Travel Essays · Chapter
Preface to the First Edition explained
In the preface, Stevenson humorously reflects on the act of writing a preface, comparing it to an architect showing off plans.
What happens
In the preface, Stevenson humorously reflects on the act of writing a preface, comparing it to an architect showing off plans. He confesses his fear that his book may go unread and offers it as a light, unphilosophical work, thanking his traveling companion for at least being a reader.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This passage marks the dramatic climax because it reverses the narrator’s initial expectation of confrontation…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Human Connection and Community
Stevenson expresses warmth toward his reader and gratitude toward his traveling companion, emphasizing the value of shared experience.
Characters to notice
- The Arethusa
Implied as the companion who accompanied the author on the travels described in the book.
Key passages
“To equip so small a book with a preface is, I am half afraid, to sin against proportion.”
Stevenson worries that adding a preface to a short book is disproportionate.
Opening line expressing self-consciousness about the preface.
“I might not only be the first to read these pages, but the last as well; that I might have pioneered this very smiling tract of country all in vain, and find not a soul to follow in my steps.”
He fears he may be the only reader of his own book, having written it for no audience.
Stevenson's anxiety about the book's reception.
“it contains not a single reference to the imbecility of God’s universe, nor so much as a single hint that I could have made a better one myself.”
The book avoids pessimistic or arrogant commentary on the universe.
Stevenson highlights the book's lighthearted and unphilosophical nature.
