Bucaniers of America: Or, a true Account of the Most Remarkable Assaults Committed of Late Years Upon the Coasts of The West Indies, by the Bucaniers of Jamaica and Tortuga, Both English and French… The Second Volume Containing The Dangerous Voyage and Bold Attempts of Captain Bartholomew Sharp, and others…

EXQUEMELIN, ALEXANDRE OLIVIER; RINGROSE, BASIL

Edité par London, for William Crooke, 1684

A propos de cet article

FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, [12], 115,[1], 51, [1], 124, [12]; [16], 212(215), [24], 4 parts bound in 2 vol., small copper engraved portrait of Henry Morgan pasted to frontispiece of volume one, 9 plates (3 folding) and three engraved texts illustrations in volume one, 17 engraved maps and plans (2 folding) in volume two after Bartholomew Sharp, numerous woodcut text illustrations, occasional light spotting, 4to (240 x 185 mm), contemporary calf, morocco title-piece, spine gilt, boards ruled in gilt,marbled endpapers, bookplate of Frank L. Hadley, London, for William Crooke, 1684-1685 THE GREATEST EARLY BOOK ON BUCCANEERING & PIRACY The First English Edition of Exquemelin with the scarce fourth part by Basil Ringrose describing the Voyages of Captain Bartholomew Sharp. The primary contemporary source in English for the History of the English and French Buccaneers, or more politely privateers who harassed and attacked the Spanish colonies chiefly in the Caribbean during the seventeenth century. Exquemelin s account of the adventures, life, morals, looting, plundering, and taking prisoners for ransom or slavery of the pirates roaming the seas in the later part of the seventeenth century, together with a full description of the Caribbean where they mainly operated. Our prevailing image of the pirate is based on the buccaneer, or filibuster, active in the West Indies in the later 17th century. The story of Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin is the earliest first-hand account on these pirates, written by just such a one of these reluctant desperadoes, from which all others seem to spring. Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (1646-1717), called Oexmelin by the French, was long considered to be a Dutchman, as the first edition of his seminal and now extremely rare book De Americaensche Zee-Roovers (The Buccaneers of America) published in Amsterdam 1678 was in Dutch. But Exquemelin was born in 1646, at the Northern French port of Honfleur, descending from Huguenot apothecaries. He started his eventful life as a chemist before spending several years with the pirates as a ship s surgeon. He took part in their daring exploits, like the expeditions of the notorious English buccaneer Henry Morgan, one of the most famous names in the annals of piracy (called John in the book), including his raid on Maracaibo in 1669, or a year later his attack on Panama. By 1674 Exquemelin had joined the Dutch Navy, serving with De Ruyter s fleet in the wars against the French. Following the Admiral s death in 1667 he returned to Amsterdam, was granted citizenship and gained his qualification as a ship surgeon in October 1679. During his time in Amsterdam he offered his manuscript containing the description of his previous life to the publisher s Ten Hoorn, who translated it, adapted it to Dutch standards and printed it in 1678. The book became immediately so popular that editions were published everywhere. Hardly any book in any language became the parent of so many imitations and the source of so many legends, and is still popular today. Jan ten Hoorn also had published the works of Hendrik Smeeks (probably one of the sources of Daniel Defoe s Robinson Crusoe). Both publications were heavily edited by ten Hoorn, explaining the similarities of style, so that once is was believed that Exquemelin was a pseudonym of Smeets.The book quickly took on a life of its own, with numerous editions appearing throughout Europe in the following years, many of them fittingly pirated , including the Second Edition of 1679, in German, published in Nuremberg under the title Die Americanischen See-Raüber. A Spanish Edition followed in 1681, titled Piratas de la America; this too was probably published in Amsterdam and not Germany as the title-page claims. The first English edition, aptly published by one William Crook, appeared in 1684 under the title Bucaniers of America: Or, a True Account of the Most Remarkable Assaults Committed of late Years upon the Coasts of The West-Ind.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Bucaniers of America: Or, a true Account of the Most Remarkable Assaults Committed of Late Years Upon the Coasts of The West Indies, by the Bucaniers of Jamaica and Tortuga, Both English and French… The Second Volume Containing The Dangerous Voyage and Bold Attempts of Captain Bartholomew Sharp, and others…
• Éditeur: London, for William Crooke
• Date de parution: 1684
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: 1st Edition
• État de l'article: Very Good