Kidnapped was published by Cassell and Company in 1886, the same year as Jekyll and Hyde. David Balfour, a young Lowland Scot, goes to claim his inheritance from his uncle Ebenezer, who instead arranges to have him kidnapped and sold into slavery on a ship bound for the American colonies. On the ship, David meets Alan Breck Stewart, a Jacobite soldier returning secretly from France. After a shipwreck on the coast of Mull, the two men flee across the Highlands together, hunted by government soldiers for a murder they did not commit — the historical Appin murder of Colin Campbell, the “Red Fox.”
The novel is a dual character study: David is cautious, moral, Presbyterian, and Lowland; Alan is reckless, proud, Catholic, and Highland. Their friendship — tested by exhaustion, danger, quarrel, and reconciliation — is one of the great relationships in adventure fiction. Stevenson used their journey to map the social, religious, and cultural divisions of eighteenth-century Scotland: the Highlands and the Lowlands, Jacobite and Hanoverian, Gaelic and Scots, clan loyalty and commercial pragmatism.
Collecting Kidnapped
First edition (Cassell and Company, London, 1886): Dark blue cloth.
Market values:
- First edition, fine: $3,000–$8,000
- First edition, very good: $1,000–$3,000
- First edition, good: $400–$1,000
- N.C. Wyeth illustrated (Scribner’s, 1913): $200–$800
Projected values (2026–2036): Strong appreciation. One of the greatest adventure novels in English.
The Highland Adventure
David Balfour, a recently orphaned Lowland Scot, is cheated of his inheritance by his uncle and kidnapped aboard a ship bound for the American colonies. He meets Alan Breck Stewart, a Jacobite fugitive, and the two escape into the Scottish Highlands after the ship founders. Their flight across the heather — hungry, hunted, and arguing about politics — is one of the great journey narratives in English literature. Stevenson captures the landscape of the Highlands with a precision born of personal knowledge and deep love.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Robert Louis Stevenson? Stevenson (1850–1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, and travel writer who produced some of the most enduring works in English literature despite chronic illness. He spent his final years in Samoa, where he died at 44. His major works include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Master of Ballantrae.