R. M. Ballantyne
Robert Michael Ballantyne was a Scottish author born on April 24, 1825, in Edinburgh, into a notable family with connections to the publishing world. He initially attended the Edinburgh Academy but had to withdraw due to family financial issues. At sixteen, Ballantyne moved to Canada, where he worked for the Hudson's Bay Company, gaining experiences that would inform his later writings. He returned to Scotland in 1847 and eventually transitioned from business to writing, producing around one hundred books throughout his career.
Ballantyne is particularly known for his adventure stories aimed at young readers, with "The Coral Island" being his most significant work. This novel not only captivated audiences but also influenced other classic works such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s "Treasure Island." His writing often combined thrilling plots with rich historical and geographical insights, appealing to a wide range of readers. He also wrote under the pseudonym "Comus" and contributed illustrations to many of his publications. Ballantyne spent his later years in Harrow, England, and passed away on February 8, 1894, while in Rome. His legacy as a prolific writer has left an enduring mark on children's literature.
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R. M. Ballantyne
Writer
- Born: April 24, 1825
- Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Died: February 8, 1894
- Place of death: Rome, Italy
Biography
Robert Michael Ballantyne was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on April 24, 1825, into a prominent Scottish family. He was the ninth child of newspaper publisher Alexander Thomson Ballantyne and Anne Randall Scott Grant, and the nephew James Robert Ballantyne, editor and publisher of the works of Sir Walter Scott. One of his brothers was James Robert Ballantyne, who would later become a prominent Orientalist. Ballantyne began attending the Edinburgh Academy in 1835. However, family financial problems brought on by the bankruptcy of the improvident Walter Scott led to Ballantyne’s withdrawal in 1837, after which he was educated at home.
Ballantyne traveled to Canada in 1841 at the age of sixteen to work as a clerk and eventually as a trader for the famous Hudson’s Bay Company. By the time he returned to Scotland in 1847, his father had died. Ballantyne subsequently worked for the North British Railway Company and Alexander Cowan and Company, a paper manufacturer. In 1849, he became a junior partner with Thomas Constable and Company, the publisher with which his uncle had been associated. Ballantyne left the company in 1855 to write and lecture. Ballantyne married Jane Dickson Grant in 1866, and the couple had four sons and two daughters.
A friend financed publication of the colorful letters Ballantyne had written his mother from Canada, and the result, Hudson’s Bay: or, Everyday Life in the Wilds of North America, appeared in 1847. Ballantyne went on to edit a similar work, Patrick Fraser Tyler’s The Northern Coasts of America, and the Hudson’s Bay Territories, adding three chapters of his own. A third work, Snowflakes and Sunbeams: Or, The Young Fur Traders, subsequently reprinted under the subtitle only, proved highly popular, and launched Ballantyne’s career.
In all, Ballantyne wrote about one hundred books, publishing several each year. Most followed the formula he had developed in The Young Fur Traders, which described the experiences of two young men determined to live a life of adventure. Ballantyne’s settings ranged from the Arctic to South America, from Africa to the South Seas. His books contained a wealth of historical and geographical information, but his action-packed plots made them highly readable.
Ballantyne’s most influential novel was The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean. Written in the tradition of Daniel Defoe’s The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, The Coral Island is the story of three brave and resourceful boys marooned on a tropical island. The book inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, J. M. Barrie’s works about Peter Pan, and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. This last novel is written as a pointed rejoinder to The Coral Island, whose psychology Golding found unrealistic.
Ballantyne was one of the nineteenth century’s most prolific and popular writers for young readers. He also wrote short stories for children under the pen name “Comus,” and supplied drawings for many of his books. He spent most of his final years in Harrow, England, dying of Ménière’s disease in Rome, Italy, on February 8, 1894, while traveling.