Pirate Treasures from the Burns Library An Exhibit of Maps and Books

Dampier, Exquemelin and Johnson - Influential Pirates

Exquemelin, A. O., edited by Howard Pyle, The Buccaneers and Marooners of America. London: T.F. Unwin, 1897.

Howard Pyle (1853-1911) was an American illustrator whose powerful depictions of pirate life continue to influence popular imagination. He edited this volume, which includes portions of the works of Alexandre Exquemelin and Charles Johnson.

Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (c.1645-1707) was a French-born buccaneer surgeon, and author of the influential The Buccaneers of America, or a true account of the assaults committed upon the coasts of the West Indies, etc., which was first published as De Americaensche Zee-Rovers in Amsterdam in 1678. Exquemelin traveled to Tortuga as an indentured servant in 1666. He later joined the buccaneers and served under François L’Ollonais and Henry Morgan as a surgeon. He was with Morgan at the sack of Panama in 1671. He returned to Europe, but was in the Caribbean again and participated in the French sack of Cartagena.

Exquemelin, A. O. Histoire des Adventuries Filibustiers, qui sont Signalez dans les Indes, Contenant ce qu’ils ont fait de Remarquable Depuis Vingt Années: Avec la Vie, les Moeurs et les Coûtumes de Boucaniers et des Habitants de S. Domingue et de la Tortue: etc. Nouvelle Edition, Augmentée des Expeditions que les Filibustiers ont Faites Jusqu’ à Present, etc. Paris: Chez J. Le Febvre, 1699.

Dampier, William. A New Voyage Round the World: Describing Particularly the Isthmus of America, Several Coasts and Islands of the West Indies, the Isles of Cape Verde, the Passage of Terra del Fuego, etc., volumes I & II. London: Printed for James Knapton, 1699.

William Dampier (1651-1715), was an English buccaneer, navigator and explorer. He circumnavigated the globe three times. His published journals were celebrated for valuable observations of winds, currents, flora and fauna. Dampier influenced the work of Charles Darwin and Daniel Defoe, but his works were also of interest to the early “armchair traveler” in an age of intellectual inquiry.

The text of this book is based on the 5th edition of The History and Lives of all the most Notorious Pirates and their Crews, published in 1735. It, in turn, was based upon Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates from their first Rise and Settlement in the Island of Providence to the Present Time; With the Remarkable Actions and Adventures of the two Female Pyrates Mary Read and Anne Bonny, first published in 1724. Charles Johnson was a pen name and the author’s identity is unknown. For a time it was widely believed to be Daniel Defoe.

Fraser, Claud Lovat and Charles Johnson. Pirates: The Lives and Adventures of Sundry Notorious Pirates. With a foreword and sundry decorations by C. Lovat Fraser. New York: R.M. McBride and Company, 1922.

Whitehead, Charles. Lives and Exploits of English Highwaymen, Pirates and Robbers: Drawn from the Most Authentic Sources, by Capt. Charles Johnson. Revised and Continued to the Present Time by C. Whitehead; embellished with sixteen spirited engravings. London, 1842.

The Lives and Exploits of Pirates and Buccaneers. Philadelphia: Hazard, 1857.

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