William Brand

Thank you for posting the link. I love this site and I had forgotten all about it.

DAY THIRTEEN: "Some Meditations Concerning our Honourable Gentlemen and Fellow=Souldiers, In Pursuit of those Barbarous Natives in the Narraganist-Country; and Their Service there" Yep, it's a poem. It was first written in 1675, but republished in this 1721 facsimile. Print this one to 8.5" x 14" and take three quarters of an inch off of the bottom. 1721-GentlemenandSouldiers.pdf

DAY TWELVE: A you can see so far by the variety of documents, I mean to supply any and all things that I have found from the period, so that everyone that visits here might find something interesting or might take away some oddity. This one is no exception. It is a proclamation for a fast among the Turks, which was reprinted in the colonies. It's on an 8.5" x 14" and once printed, a quarter inch should be taken off the sides and three quarters of an inch from the top and bottom. 1697-TheTurkishFast.pdf

DAY ELEVEN: This is a great color piece of St. Augustine. I don't know the year, but based on the style of ships, I would guess it predates the Golden Age. I've included it at size, so it's a printing challenge at 20" by about 15", but it's too interesting not to share. MapofStAugustine.pdf

I'm too tired to explain and it's only getting later...or rather earlier. DAY TEN: This one needs to be printed on 8.5" x 11" and three quarters of an inch should be trimmed off of the right and left sides. 1702-JosephDudley.pdf

Wonderful! I love seeing more examples of these from the period. That goes on the Christmas list.

You are all welcome. I'm glad to get these into the hands of people who will use them, share them and preserve them. DAY NINE: I'm sorry that today's map is late. I was at a family event out of town and should have been back hours ago, but for having too much fun and an accident on the freeway that blocked traffic coming home. This one is a beautiful map of Galway, Ireland in 1651. This one was not scanned in at size, so I picked a standard 11" x 17". It can be trimmed or left alone. 1651-MapofOldGalway.pdf

Stynky helped to discover an upload issue that is now fixed, so many thanks there! DAY SEVEN: What does that mean for the rest of you? You get two documents today. Both of these are from different decades, but they are both 'calls to arms' against the country's enemies. The first is from 1689 and it the original calls for soldiers, with 'seamen' hand penned into the document, so it applies to all of your sailors. This one should be printed on 8.5" x 11" with three quarters of an inch trimmed off the right and left side to be like the original. It's offset from the top like the original printing. DAY EIGHT: The second document is also a call for soldiers to fight the French and Indian enemies. It makes special mention that a Surgeon might be paid to provide care for those who volunteer. This piece should also be printed on 8.5" x 11", and half an inch should be taken off of each side. 1689-AnnoRegniRegis.pdf 1696-FrenchandIndianEnemy.pdf

I've read of two accounts where ships put into a foreign port and smallboats (fishing boats, cutters, etc.) came out to meet them for 'trade'. You see this happening into the 1800s, and it is often portrayed in film, though it tends to be informal purchase of foodstuffs and a few sundries, rather than the offloading of stolen goods. Didn't William Kidd offload a great many goods outside of port proper, before putting in at the colonies, and just before his arrest?

DAY SIX: Today's publication has been shared about the Pub before, but it bears repeating. My many thanks to Jeff Lee for making and keeping this available. http://www.shipbrook...seamansgrammar/

I would love that as well.

DAY FIVE: This is another declaration of Duty and Allegiance. While it was printed by Will Bradford in 1689, I'm uncertain if he, or someone else is the author of this piece. It's a two sided document encouraging continued loyalty to the Sovereigns, William and Mary. This one should be printed on 8.5' x 11", double sided, and then half an inch should be taken off of the sides, but not the top or bottom. I may have reached my quota on storage, so I can't upload the pdf. I'll try and fix the issue today. 1689-DutyandAllegiance2.pdf

You're welcome, but the lion's share of the work (and therefore the gratitude) goes to Mission. Surgeon. Monkey-wrangler. Webmaster.

Welcome aboard, Mister Smythe. We are glad of the addition and look forward to seeing you at many events.

DAY FOUR: 'An Act For the Better proportioning the Rates of Money in Payments made upon Contracts According to the former Regulation' Say that ten times fast. Due to the introduction of varying foreign currencies in the colonies (not to mention a number of successive coins due to the deaths of kings and queens), it was necessary to send out regular acts governing the value of coins from one colony to another. This Act is specific to Pennsylvania and shows the value of coins by penny weight. It also charts the value of half pieces. The regulation of coin, and eventually paper money, was an ongoing problem extending beyond the Revolutionary War. Colonies would seek to set their own standards, so that the difference in a coin's value could be significant from one colony to another. The original of this document was larger than a modern standard, so I've provided it on an 11" x 17" pdf or about 10% smaller than the scan. Once printed, you should trim half an inch off both sides to make it look similar to the original. 1706-RatesofMoney.pdf

That's a sharp looking piece.

DAY THREE: What's a good collection without a smathering of odds and ends? This is especially true with the much coveted 'map', and lets face it, even an old map has it's uses. Better an old map than no map at all, so I've thrown in this little German number that shows the port of Sierra Leone. The actual date is unknown, but it's pinpointed around the late 1500s or early 1600s. Since small printed maps are common (especially on numbered plates like this one), and the scan I have of it was not done to size, I chose to size it to an 8.5" x 11" pdf for convenience. I only wish that I had the other plates from this collection. MapofSierraLeone.pdf

DAY TWO: "Oaths appointed to be taken instead of the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy And Declaration" This is a very singular document from 1701 that is meant to be signed as an oath to King William, as well as an oath against Catholicism. It is very direct in it's wording, as are most documents of the period that touch on politics and religion. The original (as seen below) is shown with all of it's foxing and wear from age, and it includes signatures of the day for examples. I have made a cleaned version for reprinting. This can be used as a piece to be signed by re-enactors playing privateers, citizens or pirate-hunters loyal to King William, or it can be reprinted to be torn up, scoffed or otherwise maligned by pirates or separatists that are opposed to King William. It can also be used as plain old paper for re-enactors that are indifferent to King William. I have kept the cleaned version offset and slightly tilted, like the original, but I have removed all foxing, tears, and fading (though I have left some ghosting around the print letters and some dark ink marks to retain a press look) to make it presentable as a new document for period players. The original is almost exactly 8.5 inches wide by 13.25 long, so this one should be printed on 8.5" x 14" and then three quarters of an inch should be taken off of the bottom to make it the same size as the original. When printing these pdfs, DO NOT print them 'FIT TO PAGE'. Always print them at 100% or with 'No Page scaling', so that they come out as close to the original size as possible. If a document is smaller than a standard size, I will provide crop marks. This facsimile was taken from a scan in government archives at the Library of Congress. 1701-OathtoKingWilliam.pdf

We've always found enough by way of tents to house the homeless, so if that is your single largest concern, we'll hunt something down.

Thank you. Email sent. I welcome any additions to the lot. Anything from newspapers to maps and back again.

Here is the banner with no background color...

DAY ONE: Period Papers for the Private and Public use of Privateers. And if you think that's a long title, then you haven't read many period publications. The titles of some broadsheets, pamphlets and decrees are almost half as long as the rest of the document themselves, but long or short, I've decided to share many of the original documents that I've discovered over the years. I will endeavor to post one a day for a year as pdf downloads starting with this most capital one from 1643... "The Capitall Lawes of New-England, as they stand now in force in the Common-Wealth. By the Court, In the Years 1641. 1642. Captiall Lawes, Established within the Jurisdiction of Massachusetts." This document is roughly the size of an 8.5" x 14" sheet. I recommend printing it on a paper of high rag content or laid paper. You can trim about a quarter inch off of each side to bring it close to the original dimensions. Whenever possible, I will provide documents taken from high resolution scans and photographs that faithfully maintain the look and size of the originals. 1643-CapitallLawes.pdf

Please take along a camera. I'd love to see more images of the Winter event.

Aye, pics.

I found some more extinct birds from the period... Martinique Parrot (Amazona Martinicana) - 1722, Martinique Labat's Conure (Aratinga Labati) - 1722, Guadaloupe Guadaloupe Red Macaw (Ara Guadeloupensis) 1722 - Guadaloupet Chatham Is. Swan (Cygnus sumnerensis) - 1690 Chatham Leguat's Gelinote (Aphanapteryx Leguati) - 1730 Rodriguez I still can't find the account I discovered about extinct fish in the Caribbean. I remember reading about several animals that were hunted to extinction in the West Indies, but I can't find it. That's the problem with tripping over an article while looking for something unrelated. You can never find it again.