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. Wherein are contained more especially, The unparallel'd Exploits of Sir Henry Morgan, our English Jamaican Hero, who sack'd Puerto Verlo, burnt Panama, &c. Written originally in Dutch, by John Exquemeling. . . AND Bucaniers of America. The Second Volume. Containing The Dangerous Voyage and Bold Attempts of Captain Bartholomew Sharp, and others; performed upon the Coasts of the South Sea, for the space of two years, &c. From the Original Journal of the said Voyage. Written by Mr. Basil Ringrose, Gent. Who was all along present at those Transactio

Exquemelin, Alexandre Olivier and Basil Ringrose

Edité par William Crooke, London, 1684

A propos de cet article

THE GRAVES-NOVAL-BISSET-HOLDSWORTH COPY. London: William Crooke, 1684. First edition in English. and London: William Crooke, 1685. First edition. Quarto (8 9/16" x 6 9/16", 218mm x 167mm). [Full collation available.] Vol. I: With 9 engraved plates, of which 3 are double-page. Vol. II: With 16 engraved plates, of which 14 are integral to the text, and 2 folding. Bound in contemporary (?) mottled calf (re-backed) with a central panel in blind. On the spine, five raised bands. Title gilt to olive sheep in the second panel. Date gilt to the tail. Gilt roll to the edges of the text-block. All edges of the text-block speckled red. Re-backed. Some chips and scuffs to the boards, with the fore-corners rebuilt. Vol. I: repaired loss to the upper margin of the title-leaf, with some offsetting from the front paste-down. Small loss to the upper edge of Pp3, affecting the head-line. Small hole to Eee2. Marginal tanning and occasional spots of foxing or soiling. Vol. II: repaired loss to the upper margin of the title-leaf, with some creasing. Hole to D1. Tear to the upper edge of V1. V2.3 still joined at the spine-edge, with some attendant tearing. Marginal tanning and occasional spots of foxing or soiling. [Full account of ownership marks available.] Ownership signature of "R. Graves. Hosp. Lincoln. 1697." to p. 20 (D2v) to both volumes. "IoHn NovaL His BooK/ 1701" to the front paste-down of vol. II. Armorial escutcheon with motto of Bisset of Aberdeen cut out and mounted to the verso of the title-page of both volumes. Armorial bookplate of Arthur & Elizabeth Holdsworth of Widdicomb to the front paste-down of vol. I, rear paste-down of vol. II. Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (ca. 1645-1707) published his account of privateering -- that is, acting as a government-sanctioned private sailor, used to attack, harass and raid enemies of that government -- in 1678 as De Americaensche Zee-roovers ("The American sea-robbers"). The popular imagination, of course, has a different term for Exquemelin and his Caribbean brethren: pirates. Exquemelin's tale of swashbuckling ignited the public imagination about the New World perhaps more than any other work besides The Tempest. In a period in which the Spanish and Dutch were near constant enemies of the British, Bucaniers is a curious success. The account of Sir Henry Morgan, whose portrait faces p. 60 of vol. I, brought libel claims for its sensational claims of rape, torture and other malfeasance. The first edition sold well enough to spark a second in the same year. The year following a "fourth part" Ringrose s account -- was published. The earliest ownership mark is that of Richard Graves (1677-1729) "the antiquary" of Mickleton in Gloucestershire. He signs as "Hosp. Lincoln." For "Hospitium Lincolniense," i.e., Lincoln's Inn, one of the four Inns of Court in London. Graves was admitted to the Inn on 21 October 1693. John Noval owned the set (although his ownership signature is only in vol. II) in 1701. Noval's name (a clerk, with a wife called Judith) appears in the lists of naturalized Protestant emigrés from 10 October 1688. The family whose escutcheon and motto ("tempus edax rerum" ("time, eater of things")) have been cut from a bookplate (?) and pasted to the verso of each title-page is Bisset of Aberdeen. Perhaps the volumes belonged to Charles Bisset (1717-1791), a physician and military engineer who worked in Jamaica and the West Indies as a naval surgeon in Admiral Vernon's fleet. Finally the set came into the library of Arthur Holdsworth (ca. 1757-1787), MP, of Widdicombe, Devon and his wife Elizabeth (née Holdsworth). The Holdsworth family of Dartmouth had long held the governorship of Dartmouth Castle, long a center for piracy and privateering -- especially against the French -- given its position on the English Channel. Church 689; ESTC R21525 (Exquemelin) & R20999 (Ringrose); Hill 578 (Exquemelin) and 579 (the second edn. of Exquemelin with the first edn. of Ringrose); Sabin 23479.

N° de réf. du vendeur JLR0420

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. Wherein are contained more especially, The unparallel'd Exploits of Sir Henry Morgan, our English Jamaican Hero, who sack'd Puerto Verlo, burnt Panama, &c. Written originally in Dutch, by John Exquemeling. . . AND Bucaniers of America. The Second Volume. Containing The Dangerous Voyage and Bold ...
• Éditeur: William Crooke, London
• Date de parution: 1684
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: First.
• État de l'article: Very good
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Americana
  • Maritime
  • Voyages