Showing results for "The Wrong Box" in Classics

Victorian humour generally doesn't translate well across time. The Wrong Box is one of the exceptions. The plot revolves around the supposed death of Joseph Finsbury who, as a youth, with his brother Masterman joined a tontine - a scheme whereby each entrant pays a fixed amount and the sum total, with interest, is given to the one who lives the longest. At the beginning of the story there are three survivors and then two - the Finsbury brothers.

Robert Louis Stevenson, know mostly for his tales of adventure and horror, also had a humorous side. This black comedy of errors deals with a coffin that keeps disappearing, and then showing up again in very strange places.