sources, retrieved 7 April 2025, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=YSWN75KRJWTGJWQ.