GAOP Essential Reading List

[Fox]

That's not the sort of thing you should judge a book by

(IMHO, the inside is even better)

[Swashbuckler 1700]

How much is has content that could be called commentary (not documents)?

[Fox]

Each chapter has an introduction of between 1 and 3 pages, and each* document has an introduction varying in length from a few lines to over a page. Likewise, the documents vary in length from around a page to 19 pages. There are also footnotes, mostly quite brief but one or two fairly large ones.

If you want it properly quantified, the documents constitute about 84% of the total book. Of the documents, the testimony of pirates makes up 41%, that of forced men is 20%, victims' testimony makes up 17%, trials contribute 9%, and miscellaneous documents make up the remaining 13%.

Just for giggles, here's the contents list:

Pirates
1. Samuel Burgess
2. William Phillips
3. John Sparks
4. David Evans
5. Thomas Joy
6. Richard Sievers
7. James Kelly on two decades at sea
8. Theophilus Turner
9. John Brent
10. Thomas Bagley
11. Michael Hicks
12. Richard Roper
13. John Barrett
14. The Will of Joseph Jones
15. A Matelotage Agreement
16. John Brown
17. Robert Collover writes to a shipmate’s widow
18. A Pirate Reference
19. Dear British Apollo
20. Thomas Nichols and Francis Leslie surrender
21. The Whydah survivors tell their stories
22. David Herriot and Ignatius Pell on Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet
23. Bartholomew Roberts writes
24. Walter Kennedy’s deposition
25. Walter Kennedy’s views on the pirate life
26. James Bradshaw
27. Richard Luntly
28. The petition of John Massey and George Lowther
29. William Ingram
30. Alexander Thompson
31. Philip Roche
32. Thomas Lawrence Jones
33. James Williams
34. John Smith, alias John Gow
35. Robert Reid

Forced Men
36. Philip Middleton
37. Henry Watson
38. John Ireland
39. Richard Appleton and others
40. Henry Hunt
41. John Matthews
42. Bridstock Weaver
43. Henry Treehill
44. Richard Moor
45. Edward Evans
46. William Whelks
47. John Fillmore’s narrative
48. Nicholas Simmons

Pirates’ Victims
49. Mutiny on the ship Adventure
50. Israel Pippany and Peter Freeland
51. George Weoley
52. Edward North
53. Thomas Grant
54. Edward Green
55. Captain Mackra’s ship taken by Edward England
56. Richard Lazenby, a prisoner of John Taylor
57. Jacob du Bucquoy describes life in the company of John Taylor
58. Andrew Kingston taken by Bartholomew Roberts
59. Richard Hawkins’ account of his capture by Francis Spriggs

Trials
60. Trial of Gibbons and Bournal
61. Trial of Bridstock Weaver and William Ingram
62. Trial of Mozley et al.

Miscellaneous Documents
63. Adam Baldridge
64. The battle between the Dorrill and the Mocha
65. A pirate’s widow seeks her inheritance
66. A letter to a pirate
67. Prices of pirate supplies
68. John Vickers and the arrival of the pirates at New Providence
69. Pirates surrender to Captain Pearse
70. Certificate of Pardon
71. Inventory of a pirate sloop
72. The end of Blackbeard
73. Captain Davis on the African Coast
74. Lists of ships taken by pirates
75. The end of Bartholomew Roberts
76. Inventory of goods in the possession of Pierce and Andrew Cullen

*Not quite every document has its own introductory text, some with similar themes have been introduced together.

[Fox]

Paperback now available:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/et-fox/pirates-in-their-own-words/paperback/product-21707029.html

[GregF]

I'll have to get a copy. Looks great.

[Fox]

And last but not least, the eBook: http://www.lulu.com/shop/et-fox/pirates-in-their-own-words/ebook/product-21708777.html

[michaelsbagley]

How does the binding compare between the hardcover and softcover (anyone bought from Lily before), just trying to make an informed buying decision

[Fox]

I don't know, but in a few days I should have a copy of each in my hands and will be able to tell you.

FWIW, I'm expecting the binding of the soft-cover to be softer than the binding of the hard-cover, which will be harder. The binding on the eBook is rubbish.

[Daniel]

Fox's latest looks wonderful. When I have money and time (sigh), this is definitely next in line on my to-buy list.

[Red John]

Ahoy All!

Foxe's new book, "Pirates In Their Own Words", is ON SALE! I recently received an electronic message as follows:

"It's a Friday Flash Sale! We all love Fridays and we thought we'd get the weekend off to a great start with a 13% off flash sale. Why 13%? We just love the number 13. Through July 21, save 13% on all Standard and Premium books with code FLASHY13.

Shop now.

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yours, aye-

John

(Not sure if this is the proper thread for this posting, but I wanted to get the word out! Please move to wherever it best fits)

[Brit.Privateer]

Review of Ed T. Fox,, ed. Pirates in Their Own Words: Eye-Witness Accounts of the “Golden Age” of Piracy, 1690-1728. Fox Historical, 2014.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/et-fox/pirates-in-their-own-words/hardcover/product-21700684.html

http://www.lulu.com/shop/et-fox/pirates-in-their-own-words/paperback/product-21707029.html

http://www.lulu.com/shop/et-fox/pirates-in-their-own-words/ebook/product-21708777.html

In the world of transcribed published primary sources for pirate history in the 1690s-1720s, the selection is limited. But Dr. Fox’s new collection of 76 primary source documents of varying length (from short letters and testimonies to trial transcripts) is a refreshing new edition to the study of pirate history.

Before this work, the most recent large collection of Golden Age of Piracy-specific documents came in the form of Joel Baer’s 4-Volume work. Baer’s work, while remarkable, mostly concentrated on large works and trials. His selection was also of the more well-known primary sources for pirate history (in particular, the trials). One other concerning issue is the availability – the set is rarely seen outside of a selection of libraries reference sections. On the other hand, Fox’s work is comprised of numerically more works, a mix of documents in terms of notoriety in pirate history, and more wide availability since Fox’s work is the first of these pirate document collections to be available through digital download.

The selection of sources presented in this collection cover the entire width of the Golden Age of Piracy of 1690 to 1728, and only that era. The other collections often branched out to cover piracy before and after this period. The collection also tries it’s best to bring the voice of the pirates themselves forward, which explains the title of this work, “Pirates in their Own Words.” But, as the introductions written by Dr. Fox at the beginning of each document explains, sifting through the bias of period documents is much easier said than done. But many of the documents are also from witnesses of piracy and/or victims of piracy.

The selection of the documents brings about many intriguing pieces of information and insights into the lives and actions of pirates. Some of the documents, I’ve personally heard about, but never seen before. This includes letters from a wife and another from a widow of pirates in Madagascar in the 1690s. Overall, this collection has a strong representation of pirates serving in the 1690s, likely a byproduct of Dr. Fox’s work on pirate Henry Every’s history (that eventually produced the book, King of the Pirates). Another work that attracted my attention was a thorough description of a battle with a pirate – since battle accounts with pirates are relatively rare (since many encounters with pirates resulted with the civilian target surrendering instead of fighting). Finally, it was with great joy to see that the work of Jacob du Bucquoy is being translated after all these years (the non-English works about piracy from the era often go neglected in studies of piracy).

For those that study pirate history, especially those looking to approach it from an academic level, it is essential to look at the original documents (and not just Charles Johnson’s General History of Pyracy). With collections of transcribed documents only coming to light on rare occasions, not to mention be available to a more general audience, Pirates in their Own Words is a priceless publication to possess, and who better to bring such sources to us than an academic historian of piracy whose work is helping bring new light to pirate history.

[BellamyCay]

When and where did this get announced? Plus having Kenneth Kinkor involved also advances my interest. Were they only trial transcripts? The only think I know of that might be remotely related to this is Kinkor's Whydah Sourcebook that never got published before he died.

As it so happens... in a manner of speaking, the torch has been passed to me; publishing the Whydah Sourcebook in an appropriate format was one of Ken's last requests to me, which I have been working on for nearly two years, and I am very nearly finished with reformatting and re-editing the mammoth Work (and it does in fact contain quite a bit more than just the court trials). It will also contain new historical data obtained since Ken's sad passing (I was one of the very last to see him in this world, and I cannot express the level of grief which we are still suffering more than a year later). I am of the hope that it should be available to the general public within the next 6 months, after final approval from Mr. Clifford, of course. It is my further hope that anal critics will not shred it like a school of bloody piranha, as I have seen ignorantly done to such superior historians as Woodard, Cordingly, and Konstam. There's nothing more revolting to Academia than an uppity academic.

Edited September 24, 2014 by BellamyCay

[Fox]

It is my further hope that anal critics will not shred it like a school of bloody piranha, as I have seen ignorantly done to such superior historians as Woodard, Cordingly, and Konstam. There's nothing more revolting to Academia than an uppity academic.

Lol, that almost sounds like a challenge!

The thing is, that once a book gets published and read, there are going to be people who disagree with the conclusions, the interpretations, the methodology, and a thousand other things. It's a fact of life for historians, and we just have to get over it. Sourcebooks tend to come in for less criticism because there's less new material to criticise, but I don't know of a single book that the entire community of historians has got behind and judged flawless. It's not being uppity, it's having and expressing a different point of view.

[Baylus_Brooks]

The printers for Quest for Blackbeard are offering a 25% discount on print versions till Christmas plus whatever the revolving weekly discounts are, as listed on their home page http://www.lulu.com/home. Quest is available also in ebook/Kindle format and is the most updated version. Go to http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/bcbrooks to order. This is quite a savings!

Edited September 22, 2017 by Baylus_Brooks

[Mission]

It's been a minute for this topic, hasn't it just?

This question comes up so often in social media that at some point after the last comment up there, I decided to create a list of sources I think are good essential. Note that the vast majority of them are primary sources from the period. I believe if you really want to read about pirates, you should go to the source first. Then you will have a firm basis if you want to delve into the modern authors comments on the original material. The best modern authors explain the context of the source material IMO. The majority just recite the facts, hopefully putting them in better order and included period sources of information not found in most other books.  The worst try to 'interpret' it for you or, far worse, reinterpret it in a way that fits what actually happened so that it fits into their personal view.

Anyhow, here's my list. There are a few modern sources, but the majority are from period pirates and sailors. (The non-pirate sailor's books give insight into life at sea during this time period.)

http://www.piratesurgeon.com/pages/surgeon_pages/pirate_bibliography.html