Captain Blood: His Odyssey by Rafael Sabatini: The Annotated Edition
Announcing the Annotated Edition of Captain Blood: His Odyssey by Rafael Sabatini, an author who knew that standing up to injustice required not only courage and honor, but wit as well–and often a sharp sword too!
First published in 1922, this famous modern classic has sold millions of copies and has remained in print since its first edition. It has inspired acclaimed novelists from Norman Mailer (“But I never enjoyed a novel more than Captain Blood”) to George MacDonald Fraser, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, and beyond. The novel is timeless, its fans young and old.
It tells the story of Dr. Peter Blood, convicted of treason for treating a wounded rebel and sentenced to transportation in servitude to the Caribbean from whence he escapes, turns pirate, and, conflicted by his sense of honor and love for a woman who cannot forgive what he has become, scourges the Spanish Main. Notably, the novel, which has been continuously in print for almost one hundred years, inspired the 1935 film version that made Errol Flynn a star.
Far more than a mere historical swashbuckler of the common genre, this famous story argues that heroes can be fallible, admit mistakes, and still succeed; that life is a series of problems in search of honorable solutions; that although the world may be unfair, this is no reason not to fight to make it more fair—and that everywhere are villains, ranging from the those who tremble silently in deadly fecklessness to those who bluster loudly in brutal cowardice, and that humanity is always in need of those willing to stand up to them.
Such heroes have always been in demand, and some eras have mandated them for survival.
Our present era is one of them.
For most young adult readers there is one book that seizes their soul. Some of us were lucky enough that Captain Blood was ours.
This special edition is being thoroughly annotated, including many detailed notes and appendices, by noted piracy author and historian, maritime adventurer, and swordsman Benerson Little. He is assisted by the outstanding Rafael Sabatini biographer Ruth Heredia (Seeking Sabatini and Reading Sabatini). In addition to the annotations and appendices, the book will be thoroughly illustrated.
More publication details forthcoming soon! Tentative publication date is summer or fall 2026.
Links
Author Benerson Little
Author Ruth Heredia
The Rafael Sabatini Society
Copyright Treasure Light Press LLC.
Treasure Light Press 
Is there any new information regarding this book?
LikeLike
The annotations, appendices, and illustrations are nearly complete. The pandemic, other projects, and more put us behind (not to mention that the project became more detailed than originally imagined). However, it may be a year before we see it to print, given the editing that needs to be done as well as production itself. But we’re getting there! I think it will have been worth the wait. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for the speedy reply. Will be waiting this great book and accompaniment of your observations and commentary.
LikeLike
Thank you! We’ll post an update on progress soon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi! I found the TLP page following a search for Horace’s quote in Captain Blood – and as I have a love for annotated editions, am excited to see one perhaps in the works. Is a print edition still planned?
LikeLike
A print edition is still planned, though behind schedule thanks to the pandemic, followed by other intrusions, followed by an expansion in the length and quality of the annotations. I’m roughly 90% finished with the annotations and appendices. We’re looking, depending on funding, at a hardcover with approximately 300 illustrations, and annotation and appendix word count equal to or greater than the length of the novel itself. It’s been a fun project. Regarding Horace’s quote, we’re including copies of pages from 17th century editions Captain Blood might have read — I have one in my collection.
LikeLike