THE BLACK ARROW: A TALE OF THE TWO ROSES
Book Author Critic on the Hearth
DescriptionThe Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses is an 1888 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is both an historical adventure novel and a romance. It first appeared as a serial in 1883 with the subtitle "A Tale of Tunstall Forest" beginning in Young Folks; A Boys' and Girls' Paper of Instructive and Entertaining Literature, vol. XXII, no. 656 (Saturday, June 30, 1883)[1] and ending in the issue for Saturday, October 20, 1883[2]—Stevenson had finished writing it by the end of summer.[3] It was printed under the pseudonymn Captain George North.[4] He alludes to the time gap between the serialization and the publication as one volume in 1888 in his preface "Critic [parodying Dickens's "Cricket"] on the Hearth": "The tale was written years ago for a particular audience ...."[5] The Paston Letters were Stevenson's main literary source for The Black Arrow.