Pirates. 1684 Bucaniers of America by Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin. London

In a handsome naval binding, the second English edition of 1684 (following the 1st edition of the same year) of the buccanier Exquemelin's tales of American buccaniers. This copy without the (often-missing) frontis illustration of Sir Henry Morgan, but I printed it, to-size, on artist's acid-free laid paper to provide you the full context of the book.

In 1685, a volume four was printed; it is often added to these first volumes, but this copy does not have volume 4.

About the Author and Work -

Born about 1645, it is likely that Exquemelin was a native of Honfleur, France, who on his return from buccaneering settled in Holland, possibly because he was a Huguenot. In 1666 he was engaged by the French West India Company and went to Tortuga, where he worked as an indentured servant for three years. There he enlisted with the buccaneers, in particular with the band of Henry Morgan, whose confidante he was, probably as a barber-surgeon, and remained with them until 1674. Shortly afterwards he returned to Europe and settled in Amsterdam where he qualified professionally as a surgeon, his name appearing on the 1679 register of the Dutch Surgeons' Guild. However, he was later once again in the Caribbean as his name appears on the muster-roll as a surgeon in the attack on Cartagena in 1697.

The bibliographic legacy of Exquemelin's History of the Buccaneers of America is complex. It was first published in Dutch (1678), then translated into German (1679), Spanish (1681) and English (1684). The German translation is a faithful translation of the original Dutch. The Spanish translation adds new material quite freely and without acknowledgment, and mistranslates the Dutch frequently, while the English translation appears to be as much a translation of the Spanish edition, including most of its deviations from the Dutch original.

Following publication of the English translation in 1684, Henry Morgan took steps to discredit the book and successfully brought a libel suit against the book's publishers William Crooke and Thomas Malthus. Morgan particularly objected to the description of the capture of the third castle at Portobello in 1668 where the book said he had ordered the construction of ladders wide enough for three men to climb abreast; when they were completed he "commanded all the religious men and women whom he had taken prisoners to fix them against the walls of the castle ... these were forced, at the head of the companies to raise and apply them to the walls ... Thus many of the religious men and nuns were killed". In Morgan's affidavit he stated that he had "against evil deeds, piracies and robberies the greatest abhorrence and distrust", and that "for the kind of men called buccaneers", he "always had and still has hatred". The court found in his favour and the book was retracted; damages of £200 were paid to him. The passage about the use of nuns and monks as a human shield was retracted from subsequent publications in England. - Wikipedia

Bibliographic Details -

Universal Short Title Catalogue (USTC) number 3108153, found in many of the world's best libraries.

English Short Title Catalogue number R20706.

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 20.5 x 16 x 2 cm. Dark blue leather binding. Boards with diapered (diamond) pattern created by a blind pointille fillet, and at the intersections of the diapering anchors, starts and pointille dots in gilt. Outer edge of boards with double gilt fillet frame. Spine with five raised bands; five compartments with a central gilt crossed swords stamp surrounded by pointille, and one compartment with the author and title in gilt (also, year in gilt at base of spine). Wide turn-ins with a double fillet and crossed swords at the corners. Marbled endpapers.

Illustrated. 3 in-text illustrations. Eight plates, several of which fold-out.

Pages - xii, 1-47 (1), 80, 84, [12]

Collation - A2, a4, B-H4, Aa-Kk4, Aaa-Mmm4

Condition -

See pictures. Binding fresh, no condition issues. Facsimile frontis loose. Text block toned w/ thumbing and occasional rust spots. Title page with repairs at gutter, several ink stains (some bleeding through from name inscription on back of leaf) , chipping along the edges that continues for the following leaf. Occasional page edge chip, dog-eared page, thumb, etc. throughout. Moisture mark from top corner prominent at start; occasional marks throughout work. Leaf A2 with "4 Wm Scrafle" in fore-edge margin. Small hole at page number of C3. Bottom corner of G4 repaired. "BB" written on plate of Bartolomew. "B" on Cruelty of Lolonois plate. 1" tear bttm Ee2. Ff gathering with a spill mark; text entirely legible. Foldout of Spanish Armada with more "B" and other letters. Hh3 bttm corner repaired. Bs and Es written on fold-out of Panama. Panama battle fold-out backed and with initials. Fff2 bttm corner repaired with loss of text. Last several leaves chipped at edges.